Berkel and Ferguson on top in Western Australia
Tim Berkel outran his hero and two-time Western Australia champion Jason Shortis to take the men’s title, and Gina Ferguson led wire to wire, broke 9 hours, and held off defending champion Charlotte Paul to take the women’s crown at Ironman Western Australia Sunday.
Ferguson, a 28-year-old violinist with the Christchurch, New Zealand Symphony who began triathlon in 2005, capped off a breakthrough Iron-distance year with a race-record 8:59:24, that gave her a 7 minute, 10 second margin of victory over defending champion Charlotte Paul.
The men
Berkel, a 24-year-old Port Macquairie resident who took 4th at Ironman Australia in April, broke into a 3 minute lead after the bike, then withstood a furious charge at 18 miles of the run by the 38-year-old Shortis. Berkel then put the hammer down the rest of the way to finish 3 minutes 51 seconds ahead in an overall time of 8 hours 7 minutes 6 seconds.
"He got closer and closer and I thought 'I'm in trouble now,'" Berkel told IronmanLive.com after finishing with a race-best 2:48:51 run. "But everyone said 'Don’t let him beat you,' so I sat on his shoulder and then I left him."
Berkel was greeted at the finish line by the pop tune "I’m Too Sexy" and a few thousand cheering spectators.
Shortis told IronmanLive.com he thought he had bagged his third Ironman Western Australia title to accompany his 2004 and 2006 wins when he caught Berkel with 7 miles to go. But then the young man, who said Shortis was his idol, slammed the door shut. "I think I did good out there," said Shortis, who ran a third-best 2:51:37. "But I got beat by a better athlete on the day. Well done to young Timmy!"
Australian Luke McKenzie led out of the water with a 48:05 swim, followed closely by Luke Bell and 2000 Olympic triathlon bronze medalist Jan Rehula. The duo of McKenzie and Bell then put 2 minutes 20 seconds on a crowd which included Berkel and Shortis, Denmark’s Jimmy Johnsen, 2006 ITU Duathlon World Champion Leon Griffin, Chris Dmitrieff, Gavin Scott, and Paul Wisniewski.
On the blazing fast bike, enhanced by a pool table flat course, light winds and Australian summer heat, Denmark’s Johnsen rode to a 40-second lead with a 4:24:52, with Shortis, Berkel, Simon Billeau, Joshua Rix, Griffin, and Wisneiwski arriving in tight formation. While the pro men’s bike times were fast, they could not match age grouper Matt Illingworth, who broke Mitch Anderson’s race record bike split by a few seconds in a time of 4:17:25. Illingworth then ran 3:57:24 and finished 49th in 9:20.
Berkel quickly charged into the lead on the run, building a 1:56 lead on Oscar Galindez by halfway, with McKenzie 2:21 back in third, Griffin 2:40 back in 4th, Billeau 2:45 back in 5th and Shortis lagging further in 6th. By the finish, Shortis and McKenzie hung steady in 2nd and 3rd, with Jimmy Johnsen 9 minutes 37 seconds back of Berkel in 4th, Billeau another 2 minutes back in 5th. Griffin, in his Ironman debut, finished with a 3:06:10 marathon to take 6th in 8:24:41, and Galindez faded in the heat to a 3:08:35 marathon to take 7th in 8:27:28.
The women
Ferguson led from the start, taking the lead on the swim with a 50:30 clocking, padding her margin to 7:46 after a race-best 4:56:42 bike, and holding off the 35-year-old mighty mite Charlotte Paul with a second-best 3:09:06 run.
Ferguson's race is even more impressive when taking into consideration she received a huge blister when stung on the chin by a jelly fish before the start, then got punched in the head and had her goggles knocked off three times during the swim. To top off the distractions, her left aero bar and her drinking bottle came loose at 80km, so she rode the next 100km holding the aero bar and the drink bottle in place.
Ferguson's win at Western Australia was her third at the Iron distance, after taking the 2007 Ironman Wisconsin in course record time, and breaking Belinda Granger’s course record at Challenge Wanaka early this year. "One interesting fact is that it seems I only win races beginning with a W," she wrote in her post-race blog.
Ferguson has now firmly established herself as a rising star at the Ironman distance, having broken the 9-hour mark twice, taking third place behind Yvonne Van Vlerken and Erika Csomor at Quelle Challenge Roth this summer in 8:57. Ferguson also finished 8th in 9:36:53 in her debut at Ironman Hawaii.
2008 Ironman Western Australia
Busselton, Australia December 7, 2008
S2.4 mi/ B 112 mi/ R 26.2 mi.
Top 10 men
1. Tim Berkel (AUS) 8:07:06
2. Jason Shortis (AUS) 8:10:57
3. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 8:12:45
4. Jimmy Johnsen (DEN) 8:18:43
5. Simon Billeau (FRA) 8:20:32
6. Leon Griffin (AUS) 8:24:41
7. Oscar Galindez (ARG) 8:27:28
8. Chris Dmitrieff (AUS) 8:28:29
9. Gavin Scott (AUS) 8:32:22
10. Joshua Rix (AUS) 8:33:22
Top 10 women
1. Gina Ferguson (NZL) 8:59:24
2. Charlotte Paul (AUS) 9:06:34
3. Kat Baker (AUS) 9:37:24
4. Sarah Pollett (AUS) 9:39:21
5. Nicole Ward (AUS) 9:43:12
6. Alison Coyle (AUS) 9:45:23
7. Vicki Jones (NZL) 9:48:24
8. Renee Simons (AUS) 9:53:38 (F25-29)
9. Bridget Fry 9:55:30 (F30-34)
10. Leanne Southwell 9:56:23 (F35-39)
