Friend earns right to tackle Ironman World Championship

Friend finished the Australian Ironman held at Port Macquarie on the weekend in a time of 9 hours and 45 minutes and as a result booked himself a start in the world famous event at Kona, Hawaii on October 10 later this year.

Friend, 35, earned one of just 70 slots awarded from Ironman Australia by finishing in the top 10 of the 35-39 years category.

It was his fourth attempt in the 3.8km, 180km ride and 42km marathon event and his first time qualifying for the prestigious Ironman World Championship.

Tired and sore but ecstatic about his achievement, Friend said on Monday ideal conditions helped him get over the line and realise his goal that he had been working towards solidly for the past three years.

“The conditions were nice and cool and fortunately everything went to plan,” Friend said.

“I paced myself well and while I’m a little bit sore I felt pretty good at the finish all things considered.

“I’m grateful to the other competitors from Dubbo Triathlon Club. We all train together and push each other and without that it would be much more difficult.”

Fellow Dubbo triathlete Robert Duffy, who has competed in previous Australian Ironman events, said Friend was the first male from this region to qualify for the Ironman World Championship.

“There will be about 1500 competitors in Hawaii including the best in the world from ages 18 to about 70,” Duffy said.

“Simon is quite an exceptional athlete and was at the pointy end of the field all day at Port Macquarie which is incredible considering the top 40 were all professional athletes.”

Dubbo’s Mick Broomfield was not too far behind Friend in a time of 10 hours 46 minutes. Scott Stevenson (11 hours 10 minutes), Adam Watt (13 hours 1 minute), Peter Christie (13 hours 11 minutes) and Doug Beal (16 hours 48 minutes) were the other Dubbo Triathlon Club members to finish the race.

“It’s one of those races in which no one gets through unscathed,” Duffy said.

“For example Peter Christie hit the wall with about 20 kilometres to go in the marathon and nearly collapsed, but he got home.

“Mick Broomfield was throwing up on the bike leg and had mechanical difficulties yet he still ran a personal best marathon.

“Doug Beal had real trouble in both feet and could barely walk, but he made it home with 12 minutes to spare.

“It’s just a question of where you’re going to get difficulties and how much they will hurt.”

Friend said the recovery period from Sunday’s race could be as long as a month with a “couple of easy weeks” training followed by a week off before getting back into full training and preparing for October.

While the distances of the Hawaiian event will be the same, the heat and humidity will be an extra factor to contend with.

“It will be hard to adapt to the conditions,” Friend, who arrived back in Dubbo late yesterday, said.

“It could be as hot as 35 degrees and the heat and humidity makes it the hardest rated event in the world.”