Orange Cycle & Triathlon Club

Hopefully the rain will clear up for Sunday’s Duathlon. Orders for the new Orange uniform will also be taken on the day.

Sunday 5th September 2010———–Orange Duathlon

The next duathlon is scheduled for Sunday 5th September at Lake Canobolas

Registration from 8:30am

Cost: Free

We will hold the following races starting at 9am, starting with the:

Juniors 500m run – 2km bike – 500m run

Mid 1km run, 10km bike, 3km run

Long 3km run, 20km bike, 3km

ORANGE triathlon club have intensified their charge into the upcoming season with strong performances in the Mudgee running festival over the weekend. Sixteen members took part in distances ranging from the 5km event on Saturday right up to the demanding 42.2km marathon which was held early on Sunday morning.

On its tenth anniversary the Mudgee running festival attracted athletes from all over the state, including many from Queensland and Canberra. Orange managed to field a total number of 48 competitors throughout the weekend, the second largest field after the host club.

A cold start greeted the athletes on Sunday morning despite a cloudless sky. Competitors hugged each other to preserve body heat. Arm warmers, long skins, beanies, and even jackets were used by some to combat the sub zero temperatures through the beginning of the race.

Dan Benton and Paul Eccleston were among the 44 competitors running in the marathon. Dan Benton (3:18:57) labelled as being one of the best long distance runners in Orange and the central west finished an unbelievable 6^th placing overall and 3^rd in the 30-39 age group category, beating Ironman legend and local Mudgee triathlete Nick Kastelein by over a minute. Despite being modest about his achievement Dan was obviously pleased with his result, “My race was pretty quiet, bludge for the first half. Pulled the finger out on the second half and pushed the last 10.”

Paul Eccleston was also very impressive in his first marathon finishing the journey in 4:03:30, and 7^th in his age group. Dan who has been coaching Paul for the past six months was pleased with how Paul finished despite hurting toward the end of the race. “Paul mentioned to me after the race that he hit a brick wall about the 35km mark… he also mentioned that the wall was double bricked and cement rendered with barbed wire at the top.”

Tom Gleeson (Orange) was the eventual winner of the marathon in an amazing time of just 2:51:39, the only person to go under the 3 hour barrier. A new record was broken in the women’s category by Sarah Burgess (Miranda NSW) who finished the race in 3:02:56.

The half marathon (21.1km) featured a total of 9 Orange triathlon members, 3 competing in there first half. However it wasn’t the sheer weight of numbers which pleased Ironman Dan Benton the most “Performances were amazing,” he implied.

“Aido (Aiden Whitely) ran really well for 93(min), Frank (Ostini) did just over 90(min) missed out on sub by a few seconds. Tony Syme did 98, Erika (Barton) did 1:47, Dan (Miller) chased her but faded at the end getting 1:50:00, just missing the sub 1:50. Jess (Richards) was around 1:53, Ian (Crafter) did 1:52, Danni (Danielle Syme) was just over 2 hours, Cas (Ingham) was awesome and did 2:30.”

It was only a few seconds defining a sub 1:30 and a top 10 placing by Frank Ostini (1:30:09) who featured strongly at the front of the race all day.

Ironwomen Erika Barton placed pressure on the leaders in the women’s category after finishing 8th in a time of 1:47:36 which was also a new personal best. Ironman Aidan Whitely came out of tempory retirement to record a new personal best of 1:33:17. Jess Richards ran extraordinarily well throughout the race despite a less than ideal taper and as a result was amongst the top 5 placing in her category (4^th) with a time of 1:53:30.

Tony and Danielle Syme who will be representing the club in the Gold Coast half Ironman in a month’s time outshone all expectations with unbelievable splits in there first half marathons. Tony managed to stop the clock well under the 1:40 barrier in a time of 1:38:01 (8^th in his age group). Danielle Syme finished well inside the top ten in her age group (8^th) with an amazing time of 2:02:10.

Dan Miller pushed hard throughout his race and as a result recorded a new personal best time of 1:50:03, only seconds outside the sub 50.

Also running extremely well in her first half was the always consistent Cas Ingham (2:31:53) who managed a top ten place in her age group (7^th) with an unbelievable run. Ian Crafter backed up nicely after competing in the 5km event the previous day with a great time of 1:54:44.

The club also featured strongly in the middle distance events on Saturday with Kyle Ostini (41:25) finishing runner-up in the 12-15 category and 6^th overall in the 10km event after a great race.

Team Whitely dominated the 5km event in style. Michelle (31:49) finished 3^rd in her category, Connor was equal 1^st in the 0-11 category and just 5^th overall with a time of 21:41, while Noah (31:42) ran well for his 5^th place in the 0-11 category despite being just 8 years old.

Ian Crafter ran strongly for a 25:09 and 1^st place in the 50-59 age group.

Massive congratulations to everyone who participated over the weekend. Well done to Tony (The Stig), Dani, and Cas for completing there first half marathons, as well as Paul for barging his way through the wall to complete his first marathon.

Also a big shout out to Aido, Erika, and Dan M for smashing there PB’s.

Lastly… We all know how modest Dan is, but his achievement in the Marathon is certainly something which deserves alot of recognition. This triumph is something which will feature strongly in the highlight reel at the end of the year.

Well done!!!

Due to the rain the scheduled Duathlon has been cancelled.