Mud, Sweat and Cheers
The Salomon Tre-X Enduro was back for another year. It just wouldn’t be the same without a little bit of mud to make for an interesting day out. Get down and dirty with adventure racer Geoff Suess’ race action.
The rain started to fall on the drive out to Murrenbong Scout Camp, north of Brisbane – it was Salomon Tre-X Enduro time! It’s dubbed the Enduro due to the race’s unique format. The usual swim, bike, run is still the order of the day, but as you’re finishing the first run there’s a slight detour from the finish line and straight back into transition to throw off your shoes and dive back into the water to do it all again.
This is the third year I have raced the series and the traditional mud was back on Sunday, January 31. It was going to be a mountain biker’s course – strength and handling skills would be rewarded. Having previously ridden this course a few times, I chose not to do a warm up lap on the bike. I would have liked to get some heat and blood pumping before the start, but I didn’t take the risk in the rain. I started with a clean bike in good order with plenty of time to get covered in mud during the race.
The open category was the first to kick off for the Enduro. Ian Martin lead the men with a smoking swim time of 4:55 minutes and Connie Silvestri had 40 seconds lead with 5:58 minutes in the women’s event. Our age group (18-to-29) hit the water a few minutes later with Nick Madden leading the way with 5:56 minutes out of the water. I managed to keep in touch, leaving the water in six minutes.
