While Central NSW was wash in unwelcome floodwaters, so too was the nation's capital and Lake Burley Griffin which played host to the 10th Anniversary Half Ironman. Not only did Mother Nature stir up risky levels of bacteria in the lake, she also blew whole trees right across the swim course. As a result, race officials were forced to cancel the swim, making the final Half Ironman in the world (by that official name) a duathlon.

Further havoc was wreaked on sections of the bike course and so last minute contingency plans were put in place, shortening the 90km bike course to just 85km and removing the infamous hill out on Coppins Crossing. With competitors all now aware of the changes, the race was ready to start.

Sunny and warm conditions met the athletes on Sunday 12th December, in stark contrast to the past weeks weather which lead to water conditions being such that the swim was cancelled and replaced with a 4km run. Many of the river crossings remained inpassable and the cycle course was altered to five 17km laps. Conditions would play right into the hands of the runners and signal the demise of others who were challenged by running injuries.

Ben Bell was the fastest Illawarra athlete home. He had the fastest run split of the day, almost 2min faster than the eventual race winner, Ben took 3rd in the a tightly contested battle for the 35-39 category and 10th place overall. Next in was Luke Zweers for his first Half Ironman race, a solid cycle leg set Zweers up for a an excellent run to finish 9th in the 25-29 category.

Marijke Ralph and Erin Hargrave duelled all day, both in the 25-29 category and within the womens top 10. Erin set the race up with a fast first run, Marijke gradually but surely reelled her in on the cycle, exiting T2 with a 3min lead onto the run Marijke had a comfortable gap however with the fastest runner in the field breathing down her neck she knew she would have to keep the pressure on and run to the line. Marijke holding her out by just on a minute to take the with in the 25-29 category and 6th overall, with Erin taking 2nd in the 25-29 category and 7th overall.

Other notable mentions for the day were, Cathy Tulloh taking 1st in the 55-59 category with an outstanding cycle, Bob Scott 8th 55-59 category and fastest cycle split for the category yet again, Ed Birchall having a massive day on the cycle with an awesome split and Hugh Gilberg 4th 60-64 category.

It was also good to see Dean Marcinowski back racing long course triathlon. Dean raced well on the day with a great bike time. Josh Radford also posted a solid race as did Joshua Hammann, who is in training for his first Ironamn. Kerry Seadon has returned to triathlon after a winter of cycling – which paid off for a quick bike time. Congratulations also to Nathan McInnes who raced his first half Ironman at Canberra.

Unfortunatley 2 DNF's from Alex Price and James Egan, both of whom were having excellent races and both succumbed to ongoing lower limb injuries which were aggravated by the double run.

Well done to all!