WHAT A DAY IN AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

At Tri Alliance we have a diverse culture of awesomeness and the most wonderful peeps. Tri Alliance is a place where people of all genders, sexualities, religious beliefs, backgrounds and ethnicities are welcome.  We pride ourselves on an inclusive environment; a place where every person can flourish and be free to enjoy themselves in our sport.  We as a greater family at Tri Alliance just want to say that we are truly happy that today's historical YES vote result has come through and reflects our core values of inclusion and equality for everyone.  I am sure there will be many celebrations for those directly affected by this announcement, but if you see our friends around this week, feel free to share the love.

CHALLENGE SHEPPARTON WRAP UP

~ Go Long ~

Well done to the 7 main amigos, who competed in the BIG event on the weekend. Challenge Shep finally (after 3 years of freezing and miserable conditions) decided to turn on a day that we all had been hoping for - sunshine!  With a weekend in the 30's it was always going to be challenging (excuse the pun!) to manage conditions and nutrition and complete a race within expectation, but to their credit they all did a fantastic job!

Great to see Andy Wood-Rich in his lead up to Ironman Western Australia, getting the job done with a respectful 5:23.  And the winner of the best-dressed award by far...in fact Andy waited until the final second to put his swim cap on and it was off before he'd finished his final stroke -  just so you could see the mohawk!

Nicola Tocchini - the speedy Italian - swimming the best of the lot with a 33 min swim, surprising the coaches and spectators!  He was able to maintain a solid bike leg and battled through some glute/hamstring soreness to finish off his day.  Great race Nicola, with a 5:06.17!

Sergii Kantemirov was extremely happy with his result.  He raced smart, building into the day and leaving it all out there on the run with a cracking 1:36 half marathon.  An overall time of 4:57.04!  Outstanding to get himself in under the elusive 5hr mark and on the way to bigger things to come.  Stay tuned! 

Eduardo Oliveira - the smiling assassin - nearly didn't even get to the line on Sunday, suffering in the preceding weeks with irritations and allergies from Melbourne's crazy hay-fever season.  With Shepparton reading EXTREME on the pollen count, there was much doubt and anxiety in the mind of our Shark.  To Eddie's credit, he got himself to the start line in a positive mindset and was determined to finish.  The game plan was take it easy and just get to the end.  He smiled all day long and all was going to plan until the final 12km's, when Eddie's asthma kicked in and he needed to keep on his inhaler just to keep going.  This guy is a bundle of happy energy and positive vibes and we congratulate you on your first half Ironman distance race in 5:33.22.  Keep an eye out for the post-race pics and videos - the sugar high was REAL!

Donna Harding is another one of our brave souls, pushing through her own challenges to even train for such a distance.  We commend you Donna and are so  proud of the effort, determination  and passion you displayed to complete another Long Course event.  Also struggling with breathing towards the end, Donna battled on and battled the heat, never faltering from her goal. Well done cracking 7 hours with a final time of 6:59.55.

If you know Lisa Zilbo like we know Lisa, it would come as no surprise that this steadfast and strong-willed lady lined up to race another 70.3, despite lots going on in her life.  Her grit and can-do attitude carried her through the day, with a smile on her face, achieving her a time of 5:46.20 and 9th in her AG!  Well done Lis!

And Maddy Jona who broke the news to her coach as she was going in to pick up her  rego pack that she was thinking of 'upgrading' from the OD to the 70.3.  With a few words of wisdom to consider, she took the plunge, lined up in the main event and smashed out the half distance in a respectful time of 6:17.33.  Even more important was the confidence, satisfaction and immense sense of pride Maddy was rewarded with as she crossed the line with the realization of the magnitude of what she had just done.   It was so great to be there supporting her through her event. 

~ Go Short ~

Shepparton also attracted the attention of a number of our short course athletes, as Elite Energy found an event to appeal to everyone over the weekend (including the food and drink connoisseurs who were treated to a fine selection of stalls, food trucks and local providers to create a festival feeling).   It was an ideal way for some of our other athletes to come up and support the TA family and get involved at the same time.  With Team Burns (4 athletes!!!!), Naomi Ryan and Megan Cahill all making the trek up the highway and Jess Sammut from TA Tassie (recently relocating to Melbs), the journey did not go unrewarded. 

The Burns family managed to make a clean sweep on the podium over the weekend (should we mention that the girls outdid Dad with their 3 x 1st places and his meagre 2nd place #insidejoke).  Riley and Lara kicked it off, taking out the win in their respective age categories in the Enticer on Saturday (Riley was 1st overall female) and they'd left a hard target to beat for the rest of the family in the sprint race.  Tegan arrived on Sunday focused on having some fun out there with instruction to test her swim. Instead, she found the familiar feet of Megan to lead her around the course and out of the swim with energy in the tank. This set both of them up to push each other out there in the heat with Tegan and Megan both winning their age groups respectively. Paul raced strong in the male field, and if you want to know how to mount and dismount the bike like a pro, spend some time with this guy.  His skillz are FIERCE!

Naomi, who was in her first race of the season, had hometown pressure on her back (just ask her about her dad's plans for her triathlon career...Hawaii next?!?)  But she took it all in her stride with the aim of just getting out there and enjoying the day and surprised herself with a sneaky 2nd place in her AG (her first podium place and extra medal for her collection)!

And Jess (making the long drive up on the morning) celebrated her birthday in style, smiling her way around Shepparton and earning a 5th place in her AG for her troubles.Great to have you as part of the VIC team, Jess!

CITY 2 SEA

And whilst a lot of attention was on the north of the state, there was also an iconic running event taking place in the Melbourne.  City 2 Sea follows a 15km course, from the Arts Centre to St Kilda.  We had a few athletes participating (make sure you let us know if you also competed) on Sunday, with great results.

Congratulations to Stephen Bond on his 2^nd place in the 60-69 AG and Carly Williams with a time PB in the 15kms event and Chloe Turner (IST athlete and TA friend) with a 5km PB too! 

SHOUT OUT

A little shout out to long-time athlete and friend Michelle Grocock.  We are wishing all the best this weekend to this amazing lady who is competing in her 8th Ironman at Ironman Arizona.  Follow her on Ironman live . Bib number 936.  And check out her social pages for some incredible pics!

PEAK WEEKEND

~ The time is here for our Busselton athletes ~

If you are out and about Sunday, feel free to volunteer some support for our Ironman Western Australia athletes who are completing their 33-36 km long run from 8am Sunday morning.  We will have around 10 of them out there and it would be great to show them our support.  Meet at Elwood at 7am for a swim or 8am for the run.