Marius Acker retained his Turtle Triathlon title and has bragging rights for another year that he is Cayman’s fittest all-round athlete.
The South African banker finished one minute faster than last year when he was the fastest local again, second only to former world champion Stephen Smith.
The transition area was always busy |
Acker, 37, was second overall in the Olympic event again this time to the semi-pro Canadian Ben Adam who won in 2 hours 3 minutes and 29 seconds. The event centred around Public Beach and there were over 200 participants in individual and team categories.
Acker’s time was 2:05:32 and Jasper Mikkelsen was third in 2:11:23.
David Walker impressed in the build-up races and was second last year but he didn’t figure among the leaders at all this time.
In the women’s Olympic event, Kristina Schultz won in 2:10:01, second was Lindsay Affeld in 2:25:34 and Marlene West was third in 2:29:58.
There were a host of sponsors, the main one being Butterfield Bank. Other sponsors included Gatorad, Red Sail Sports, Flowers Bottled Water, the Cayman Islands Tourism Department, Progressive Distributors, Red Bull and Cay Rock Radio 96.5FM.
It was organised by the Cayman Islands Triathlon Association. A powerful motivator for all athletes to complete the challenge was the post-race barbeque and awards ceremony at Calico Jack’s on Public Beach.
The Olympic distance event was a gruelling 1500 metre swim, 40km bike and a 10km run. The Sprint event involved a 750m swim, 20km bike and a 5km run.
‘I think the competition was harder this year but I did a faster time,’ Acker said.
‘I did a 2:07 last year and the wind was stronger this time. I was happy on the bike. Jasper caught me on the bike leg and I didn’t know how much time he was going to take out of me so I kept pushing hard.
‘I almost took the wrong turn on the bike with the pro lady and also as I was setting off I got a bee sting on my shoulder. I tried to pull it out and thought this was not going to go well.’ (You could say, he was stung into action).
‘I was confident at the start of the run. Nobody told me how far I was behind so I just kept on pushing.
‘Dave Walker never passed me, not even on the bike, so I knew I had to catch only Jasper. That shows how much my bike improved because last year Dave passed me on the first leg, this year he didn’t pass me at all, but he did have a major cramp.
‘I’m happy with the race. It’s nice to have the visiting athletes out here, it was a nice day. I only ran 20 seconds slower than the previous week’s Hell 10k for the same distance. And this week I did a bike and swim on top, so that’s why I’m really happy with my time.’
Mikkelsen was equally contented with his showing. ‘I’m extremely happy that I came second because Marius was just so strong today,’ he said. ‘I felt strong too and couldn’t have done any better, so I feel satisfied.
‘I don’t feel like I’ve injured myself from this so I should be okay for the Cayman Marathon on December 7.’
Mikkelsen did a world class time of just over 10 hours in the Florida Ironman a few weeks ago and after the marathon next week will deservedly take it easy over the festive season.
‘For Christmas I’m going to relax like you’ve never seen anyone relax before. I’m not really a drinker but I will be having a few just to unwind.’
There was a huge crowd of spectators, including ultra-distance runner Rick Singer who will run the 2,800 miles across America next year.
Runner Scott Brittain won the mixed team event again with cyclist Gary Clarke and swimmer Summer Flowers. Brittain will defend his Cayman Marathon title which he won in a record time of 2 hours 45 minutes and 23 seconds last year.
His team were second placed team overall to the all men’s side consisting of Matthew Courtis (swim), Jerome Ameline (bike) and Russell Coleman (run).
Brittain said: ‘We did well considering they had Matthew who is one of the best swimmers on the island, Jerome who is unbelievable on the bike and Russell who is one of the best on the island as well.
‘I knew from the start I was never going to catch Russell because he started 10 minutes ahead of me.
‘I needed to start within two or three minutes of him to catch up so I just concentrated on improving my time of just under 34 minutes from last year and I think I did it by a few seconds.
‘Russell and I did 20 miles training yesterday so doing a hard 10k (6.2miles) on top of that is good preparation for the marathon. The buzz is stronger this year than last time so there’s definitely going to be tougher competition.
‘There’s myself, Russell, Jasper who is running very well, Eduardo Torres is capable of doing well again and anybody else capable of running under three hours.’
Marlene West had a triumphant weekend, winning the Cayman national women’s squash title two days before.
‘This was my first Olympic distance so it was definitely a good start,’ she said.
‘Surprisingly enough, the swim wasn’t too bad and that was the one I worried about the most. It took me a little bit of time to get my feet under me on the bike when I first started and then it loosened up.
‘I kind of knew what to expect from the build up a couple of weeks ago but it was still difficult having to work through the wind. My goal was to beat 2:30 and I think I did it by two seconds!’
West intends to compete at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 for Cayman in squash and often plays in the men’s competitions but forfeited it this time to ensure she was relatively fresh for the triathlon.
After the Cayman Half Marathon next week she will concentrate on squash. ‘My squash coach Dan Kneipp has told me to get my butt down there in the new year so I won’t be doing these events even though the cross training is good for my squash.’
Seasoned triathlete Justine Plenkiewicz enjoyed it despite the choppy conditions.
‘I’m doing the West Palm Beach Marathon in late December. I’m not doing the Cayman Marathon because I train on that course all the time so I need something a little different.’
English rose Nicola Moore is a crown counsel but her speed is a law unto itself. She too is an experienced triathlete who also recently completed the Florida Ironman.
‘I literally did the Turtle Triathlon today – like a turtle, very slowly.
‘The organisation was excellent, lots of volunteers to support you. I’m going to do the Cayman Half Marathon then take a month off before I start training for the Ironman UK next year.
‘It’s in August and they pride themselves on being the hardest Ironman in Europe because of the elevations.
‘And then maybe I’ll find the sponsorship to do the Marathon des Sables. It’s a race across the Sahara Desert, seven marathons in seven days. You have to carry all your own food and the only thing the organisers supply is ten litres of water a day.
‘It’s organised by the French so they have this mad thing that you can’t start running until ten in the morning when it’s really hot.’
Why do you want to do that? ‘Why not? Mad dogs and Englishmen in the mid-day sun!’
- More interviews and images tomorrow.
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