Luke McKenzie on Cairns Half

(Luke is one of JH's sponsored athletes)

I am happy to report it has been a successful week for me in North Queensland. On Sunday I took my first career Half Ironman victory on Australian soil, winning the inaugural Lake Tinaroo Half Ironman (formerly known as the Cairns Half Ironman).

The new race location proved to be very popular and the gamble of moving the race from the busy city center of Cairns up to the quieter rural country of the Atherton Tablelands has definitely paid off for race organiser Scott Penny.

As we were hurrying to the swim start area for final briefing, the dawn revealed a thick fog over Lake Tinaroo. It was a very erie feeling looking out over the course.

It seemed like it was going to be a navigational nightmare, especially since the only swim googles I had were dark tint! I couldn't even see the first swim bouy! Matt Clark and myself established ourselves as leaders early on in the swim and we emerged from the water with a good gap on the rest of the field.

At the beginning of the bike leg the fog was still very thick but we got out into the open fields of the Atherton Tablelands it started to lift and gave way to clear blue skies. Matt and I swapped the lead several times during the bike and then further opened our gap going into the run.

My strategy was to ride as conservatively as possible over the 90km as I know the race was going to won on the run. Leaving transition I felt great and I knew I had a good run in me. I moved quickly into the lead and pushed the pace to 3.45 min/km over the first 5km loop to establish a good lead. The run course followed the undulating shoreline of Lake Tinaroo and the Tinaroo Dam wall which made for a spectacular backdrop!

By the half way mark of the run I knew I had the winning gap and I just had to keep a steady pace to the line but I seemed to find myself still pushing and pushing. I was really able to bring it home strong over the final 5km which gives me great confidence in the preparation for the Aussie summer of racing. I finished in 4.02.44, crossing the line seven minutes ahead of Matt Clark who held onto 2nd place ahead of a fast finishing Carmine Soriano of Melbourne.

A Special thanks to my awesome team of sponsors:LITESPEED, REAL DESIGN, VISION, FULL SPEED AHEAD, FI:ZI'K,SIDI, TUFO, GOLD COAST TRIATHLETE, FUELBELT, HIGH 5,SMITH, QUINTANA ROO & LIVING WELL

WWW.LUKEMCKENZIE.COM