Farlow and Lester take Canberra Half
The ninth edition of the Canberra Half Ironman Triathlon was held in picture perfect conditions this morning. Also serving as Round Six of the Australian Half Ironman Series, today’s event attracted its biggest field since 2005, with 750 individual and 33 team entrants taking on the 1.9km swim, 93km cycle and 21.1km run challenge.
The ACT’s Aaron Farlow successfully defended his 2008 title against a quality field in the Open category, while the women’s race was won by relative newcomer to long distance triathlon, Carrie Lester (Sunshine Coast).
For the men, today’s race all came down to the 21.1km run. Dave Matthews and Matt Bailey were first out of the water in just under 24 minutes, closely followed by Farlow and Peter Schokman. Josh Rix and Ollie Whistler were a further 90 seconds behind; they both competed in last weekend’s Ironman Western Australia, however were forced to withdraw in the early stages of the marathon. Both athletes commented today on how strong they felt heading in to the 93km bike leg, and they used this strength to quickly bridge the gap to the race leaders within the first 15km of the three-lap course.
With no-one prepared to make a serious challenge on the undulating bike course, the real race started once the men set out on their half marathon. Rix set the early pace with a surprisingly fast bike/run transition, however he was passed by Farlow and Bailey at the 2km mark. As he commented later, “Those guys were just flying!”.
Schokman ran in to third position at the 6km mark. Meanwhile, Farlow was stamping his authority on the race and he began to extend his lead. He ended up with a run time of 1:15:27, over a minute faster than any other competitor, and completing the course in an overall time of 4:05:33 – more than six minutes quicker than his winning time over the same course last year.
Since winning this race last year, 28 year old Farlow has had a successful season racing with a triathlon team in Germany. He has been increasingly focusing on longer distance racing, and is now looking to complete his first Ironman distance race within the next twelve months. Ideally his next major challenge will be the finale of the Australian Half Ironman Series, Ironman 70.3 Geelong.
“Coming in today’s race, I felt confident on the bike but I was nervous about the run. Half-way through the marathon I knew I had about a minute on the guys, and I just kept working. I’m stoked to win this race for the second year in a row”, Farlow stated at the finish.
The women’s race unfolded quite differently. Former Ironman Australia champion Rebekah Keat was a surprise late entrant, however in yet another twist in her ever-colourful career, she missed the swim start by some five minutes.
Meanwhile, Series leader Lisa Marangon exited the water almost two minutes ahead of Carrie Lester. Lester immediately set to work on the bike, her strongest leg, eventually catching Marangon at the half-way point. The two women entered the bike/run transition together, however Lester quickly established a lead on the run. She eventually out-ran Marangon by three minutes, earning herself her inaugural victory at just her second Open appearance in the Australian Half Ironman Series.
Remarkably, Lester has been racing triathlon for just four years, and only completed her first Half Ironman in Yeppoon ten months ago when she finished in third place. She then won her age group at the Long Course World Championship Triathlon, held in Perth two months ago.
Lester came in today’s race hoping to achieve a podium finish, but aware that it would be difficult given the depth of the field. Given her strong performances to date, she may now consider racing Ironman 70.3 Geelong in February next year.
“Conditions today were absolutely perfect. I would like to thank the organisers (X-Tri) for putting on such a great race; they also run the Yeppoon event, and both races are absolutely spot-on in terms of organisation”, said a delighted Lester at the finish.
Race Director Graeme Hannan was also thrilled with today’s result. “Once again, we’ve experienced strong growth in both the individual and team events”, he said. “Following last year’s average (cold, wet and windy) conditions, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions today.
RESULTS – MALE
- Aaron Farlow (ACT) 4:05:33
- Peter Schokman (NSW) 4:07:57
- Josh Rix (NSW) 4:09:03
RESULTS - FEMALE
- Carrie Lester (QLD) 4:31:12
- Lisa Marangon (NSW) 4:34:09
- Rebekah Keat (QLD) 4:39:02
