The day got off to a sobering start when Gunnar Bursell crashed badly
on the first bike leg on the descent over the water bars off Aranda Ridge.
He was airlifted out to Canberra Hospital with two fractured vertebrae
in his neck. Earlier indications are very positive so far of a full recovery.
We wish Gunnar and his family all the best for a speedy recovery.
In the individual race Stuart Bardsley was in a lead swim pack of 4 and
rode away on the first bike leg. Mark Davis chased hard all day and finally
passed Stu on the last bike leg. Brenden Hargraves was chasing Mark, his
coach, passing Stu also on and nearly catching Mark narrowing his margin
by 7 minutes in the last run!
Competition in the teams categories was ferocious. The top male teams
of three build the hype between themselves by e-mail in the preceding months
and were truly fired up on the day. Rarely more than minutes apart over
the 9 hours of racing, it again came down to the final run to decide the
race.
Paul Crake continued his record breaking form of the past few weeks,
smashing ALL the run course records, with a total run time of 2:40:40 and
over 5 minutes faster than the total of the previous records! For 45km
of running this is equivalent to a sub-2:30 marathon time on a course that
is anything but flat!
The Canberra Cycles Green team posted the fastest time for the day
and were the only team under 9 hours this year.
All this on a slower course with the soft boggy conditions, plus course
changes again adding a little more distance and time over previous years.
MEN Pl Name Finish 1 Mark Davis 11:37:51 2 Brenden Hargraves 11:40:47 3 Stuart Bardsley 11:52:57 4 Stu Adams 12:16:10 5 Bill Bennett 12:22:53 6 Brock Mckinlay 12:29:08 7 Mark Hutchings 12:38:56 8 Mick Benson 13:21:38 9 Gary Rolfe 13:25:30 10 Peter Macartney 14:15:10 11 Gordon Bell 14:39:44 12 Ian McVay 14:43:43 13 Dave Morewood 14:49:06 14 Terry Dorohy 14:51:05 15 Ross Beatty 15:27:40 16 Nathan Wales 15:52:52 17 Eugene Irvin 16:05:58 (1st over 50) 18 Carl Allars 16:06:46 No female individual starters in 2000
All-Male Team of 3 1 Where's Mad Dog 9:01:58 Ric Fitch/Luis Severino/Paul Crake 2 The GoHard Cookies 9:04:38 Shane Whipp/Rod Higgins/Trevor Jacobs 3 "Hello Boys" 9:14:22 All-Female Team of 3 1 Femme Fatale 11:45:57 Sam Reinhardt/Rachel Meyer/Sara Hely 2 JAJ 12:02:05 Jayne O'Sullivan/Andrea Williams/Julie Quinn 3 Out of Control 12:56:33 Sandra Mills/Mel Vukovljak/Charlotte Keller Mixed Team of 3 1 The Wrong Trousers 9:15:39 Sally Parker/Simon Tilley/Adrian Sheppard 2 Penguins & Wolves 11:29:03 3 Homebrand 11:33:50 All-Male Team of more than 3 1 Canberra Cycles Green 8:57:30 2 Never Mind the Bollocks 9:25:12 3 Canberra Cycles Blue 9:50:35 All-Female Team of more than 3 1 Canberra Cycles Fillies 11:23:52 2 Phantom 12:52:40 3 Figjam 13:05:50 Mixed Team of more than 3 1 Team Skull 9:26:55 (new course record) 2 Brannds 10:33:14 3 Lots of Enthusiasm 10:38:11
(Not properly checked for 2000)
Individuals
MALE OVERALL - 10:33:17, Paul Smith, 1998
FEMALE OVERALL - 12:46:43, Jody Purcell, 1998
1st Swim: (M) Matt Harris - 20:53, 1996 (F) Deirdre Grace - 20:55, 1996 1st Bike: (M) James Nicholson - 1:38:35, 1998 (F) Jody Purcell - 1:54:36, 1998 1st Run: (M) Paul Smith - 1:28:19, 1998 (F) Jody Purcell - 1:53:39, 1998 2nd Swim: (M) Paul Smith - 54:48, 1998 (F) Jody Purcell - 1:07:10, 1998 2nd Bike: (M) James Nicholson - 1:59:00, 1998 (F) Jody Purcell - 2:26:24, 1998 2nd Run: (M) Paul Smith - 53:01, 1997 (F) Janine Donaldson - 1:07:07, 1996 3rd Swim: (M) Ben Bright - 18:49, 1996 (F) Deirdre Grace - 18:50, 1996 3rd Bike: (M) Paul Smith - 1:23:28, 1998 (F) Jody Purcell - 1:42:58, 1998 3rd Run: (M) Paul Smith - 1:09:26, 1999 (F) Deirdre Grace - 1:21:17, 1996Teams
MALE TEAM OF 3 - 8:50:02 , "Where's Roy," 1999
MALE TEAM OVER 50 OF 3 - 10:33:20 , "The Vintage Vets," 1999
FEMALE TEAM OF 3 - 10:53:34, "F.I.T. Happens," 1998
MIXED TEAM OF 3 - 9:07:59, "The Wrong Trousers," 1999
MALE TEAM >3 - 8:41:12, "Canberra Cycles Men," 1999
FEMALE TEAM >3 - 10:25:45, "F.I.T. Happens Again," 1999
MIXED TEAM >3 - 9:26:55, "Team Skull," 2000
1st Swim: (M) David O'Brien - 18:11, 1996 (F) Belinda Cheney - 20:30, 1996 1st Bike: (M) David Osmond - 1:24:24, 1998 (F) Rachel Storey - 1:51:16, 1997 1st Run: (M) Paul Crake - 1:12:00, 2000 (F) Joy Terry - 1:33:05, 1999 2nd Swim: (M) Daniel Kowalski - 40:35, 1998 (F) Belinda Cheney - 46:10, 1999 2nd Bike: (M) Richard Bontjer - 1:39:09, 1999 (F) Kelli Robinson - 2:00:36, 1999 2nd Run: (M) Paul Crake - 39:30, 2000 (F) Angela Luchetti - 48:18, 1999 3rd Swim: (M) Paul Nicolson - 15:28, 1999 (F) Michelle Hunter - 15:51, 1999 3rd Bike: (M) Richard Bontjer - 1:01:48, 1998 (F) Bronwyn Wiseman - 1:25:28, 1999 3rd Run: (M) Paul Crake - 49:10, 2000 (F) Julia Dobson - 1:00:07, 1998