Ironman Geelong sees exciting finishes

IRONMAN’s 40th anniversary was celebrated in grand style with a sprint, fall, stumble, lunge finish in the women’s event between Switzerland’s Nina Derron and Melbourne rookie Grace Thek.

The men’s race also lived up to the excellence of the preceding decades with a stunning performance by defending champion Sam Appleton.

Spectators had been enthralled by the epic battle between Appleton, Josh Amberger, Jake Montgomery and Ryan Fisher but it went up a notch in the physical rollercoaster that was the women’s event, with Derron just pipping Thek for the win.

Derron’s win was her first over the Ironman 70.3 distance and while ecstatic with the result, she had great sympathy for Thek.

“I really struggled on the second lap of the run. I just had to stay focussed because I knew that Grace was flying and I just tried to hold on to the lead for as long as possible. There were huge mind games going on in my head and people were telling me to go get her. She was 50 metres in front with only a 100 metres to go but I knew I couldn’t out sprint her. I saw her starting to stumble and then she fell and all I saw was the finish line and I accelerated and came past her.

“It was a really strange finish to a really crazy day. I am happy for my win but I am also sad for Grace that it happened. It was her first 70.3 race so she did a really good job. It was another lesson I learned, that it is not over until it is over. Never give up, it is really true.”

In the men’s race, Appleton pulled it all together in the final leg, the run, and come away with victory.

“It is the first race of the year and you don’t really know what to expect. I knew if I was fit, I just didn’t know if I was race fit. I gave it my best shot and fortunately I was able to come away with the win.

“I am honoured to be here in Geelong and be able to back up and defend my title. It is a great course here in Geelong, I love it. It is beautiful and one of my favourite races. It is really challenging on the run. The course profile doesn’t show it but it is a really hard run. It has a bit of everything. I can’t wait to come back, I love opening up the season here,” he said.