Race Report - Sam Betten on Round 2 of Queensland Tri Series

The Queensland Triathlon Series (presented by SCODY) is one of the biggest triathlon series in Australia and was one of the first triathlon events that I did over a decade and a half ago. It has been amazing to have seen the growth and evolution of the series over this time, and it is exhilarating to be able to be apart of the series each year.

Over the last few weeks since I finished 3rd at IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast training has been going well and the training data collected is looking very promising for my race fitness heading towards the end of this year. With this being said I was looking forward to racing over the Olympic distance at round 2 of the QLD Triathlon Series held at Robina on the Gold Coast. The 1.5KM swim was held in calm, fresh water and I kept the pace controlled throughout the entire swim leg exiting the water in a group of 3.

Heading onto the 40KM bike course I quickly put the hammer down, looking to establish a solo lead on the rest of the field. The 5 lap bike course meant that there were both opportunities to push hard on the long straights but also many u-turns where you had to slow down and then push hard to get back up to speed. I was pleased with being able to hold a good solid tempo over the 40KM ride and came into transition with a 40KM ride time of 54 minutes, 57 seconds. Heading out on the 10KM run leg the legs felt good and so I settled into a comfortable rhythm and focussed on making the most of the 3 lap run course with the goal of trying to run each lap a little quicker than the previous one. I managed to extend my lead and run well enough for a 10KM run split of 34 minutes and 11 seconds to cross the line in first place with an overall time of 1 hour 46 minutes and 57 seconds.