Kerr, Gentle supreme in Noosa
Peter Kerr took the win at the star studded 2012 Noosa Triathlon over Ryan Fisher and Taylor Cecil. Ashleigh Gentle ran down bike leader Caroline Steffen to grab the win in the women's race.
After a 17:08 swim Clayton Fettell had a tiny advantage over a small bunch that included Josh Amberger, Joseph Lampe, Peter Kerr, James Seear, Taylor Cecil Ryan Fisher, 2012 Ironman Hawaii champion Pete Jacobs and defending Champion David Dellow.
In wet conditions on the road there were quite a few crashes and some athletes hit the deck more than once. Lampe managed to avoid the carnage and recorded a race best 56:27 bike split, and while Kerr, Fisher, Cecil, Atkinson and Sam Betten rode fine splits in the mid 57 range, others were not so lucky. Chris McCormack crashed a few times and soldiered on, but Craig Alexander crashed out and tweeted: "Unfortunately, I crashed out of the Noosa Tri early. Rain and a slick road brought me unstuck at a roundabout. Should have been more careful. Banged up hip, knee, elbow, rear dérailleur and ego. Doctors say I am still a definite starter for the after-party!" Amberger and Fettell did not finish the bike segment either, and Dellow and Jacobs just did not quite have it. Not surprising when thinking back on their efforts in Kona.
Kerr closed out his day with a 31:40 run and bested fellow young Pros Fisher and Cecil to the finish line in 1:45:35. "The emotion for me is coming from a year of nothing to this, winning Noosa Tri. There is a huge list of big names that win Noosa, and now I am one of them," said Kerr.
Melissa Hauschildt and Caroline Steffen had the fastest bike splits in Noosa, but only Steffen was close enough out of the water to make it actually count. Steffen reeled in swim leaders Nicky Samuels and Felicity Abram and managed to distance Liz Blatchford, Ashleigh Gentle and Felicity Sheedy Ryan with her 1:03:06 effort on the bike. Blatchford's 1:03:40 was quite respectable, but Sheedy-Ryan and Gentle had lost 30 seconds to Steffen during the swim and another 70+ seconds on the bike.
But Gentle blitzed the run course in 33:49 and hit the finish tape first with quite a comfortable margin over runner-up Sheedy-Ryan. Blatchford ran past Steffen to take the final podium spot.
Noosa Triathlon
Noosa, Australia / November 4, 2012
1.5k swim / 40k bike / 10k run
Top men
1. Peter Kerr (AUS) 1:46:35
2. Ryan Fisher (AUS) 1:46:51
3. Taylor Cecil (AUS) 1:47:25
4. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1:47:39
5. Kris Gemmell (NZL) 1:48:03
6. Joseph Lampe (AUS) 1:48:29
9. Chris McCormack (AUS) 1:49:15
13. James Seear (AUS) 1:50:19
Top women
1. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 1:58:57
2. Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) 2:00:24
3. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 2:00:41
4. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 2:01:05
5. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 2:02:14
6. Felicity Abram (AUS) 2:02:28
7. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) 2:02:57
8. Lisa Marangon (AUS) 2:05:09
