McIlroy Goes From Mountains To Triathlon

Round one of the Contact Tri Series took place at Rotorua’s Blue Lake yesterday, with strong representation in all races from the Contact 3:9:3 for beginners to the Contact Trophy for elite athletes.

The surprise package of the day was the runner up finish for former World Mountain Running champion Kate McIlroy. The 27 year old quietly entered the event without fanfare but soon had tongues wagging as she emerged from the 1500m swim in second place, a position she held through to the finish.

McIlroy was coy about a change to triathlon fulltime though.

“I’m not sure about a fulltime switch, I’m still undecided at the moment but will do a few more of the Contact Tri Series this summer, maybe not the next race (Whangamata) though, I think I need a bit more training under the belt first.

“The run today was tough, my legs were quite dead after the bike and I wasn’t sure what I had left. Biking is certainly the area I need most work on, and today being non drafting didn’t help, I much prefer when I can draft on the bike leg.”

She is certainly in good hands if the bike leg is her weakest, with renowned triathlon and cycling coach Greg Fraine coaching the Wellington athlete.

In the men’s Contact Trophy race it was a first victory for Ryan Sissons. One of the next generation of New Zealand triathletes, 20 year old Sissons swam strongly to exit the water in the main pack and held on bravely to defending series champion Stephen Sheldrake on the bike before running clear on the two lap circuit of Blue Lake.

“I was keen to see how the swim went today, it is something I have been working on for the past few months and when I came out in touch with the leaders, I knew I was in with a shot.

“The bike was good, I love the hills and this course has brutal hills. I wasn’t sure I would stay with Stephen but managed to do that, and I then knew I had some good running legs at the moment to win it.”

World U23 bronze medalist Martin Van Barneveld ran strongly into second place with Liam Scopes grabbing third ahead of a tiring Sheldrake. For Sheldrake it was a brave return to competition after undergoing major knee surgery during winter.

Rebecca Spence was spent after the race, the former Rangitoto College student running herself to a standstill on the undulating Blue Lake course in what was her first serious hit out of the year.

“I just wanted the race to finish, that was so tough and reinforces that I need to do so much more running. I am injury free at the moment though and aim to do some more miles in training then take on the four ‘cup’ races in the Contact Series.”

Spence had built a comfortable seven minute lead on Sarah Bryant and McIlroy leading into the run, with McIlroy taking an impressive six minutes out of that lead by the end of the 11km around the Blue Lake.

Bryant, a former World U19 age group champion, held on for third and a place on the podium.