Where did the koala cross the road? Ironman Australia, of course
Sam Appleton set a new course record, while first year pro Regan Hollioake took the women's race ... but a koala almost stole the show
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
Leave it to the koala to try and steal the show! With a new course record and a rookie win highlighting the pro races, a local koala bear managed to garner lots of attention at this weekend’s Ironman Australia race. During the race in Port Macquarie, a koala known in the area as “Big Boy” decided that he needed to cross the run course at one point to get to a gum tree for a snack. Local resident Jason Hannah captured a video of the koala crossing the race course.
According to a story posted on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) site (click on the link to see the video of “Big Boy” crossing the road), Hannah is familiar with the koala.
“He lives behind our place, so we see him every day, he goes over there every couple of days and sits in the gum trees on the riverside,” Hannah told the ABC.
Wildlife crossing a race course is hardly new – monkeys and snakes are routinely seen along the course at Ironman Malaysia, and we documented a story of a bear seen on the course at the Toughman Triathlon a few years ago (see below).
Appleton and Hollioake take titles
While “Big Boy” might have been grabbing a lot of the social media attention from the race, American-based Australian Sam Appleton was setting a new course record to win the men’s race.
“I’m pretty tired but stoked, really, really happy, it was a tough day,” said Appleton. “I feel I had some pretty good training leading in to this so I knew I could race pretty well but I didn’t really expect to be kind of on my own the whole day up until Mike (Phillips) caught me on the run and then we had a bit of a battle for the back half of the marathon which was really exciting, but I would have preferred a bit more space to be honest. It feels great to win, I was third last year so to come back and improve on that is really good, in front of my mum who lives here, my dad drove up from Sydney, my brother, so in front of friends and family is really special.”
First-year pro Regan Hollioake took the women’s win.
“I’m totally overwhelmed, it’s a dream come true, to win at home on such a beautiful course it’s just incredible,” said Hollioake. “I actually struggled a bit in the swim and the start of the bike, it took me about three and a half hours to get going today but then it just clicked and I found my legs, the tail end of the bike was great and then the run just felt really smooth and really only pinched in the last six kilometres I think.”
Ironman Australia – Men’s Professional Results
- Sam Appleton – 7:57:32
- Mike Phillips – 7:59:19
- Ben Hill – 8:01:51
- Henrik Goesch – 8:04:10
- Steve McKenna – 8:08:03
- Tim Van Berkel – 8:16:55
- Kyle Tremayne – 8:58:06
- Nathan Dortmann – 9:03:29
- Brett Clifford – 9:10:54
Ironman Australia – Women’s Professional Results
- Regan Hollioake – 9:02:03
- Radka Kahlefeldt – 9:10:59
- Kate Gillespie-Jones – 9:15:45
- Danyella Eberle – 9:38:04
- Emily Donker – 9:44:46
- Dede Griesbauer – 10:12:39
