ITU Auckland

A tad late with this, but lets face it having a full time job and my own training leaves limited time to spend writing about my true love . The weekend of the 5th of April my partner and I travelled up to Auckland for the start of the ITU Triathlon season as he was competing in the age group competition. It was my first time to be able to enjoy the atmosphere and get to watch the elite athletes competing.

My mind was well and truly blown. I have watched a number of elite races on tv during the last 3 years I have been with my partner but watching some of these athletes live is just out of this world. The physical nature of the sport and seeing them all pushing their bodies to the limit is astounding.

We got to Queens wharf in time to watch the elite men begin the cycle portion of the race. Our kiwi boys were well positioned heading into the first lap but a crash just up Shortland St managed to tangle up Ryan Sissions and he was forced to work his way back through the chase group into the lead pack for the rest of the cycle leg. I stood on the fence and felt every second of the race, cheering the boys on and nearly loosing my voice in the process. I felt so proud to watch and cheer on our Kiwi men and they definitely kept their own with some of the worlds best athletes including the race winner Javier Gomez who just blizted the run and finished with a time of 1hr55mins.

The race tactics used by the athletes, particularly with the cycle leg being draft friendly was eye opening. Particularly the fantastic effort by the chase cycle group to close down the 1 min lead going into the run leg of the race. I was certainly willing on the athletes with everything I had.

Tony Dodds finished a fantastic 7th place, the best of our Kiwi athletes after falling off the pace in the run, Clarke Elice came in 11th place and Ryan Sissions in 14th. The younger generation of athletes are certainly pushing for the top end of the competition and are looking more than comfortable to fill the shoes of Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell.

Special mention should also go to our honorary kiwi Laurent Vidal, partner and coach of kiwi Andrea Hewitt. You could certainly feel the crowd throwing their support behind him and he finished a respectable 4th place, being pipped by Joao Silver for the bronze medal.

I'am now pondering if I will be able to manage only watching the rest of the year's races live on tv, but going forward I am certainly hooked. The Auckland race was fantastically set up and their was such a buzz from all the supporters, the numbers were not what they had expected from previous races but I certainly hope going forward more people come down and experience the enjoyment that I did.

After the men's race finished we had my partner race briefing, the entire time i was constantly checking my watch as i was dying to get back in time to see the women begin their race. Once the meeting finished i bolted down the stairs out of the cloud to make my way over to the wharf. Got a bit starstruck when Laurent Vidal walked past me, all i could manage was a lowly high 5, no autograph, no picture. I think that shows I am well and truly hooked into triathlon. 

I just made it to the start and managed a few snaps.

Our kiwi girls managed a strong race with Kate McIlroy managing 4th place and Nicky Samuels just behind her in 5th. Huge effort and the girls worked incredibly hard on a colder afternoon than the male athletes with a stronger wind to contend with.

Andrea had an unfortunate bike crash in training prior to the Auckland race and finished a disappointing 15th place. She will no doubt be looking to bounce back and get a podium finish in her next race.

After watching the elite athletes, I can't begin to describe how pumped i was to support my partner the following day in his race. The adrenaline was pumping well and truly. My poor partner had to put up with my constant chatter and questions after we drove back to our base, he was probably well and truly sick of me!

He managed a 3rd place finish in the 24-29 age group, even with an unfortunate run and a build up full of injuries. It was the perfect way to finish the weekend.

I have started to understand the buzz that he experiences competing in these races and that is only from supporting.

Auckland I will be back next year to enjoy once again a fantastic atmosphere. 

The next round of ITU races is this weekend in San Diego, with Clark Elice, Bryan McMaster and our pocket rocket Andrea Hewitt flying the kiwi flag.

[All the photo's are mine unless specified otherwise]