Ironman helps kick off charity triathlon event
Tue 30 June 2009
Alexander Powell, Journalism
The Westpac Tour de Tri was held at Stockland Park in Kawana on Saturday June 6 and Sunday June 7, 2009, but the man responsible for the event did not compete.
Brisbane Triathlon Squad (BTS) owner and head coach Mark Turner initiated the charity event in 2008 when he completed three ironman challenges in three consecutive days.
“I’ve always wanted to do something extreme, but I felt if I was going to do it, it should be to benefit others, I couldn’t do something like that for personal glory,” Mr Turner said.
However, Mr Turner had suffered with fatigue issues since completing in 2008, and had not been training enough to justify participating in the 2009 event.
“I will be there helping with the volunteers, and many of the BTS are competing, but I am still exhausted from last year,” Mr Turner said.
The “moment of insanity” had grown in its second year into a 24 hour team and solo event run by USM Events.
Teams and solo competitors would have the chance to complete as many laps of the course as possible in the 24 hour event, which was to run from 1pm Saturday June 6, 2009 until 1pm Sunday June 7, 2009, and the 6 hour course which started at 7am Sunday.
The course surrounded Stockland Park in Kawana, and was a 300m swim, 9km cycle and 3km run.
The swim was to be completed in a heated pool, and both the cycle and run were on the circuits of the surrounding roads.
USM Events event coordinator Anthony Peterman believed there was a lot of potential for more endurance sporting events on the coast.
“We are expecting about 200 people to compete, as well as a fair amount of on-the-day entrants, but we have a lot of people wanting to do it without registering,” said Mr Peterman.
The event was a fundraiser for the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR), which was a police charity for the Special Olympics that were to be held in Adelaide in April, 2010.
As a former Queensland police officer and father to a boy who has struggled with health issues, Mr Turner was keen to involve the LETR in the event.
“It’s a good chance to give a worthy cause some exposure and it has the fitness link as well,” Mr Turner said.
The event was to act a precursor to many of the Coast’s larger sporting events, such as the Noosa Enduro Cycling Race and the world-class Noosa Triathlon.
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