The Intertrust Triathlon was another triumph for the multi-event athletes and organisers in terms of showcasing Grand Cayman for all its wonderful sporting facilities and tourist attractions.
Trevor Murphy, President of the local triathlon association was pleased with how the event went on 6 November although the numbers were slightly down from previous years. But that is inevitable considering how biting the recession has been.
The Intertrust Triathlon had a total of 108 individuals that included 55 at the Olympic distance and 53 in the sprint distance and 16 teams (13 Olympic, three sprint). Marius Acker finished the 1,500 metre swim, 40km bike and 10km run in 2 hours 9 minutes and 37 seconds, three minutes ahead of fellow South African Johan Heath. Dean Gaffigan was third. Abbott finished in 2:26:31. Fastest locals in the sprints were Ray Welds (1:9:47) and Nicola Moore (1:23:50).
Gill Comins and Arwen Lawson were second and third respectively in the women’s Olympic race. The mixed Olympic team event was won by the Brew Crew of Kaitlyn Elthinstone, Chris Graham and Jeremy Superfine. OK Man won the Olympic team. The Governor, Duncan Taylor led off the OK Man in the swim, Patrick Smith was the cyclist and Derek Larner took the team to victory after 10km.
Of all the notable other achievements, James Murray deserves a mention because he used this event as preparation for his 100-mile continuous run this Saturday 26 November, suitably called ‘A Crazy Idea’. Murray hopes to raise over $25,000 for the Cayman Islands Diabetic Association. At least Murray will have company for the first three miles because there is a 5k fun run from Camana Bay in conjunction with the Cayman Islands Diabetes Association from 7am. Murray will do the other 97 miles around Grand Cayman with Lisa Smith-Batchen and Gerry Martinez.
Murphy said: “Although numbers were slightly down overall, this year’s tri was a much closer affair in the men’s race. The race organisation gets better and better each year and it was a huge success. Many of the athletes commented on how well run the event was and the new bike course was much better than they were expecting. All in all, an improvement on previous years.”
Acker has been the fastest local for six consecutive years. Murphy believes that gap is closing and next year Acker may not be in seventh heaven. “Yes, Marius is amazing, he proved that again this year but Johan held him off until three miles into the run this time.
“It is getting much closer between the two of them and as for next year, of course Johan could possibly beat him. He has shown improvement year on year, in 2011 he set his fastest Ironman time in Switzerland. You can never rule out Marius, he is one of the most consistent athletes every year but at some point someone will overtake him and right now Johan has the best chance of that. As always, staying healthy, training hard and that bit of luck on race day is needed to win a race.
“The highlights this year, well obviously how positively on the whole people reacted to the bike course. Even some of the sceptics changed their minds after racing it. The number of volunteers was outstanding again, that along with the police presence at the various roundabouts and traffic lights made for a safe race and was commented on by many of the athletes.
“Pam Abbott winning was a highlight after finishing second in each of the previous two years and her winning time this year was 12 minutes faster than her time in 2009, again showing how hard work in training can pay off. Vanessa Hansen as our emcee, the music, the atmosphere and our race director Paul Schreiner did an excellent job.
“Improvements can always be made and we always try to improve each year. One area we are looking at is changing the run course to make it more spectator friendly. It’s always fun as an athlete to have friends and family out there cheering you on and it’s great to be able to see fellow athletes more than once on the course which is how the current run course is set up being an out and back route.
“The bike course will stay as it is, same for the swim and we’ve taken on board various comments from other athletes about other improvements. We’re confident it will be a huge success again next year.
“We always want to hear from the triathlon community so please drop us a line at [email protected] with any suggestions for next year’s race. Check out our website at www.triathlon.ky and ‘like’ our Facebook page for frequent updates.
“A huge thanks to all the athletes that took part, the volunteers and police with whom the race could not go ahead without and to all the spectators that came out to watch. Spread the word and we hope to see all of you attending our various events in 2012.”
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