Clayton Reeves looked strong all day

Murray Bridge turned on some welcome cloud cover for the last Long Course event of the 2016/17 South Australian Season with the Murray Bridge Sufferfest Triathlon. Despite the early morning cool weather this event was as its name suggested…a sufferfest.

The half-Iron distance event attracted a wide-open field and with the lead men and women exiting the water in close gaps spectators knew it was going to be an exciting day. Kona finisher Simon Mulligan lead the men out of the water closely followed by Clayton Reeves and Peter Durand. In the women’s, Jen Sturm exited in front of Lily Towler and Holy Cowland.

Out on the bike, the lead men hit the gas, with the leaders coming together at the end of lap 3. Simon Mulligan, Clayton Reeves and Dan Kelly holding a 40 second lead on Ben Shephard before the former President of Lakers Dan Kelly attacked and pushed out to a 50 second lead coming in to T2. Taking time to compose himself and put socks on, Kelly looked focused on his run.

The run proved the highlight of the day, with the leaders changing multiple positions. Cam Brown ran through the pack with a 1:36 half marathon to overtake Kelly, but this speed through tough terrain including cross country sections couldn’t run down Clayton Reeves who displayed patience and confidence in his race plan. Reeves recorded the fastest run split of the day to take the inaugural Murray Bridge Sufferfest crown. Cam Brown finished second with Dan Kelly running home third. 

The women’s race saw Sturm racing smartly to hold 35km/hr over the hilly course, extending her lead to 10 minutes as she hit the run. With the temperature climbing, Sturm was chased by Mandy Towler and Keren Gillam. Towler recorded the fastest run split of the day, but couldn’t catch Jen who admitted post-race that fatigue from the always successful Victor Harbor Triathlon two weeks earlier had forced her to have complete rest leading in to Murray Bridge. The final women’s podium was Jen Sturm 1^st, Mandy Towler 2^nd and Keren Gillam 3^rd.

                        Sturm leading the bike (photo courtesy Miranda McInnes and Lakers Triathlon Club)

Other winners on the day include.

OlyFest

MALE                                       FEMALE

1^st: Byron Goodrick                   1^st: Danielle Sage

2^nd: Philip Tetlow                       2^nd: Laura Davidson

3^rd: Michael Hines                      3^rd: Meg Ingham

SprintFest

MALE                                       FEMALE

1^st: Declan Gillard-Martin           1^st: Sarah Hibbard

2^nd: Cameron Hanley                 2^nd: Aneeka Smith

3^rd: Stuart Main                         3^rd: Anna Liptak

For full results head to

 http://tomatotiming.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16&RId=30309

Of course, the day’s report wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the incredible achievements of Kevin Fergusson and Sid James to complete this extremely tough course, however this is more than a foot-note. We’ll be writing a special article on these two to highlight the bravery and determination of the Kona-bound duo. In the meantime, please donate to help get Kevin and Sid and their support team to Kona. Your contributions will help turn this dream in to a reality.