Tim Berkel

Having come out of the Port Macquarie Half a little disappointed with my race, I was excited to return to Shepparton, where I raced my first Half Ironman, and I was far more relaxed (I have to say), than two weeks previous at Port Mac. The calm nerves seemed to be a good omen because I had such an enjoyable race and was relieved and stoked to have some good form and an awesome result !

The swim around Kialla Lakes gave me a good start and by the second buoy I found I was in the lead, and from there I led the swim out of the water with about 12 seconds on the group with a time of 24:49, a great feat for me as swimming is usually my weaker leg.

I got onto the bike where I was quickly joined by fellow Port Mac training mate, Adam Holborow and we had a nice little lead on the chase group. I was feeling awesome on the bike, considering the rain and wind, and ended up averaging over 40km/hr. With about 10 km to go, I was feeling good and got a gap on Adam, entering transition with 1:20 on him and 6 mins on the chase group, with a fastest ride of the day, a time of 2:14.

I got onto the run feeling pretty good and was able to maintain a solid pace throughout, and came across the line, lapping up my first win and PB of 3:58:36, with the legend Pete Murray once again calling me in as Commentator. In all it was an awesome race for me, I really enjoyed it and was happy with the form I had on the day.

A big thanks to all the support from my mates on the day and a congratulations to some notable efforts: Adam Holborow and John Cornish who were doing an awesome job on the ride before they flatted, a bit of bad luck guys.

1. TIM BERKEL 3:58:36
2. Matt White 4:03:48
3. Troy Drinigan 4:05:14
4. Adam Holborow 4:08:45
5. Klayten Smith 4:14:39