Luke McKenzie checks in from Goondiwindi
I am pleased to report my 2010 season started well with a win at Sunday's Goondiwindi Hell of the West. It was my first time competing in the historic race that has been run since 1989. The 2km swim in the MacIntyre river, 80km "dead flat" out and back bike and 20km run are traditionally run in very hot and windy weather ever year, hence the name "Hell of the West".
Start time was a VERY early 5am and it was my first experience at starting a race in the dark (we literally could see where we were swimming) except for a few small lanterns on the banks of the river. I got off to a slow start and missed the jump on a few fast feet. I settled into a comfortable pace and came out of the water in third place about 1 minute down on Joe Lampe.
I worked into the bike and by about 15km I had taken the lead. We had a nice little tailwind heading to the turn-a-round at 40km and I knew the best option was to conserve some energy for the 40km slog back home into the headwind. Once we turned I worked a little harder and began to pull away from the guys behind. By the time I hit T2 I had built a 7 minute plus lead going into the run. I was happy with my bike split for the 80km, clocking 1.53.34 on my bike computer, but the race splits must have included transitions times as the official results recorded me as 1.55.56.
Onto the run I aimed to run the whole 20km as even paced as I could. I managed to do that pretty spot on, spliting just on 12 minutes for each 3.3km section. I finished off strong with a 1.12.57 run which indicates my run work I have been doing is coming along really well. I crossed the line in 3.35.23, which was a new course record for the race by around 6 minutes.
I really enjoyed the race in "Gundy" and I will definitely be back to Hell of the West in the future. It was a great hit out for my next race which will be Ironman Malaysia in just under 4 weeks time. This years field in Malaysia is shaping up to be the events best ever, so I am looking forward to heading back to Langkawi to defend my title.
Lastly, thanks to Anna and the team out at Gundy for having me at the race .... it's one of Aussie's best!
Cheers
RESULTS - GOONDIWINDI HELL OF THE WEST
2km swim/ 80km cycle/ 20km run
Place Name Total Swim Cycle Run
- Luke McKenzie 03:35:23.68 /00:26:29.57 /01:55:56.68 /01:12:57.43
- Joseph Lampe
- Joel Cook
