Gold Coast Triathlon

Nicholas Hull
Mar 5, 2018
3 min read

Following Challenge Wanaka I was lucky enough to get to spend another week relaxing and enjoying what New Zealand has to offer with my family. While I did train every day, it's safe to say that it was nothing too specific or intense and with a few days of single figure weather and rain, nothing to prepare me for a sprint distance race on the Gold Coast either.

I flew home from New Zealand on Friday afternoon to torrential rain and spent no more than ninety minutes at home unpacking and packing again before driving down to the Gold Coast for the Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon. This is one of my favourite races on the triathlon calendar. I didn't personally know Luke Harrop but to be able to compete in this event as often as possible is a great way to remember all of the reasons why we love this sport and all of the people who are involved in it.

After two half-ironman distance races, a sprint distance triathlon should be a walk in the park shouldn't it!? Deep down I knew that was wishful thinking because one hour on the absolute limit would hurt just as much. What I didn't anticipate was the race being switched to a duathlon at the last minute because of water contamination.

Control the controllables: I'm not at a point where I can control the weather but I can control my emotions and how I react to changes like this. I wasn't really affected at all by the switch from triathlon to duathlon. I'll admit that I would've preferred a triathlon because I really wanted to attack this race from the beginning and essentially try and go as hard as possible for as long as possible but a duathlon with a rolling start added in some other exciting possibilities and things to consider.

I decided to start a bit further back from the front in the rolling start with the plan to be able to make up a bit of time on the first run and then use my bike strength to extend that lead before the final run. Of course it wasn't that simple and while I'd managed to maintain the gap to a few speedy guys on that first run, it wasn't a simple task to close that gap on the bike. I knew I was pushing hard on the bike because my heart rate and power were much higher than what they'd been at Wanaka but I hadn't anticipated the leaders being able to work off each other to hold me off for as long as they did. I was pushing really hard to catch them on the first of two loops because I knew the course would get congested the longer the race went on and harder to keep track of. It was a bit disappointing to see some large packs forming out there but with a rolling start of 2-3 athletes every five seconds over a lengthy period of time was probably asking for it. It took me close to 18km to catch the two leaders and we dismounted the bike together.

After a half ironman last weekend I wasn't keen for a foot race and especially after knowing their running abilities from the first run. It didn't take long, in fact we hadn't even left transition and they had established a healthy lead on me and it remained so for the rest of the race. To be honest I was rather disappointed with my run even if I did finish 3rd on the day. My running legs haven't come back to me as quickly as I'd like but I'm realistic in knowing it takes time and that I entered this race in less than ideal preparations after a week of rest and travel.

At the end of the day I got to compete in the Gold Coast Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon and had a great weekend. It was a lot of fun to travel and stay with friends for the weekend and catch up with so many other people around the race. The Luke Harrop Triathlon is a great opportunity to catch up with so many special people in this sport and reminds us how lucky we are to participate in such a great sport.

Of course there is another great group of people and brands that I am thankful to have supporting me with everything I do in this sport and while they weren't there over the weekend, deserve endless praise for what they do