The field of 25 keen competitors for this year’s Australia Day triathlon event, had to not only deal with some pretty hot weather, but also a strong headwind.
By the time most of the field had finished the 300m swim, 10km bike ride and 2km run event, organised by the Cobar Athletics & Triathlon Squad (CATS) last Thursday morning, the mercury had already surpassed 30 degrees, on its way to a top of 41.9 for the day.
The headwind was felt by all competitors on the return section of the bike leg and had a marked effect on the overall finish times.
Axel Fairfull was the first finisher in a time of 34 minutes and 42 seconds (which is more than a minute slower than his previous best time for the Short Course) but it was enough to give him the Gumnut Gifts & Homewares First Male prize.
Fairfull finished two seconds ahead of rival, Isaac Theakston, which was sweet revenge on their club competition results from a fortnight ago, when it was Theakston who claimed line honours.
Bianka Jacobson was the first individual female home in the Australia Day event finishing in 53 minutes and 20 seconds to collect the First Female prize, also sponsored by Gumnut Gifts & Homewares.
Collecting the Harvey Norman sponsored First Team prize was the St Nick team of Nick Hodges (who completed the swim and run legs) with Trudy Griffiths (ride) in a time of 38.43.
The Junior winner was Harry Cousins, who completed the course in a time of 47.45, which was a six minute improvement on his previous club best time for the Short Course.
The Best On Ground award went to the junior team of the Feisty Firecrackers, Isabelle Gillette and London Hyland, while James Fairfull was named the Most Dynamic Helper, collecting a prize donated by JKM Dynamic Fitness.
