Des Moines 2nd - Bevan
27 June 2007
Well what can I say - this was certainly one race to have a good day! With a US$700,000 total prize purse and 200K + a Hummer for the winners of the male and female races the fields were stacked with the world’s best triathletes.
I was quietly optimistic - my training had been going well in Boulder Colorado and knew I was in some great running shape. The course itself wasn’t that difficult with only a small hill on each of the four lap run course, however throw into the equation 35 degree heat and humidity; it made for a very tough day.
While the men were setting up in transition we witnessed Laura Bennett take gold in the women’s race she was ecstatic with the win and I think about then it hit home what was on the line, the boys grew quieter.
When we hit the water it was all on Andy Potts from America was pushing the pace, unfortunately I found myself on the wrong feet and a small gap of 10 seconds opened up. In today’s world cup racing that can make the difference between the first and second groups.
Once I was on the bike I felt terrific, I was far stronger than most and drove our group hard until we finally caught the leaders after 2 laps of the 6 lap bike. It was here where I decided to play my cards, with such a large prize purse and extremely hot conditions I decided to just sit in the group, stay out of trouble and conserve energy for the run. By doing this I was relying on others to chase down attacks and even if one got away, hopefully the heat would get to them on the run.
Sure enough with 2 laps to go a small group of 7 got away there were some talented athletes in that group so I just crossed my fingers that they didn’t get too much time on us. By the time we entered transition they had about 1:10 on us - this was going to be close.
As expected all the running speedsters flew out of transition and for the first 2km the pace was intense, I just bid my time and sat on their shoulders, sure enough one by one they dropped off, Rana, Don, Bennett, Kahlefeldt until finally it was just myself and Gomez chasing down the leaders. The good thing about this pace was that we had already knocked 30 seconds out of the lead in the first of the 4 lap run. Admittedly Gomez pushed me to the limit over the first lap, however over each lap he grew weaker and I grew stronger.
Going into the 4th and final lap we were in 2nd and 3rd chasing down Rasmus Henning from Denmark who had $$$ in his eyes… with 1500m to go I surged on Gomez and he couldn’t react, but my surge was bitter sweet as I could see I was only racing for 2nd.
I entered the finishing straight to see Rasmus snatch US$200,000 from me, however I must admit he deserved it more than me with such a gutsy race. I was still overjoyed with 2nd - a healthy payday, some valuable points and a lot of confidence gained from running away from the worlds best.
Bevan
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