MARK Thinee has won all three rounds of the Race to the Creek series.
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In the final round on Sunday morning at Lake Moondarra Thinee completed the race in 1 hour, 4 minutes and 17 seconds.
“I’ve either peaked too early or I’ve got it spot on,” Thinee said, mindful of the upcoming Dirt N Dust triathlon which he will be entering.
He feels the strain having competed in a triathlon every weekend the last month; including at Mooloolaba, and in the Cloncurry Heat’s Olympic distance.
On Sunday he held a comfortable lead of almost five minutes on second placer Leon Bennett, who finished the swim behind leader Bret Wessels, Michael Adendorff, and Thinee.
“I had some work to do on the bike,” Bennett said. “I usually catch these boys on the bike .
“They were aiming on staying ahead of me and they did. I got past Michael and Bret on the run.
“But Mark as usual was awesome and pretty well untouchable at the front.”
Bennett said he was ready for Dirt N Dust but had to recover from injuries.
“There’s nothing a bit of training and another fortnight can’t recover,” he said.
The results of this round would have been the same except that Adendorff squeezed Wessels out of third place.
Adendorff was the best in the swimming, but had higher times for his cycling and running. His result ensured his win in the masters category for the series.
He said he was happy with his cycling. It had helped that there was no wind.
He finished on a time of 1 hour, 10 minutes and 10 seconds, and only a minute and eight seconds behind Bennett.
Adendorff said he reached his personal best time.
He also prepares for Dirt N Dust.
“I want to finish and place in the top 20.
“I just need to do a bit more running. The swimming is good.”
Michelle Ball won the series in the women’s sprint. She continued her success on Sunday from the previous round by winning on a time of 1 hour 15 minutes and 21 seconds.
Ball had been the fourth one out of the water.
Second placer Bonnie Collins had led the transition from the water to the bike, but the minute lead she had Ball was lost in the cycling. She finished at a time of 1 hour 18 minutes and 36 seconds.
In third place was Tammy Green. She completed the race with a time of 1 hour 22 minutes and 43 seconds. Green won the sprint masters female in the series.
Other series sprint winners included; veteran female Rosina Oliver, open team Ron Pickering, Karen Hall and Fiona Bryant,
The series enticer winners were; open male Tristan Nicholson, open female Holly Green, masters male David McPherson, masters female Tonia Epstein, veteran female Dale Rackham.
Motivation and inspiration awards went to Felicy Leon, Morgan Casey, Bret Wessels and Tom Lechte.
Buffs Club lucky entrants went to Janelle Stuart-Russell, Darcy Green, Karen Coe, Bonnie Anderson and Tom Lechte.
