The Straddie Salute Offroad Triathlon & Teams Challenge

By Duncan Tillman

When an event director friend of mine, John Guise, asked me if I wanted to compete in a triathlon that he was organising in Brisbane it was fair to say that I had my doubts. The Straddie Salute, he said, was a race with a difference. I'm not a triathlete and… to be honest… it’s been a few years since I was an athlete of any description. After enduring some incessant peer pressure and exhausting all possible out-clauses I reluctantly signed up. John assured me that it would be well worth the trip. I still had my doubts.

After 10 weeks of “shock training” and a flight to Brisbane I found myself en route to the venue of the Straddie Salute, North Stradbroke Island. “Straddie” as it is known to the locals is a 40 minute drive and a 45 minute car ferry from Brisbane airport. The island is a local icon but, remarkably, does not feature in many international tourist guides or holiday escape TV shows. I soon discovered that this relative anonymity is one of the island’s many charms.

With whale watching, beautiful beaches and some top surf breaks the island has everything some of the more popular Queensland island destinations do… thankfully without the price tag. Hooking up with 5 other friends we rented a beach house at Point Lookout with ocean views for a week for $1200. Friday and Saturday was spent exploring the island, catching up with friends and some late carbo loading at the Straddie Beach Hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The view from the pub was worth the trip alone. My doubts were starting to fade.…

Sunday morning dawned fine with some high cloud and a “mild” temperature of 24 degrees - perfect race conditions the assembled field of 110 competitors was told. Walking from the race HQ down to the beach start the excitement was palpable. The race briefing for this inaugural event had been deliberately kept to a minimum, with details of the course a relative mystery.

All that competitors knew was that we were about to face a 600m ocean swim, an 18 km road and off-road cycle and an 8km coastal run. As I stood on Home Beach watching the waves roll in my heart was doing cartwheels. I exchanged a look of mutual fear with the big guy in the boardies beside me. Two minutes to the start. My doubts returned... en masse.

Boom! The gun sounded and we were off. Conceding immediate defeat in the race to the water with the big guy in the boardies I high-kicked my way through the shallows behind him and dived in. The water was surprisingly tepid and a sense of relief washed over me as I thrashed my way through the light surf. I was soon in the clear blue water and found a rhythm of sorts. I emerged triumphant from the water 10 minutes later and shuffled my way up the beach to Transition 1, the field around me already well stretched.

Jumping on my mountain bike I immediately felt more comfortable and headed out on the first short stretch of sealed road before hitting about 5km of 4WD bush trail. Passing a fallen cyclist (he’d obviously borrowed his mountain bike!) a competitive pulse surged through me. Reeling in 4 more cyclists on the large sealed uphill a growing sense of self-belief took hold. After an exhilarating 3km downhill on a four wheel drive track I hit Transition 2, an oasis in the middle of the Aussie bush. As I racked my bike I excitedly noted that no more than a dozen bikes were already there.

I downed a quick water at the drinks station and followed the arrows down a sandy trail, feeling more than a little disorientated. The trail was a semi-dry creek bed which was now flowing thanks to some recent rains and I tried unsuccessfully to stay on the dry sand, much to the amusement of some local kangaroos. A few minutes later I stumbled out on to a windswept beach and a race official waved me down the beach where, in the distance, I could make out a surf lifesaving clubhouse.

Quietly thanking my event director friend for ensuring that the tide was out I made my way along the hard packed sand, trying to close the gap to the runner in front. Glancing back I saw another runner emerge from the sandy trail and tried to pick up the pace. With aching legs I finally reached civilisation in the form of the Main Beach patrolled area. The cheers of the beach go-ers gave me a temporary spring in my step as I climbed up off the beach to the start of the coastal track.

The hard beach slog was soon forgotten as I took my first few steps along what is the jewel in the Straddie Salute crown, the Gorge track run. Following the cliff-tops along a rocky headland I looked out at the crystal blue waters of the Pacific and, for a second, forgot completely about the task at hand. The view was simply breathtaking. Hoping to catch a glimpse of a passing humpback (one competitor did) I happily settled for a few seagulls and a couple of yachts. Empowered by the awesome seascape I strode on towards the finish, zigzagging my way along the coastal track before dropping down to the final beach section.

After 1 hour and 44 minutes I crossed the finish line of the inaugural Straddie Salute in a respectable 10th place, exhausted, relieved… and invigorated.

As I shook John’s hand and reflected on what I had just done, I knew he was right. This was definitely a race with a difference.

The 2009 Straddie Salute will be held on Sunday 11th October. For information go to www.weekendwarriorevents.com.au