What a Day in Busselton!

Karen Doane recaps an exciting day of racing at Soul Ironman Western Australia

Records tumbled, new champions were crowned and the enthusiasm of the supportive crowd never wavered for 17 hours at the Soul Ironman Western Australia event in Busselton today.

From the swim start, the race was close. Out front of the swim and side-by-side were Australian Luke Bell and England's Andrew Johns. They stayed one and two for 20 km on the bike, each of them keenly aware that Jason Shortis and Mitch Anderson, both previous champions on this course, were closing in behind them.

For the women, Denmark’s Lisbeth Kristensen had a fantastic swim of 53:31 and was only five minutes back from the men’s leader as she exited the water. Kristensen was determined to stay ahead on the bike and put as much distance between her and the other women as possible. Defending women’s champion Angela Milne, along with Australia’s Kate Bevilaqua and Lisa Marangon, planned to make this race their own as they attempted to challenge Kristensen’s lead.

As the temperature rose so did the wind on the bike, but this just had Bell push the pace to get out in front of the pack. By 60km into the ride, Bell was forced out of the race thanks to the flu-like symptoms he’s experienced all week. Johns, Anderson and Shortis all who remained within seconds of each other.

Despite getting a clean bill of health after suffering from a case of glandular fever earlier this year, Angela Milne was also forced to pull out of the race around the 60km mark. As the bike ride was ending for the ladies, Kristensen made it clear that unless she started crawling she intended to be at the finishline first.

For the men, defending champion Mitch Anderson, (who missed his doctoral graduation ceremony today for the race) was the leader as he entered T1 with nearly an 11-minute lead over Shortis and Johns.

Only 5 km into the race Shortis had cut Anderson’s lead in half and by the halfway point on the run the first winner of this event had passed the defending champion, and never looked back. Shortis was on pace for a sub-eight-hour finish for much of the day, but would eventually cross in an Australian Ironman distance record time of 8:03:57.

“Today was just a great race,” smiled a victorious Shortis. “It was tough when people told me I might break the eight-hour mark because I knew it was really going to hurt. But sometimes you just need to give it a go and dig deep. That’s what I did and I’m just overwhelmed with my time here today. Thanks for everyone’s support out there today as it really does make a difference.”

Dr. Anderson stayed on pace for a strong second place finish at 8:18:01 as he and Shortis exchanged words of mutual respect. As Jason put it, “we are mates and if it wasn’t me today I would have been happy for Mitch just like he is for me.”

For the women, Kristensen built her lead up to 15 minutes and there was no stopping her as she crossed the finishline at 9:10:01 before she collapsed into a wheelchair as she clearly gave everything she had on the day.

Next over the line was Canada’s Sara Gross at 9:15:34 with last year’s bridesmaid Charlotte Paul in third at 9:17:46.

Top age groupers were the greatest surprises of the day with Queensland’s 44-year-old “IronStud” Stephen Hemy finishing in 8:55:57 and an impressive 13th overall for the men. He claims he gains inspiration every time he passes one of the younger athletes on his way to the finish.

For the women, it was New York’s Lidia Rekas who amazed herself and her friends with a 12th place overall finish for the ladies in a time of 10:22:28. This 26-year-old triathlete phenom just took up triathlons 18 months ago is one to watch. In that time, Rekas has qualified for Hawaii twice, with six Ironman finishes now under her racing belt.

Australian television star, Daniel MacPherson, overcame a broken collarbone in February and heavy work commitments to absolutely fly to his Ironman finish. Then there’s the Whistler family trio, with Oliver Whistler, 18, the youngest competitor on the day just crossing the finishline a minute over the 10 hour mark but finishing ahead of dad, Phillip, 55, and sister, Jesse, 21, the day’s youngest female competitor.

Busselton once again did a great job in showing the world how wonderful Western Australia truly is.

Thanks Busselton, see you next year!