Dellow, Rollison top Noosa
Veteran Aussie pro David Dellow won it on the run and sensational new triathlon pro and 2011 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Melissa Rollison actually earned most of her winning margin on the bike at the classic Noosa Triathlon Sunday.
Dellow’s 8th fastest 17:33 swim (which was just 12 seconds slower than Clayton Fettell’s race-best split), 2nd-fastest 55:21 bike and 3rd-best 33:41 run brought him home with a 1:46:36 time that was 33 seconds better than runner-up Paul Matthews and 1:13 better than third place James Seear.
Dellow became the first Sunshine Coast resident to win this classic race.
"It’s been a bit of a hoodoo because there have been plenty of good athletes from here and I've finished second twice which was frustrating," Dellow told Noosa Triathlon media. "I have been coming to this race for more than two-thirds of my life, at first to watch my Dad race, so it's great to win."
Dellow said he was aware that fellow Australian Paul Matthews was stalking him on the run. “I was checking over my shoulder during the last few hundred meters,” he told Noosa Triathlon media. “I know Matthews is pretty tough and I knew he wouldn’t give up but with a couple hundred meters to go I knew I had it.”
Three-time defending champion Courtney Atkinson, who had been hospitalized mid-week for stomach cramps, gave it a shot but faded to 14th. Atkinson hit the run three minutes down on the leaders and eventually finished 14th, more than six minutes behind race winner David Dellow. “It was probably a risk starting,” he told Noosa Triathlon media. “At half way I thought I was still in it. My swim was right on and I lead on the bike then just before half way on the bike suddenly my legs and my whole body just ran out of fuel. “
Two time Ironman World Champion and 1997 ITU World Champion Chris McCormack finished 10th.
Rollison, the first year triathlon pro who came from an international running background, gave up 2:40 with her 9th-best 21:39 swim, then stormed to second place with a race-best 1:02:30 bike that was 2:32 better than emerging ITU star Emma Jackson. Finally, Rollison threw a race-best 36:15 10k run at Jackson’s 37:07 to take the race by the throat and hit the tape in 2:00:25 with a 44-seconds margin on runner-up Jackson and 1:21 advantage on third place Kate McIlroy of New Zealand.
Rollison, as befitting a newly crowned Ironman 70.3 World Champion, improved on her 5th place finish at Noosa last year in one of her first ever pro races.
“It was amazing,” Rollison told Noosa Triathlon media. “I knew I would come out behind in the swim and I was hoping it would just be by about 2 minutes but didn’t realize it would be such a hard task. I gave it everything I could in the bike and the run. My aim was to just catch them all in the run and I did.”
Noosa Triathlon
Noosa, Australia
October 30, 2011
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Elite men
1. David Dellow (AUS) 1:46:36
2. Paul Matthews (AUS) 1:47:01
3. James Seear (AUS) 1:47:42
4. Clayton Fettell (AUS) 1:47:49
5. Ryan Fisher (AUS) 1:48:14
6. Bryce McMaster (AUS) 1:48:48
7. Clark Ellice (NZL) 1:49:21
8. Ryan Sissons (NZL) 1:50:04
9. Joseph Lampe (AUS) 1:51:04
10. Christopher McCormack (AUS) 1:51:37
Elite Women
1. Melissa Rollison (AUS) 2:00:25
2. Emma Jackson (AUS) 2:01:09
3. Kate McIlroy (NZL) 2:01:46
4. Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) 2:04:03
5. Matilda Raynolds (AUS) 2:08:28
6. Belinda Granger (AUS) 2:08:56
7. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) 2:09:01
8. Lisa Marangon (AUS) 2:09:30
9. Tara Prowse (AUS) 2:10:40
10. Chloe Turner (AUS) 2:10:51
