The heat was certainly on battling a sweltering Noosa Triathlon, but Launceston competitors kept their cool.
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No one perhaps summed that sort of mantra up more than rower-turned-triathlete Ali Foot did on Sunday.
From the 4214 resilient triathletes that took to the Sunshine Coast course, the Launceston 31-year-old had finished first across the line among all the age groupers.
“I was really happy with my race as the course was busy compared to our triathlons in Tassie,” Foot said.
Foot claimed 24th overall, but first of anyone aged over 30 in a time of 02:02:50. That was a win too hard to ignore.
Cutting all ties with rowing after heading to the London Olympics as a lightweight reserve, Foot plans to press on.
“I’d like to try and take it a bit further now,” he said.
“I’m now looking to race in a few ironman 70.3, which is a half-ironman distance.
“There’s one in Sydney in a couple of weeks.”
World No.3 Jake Birtwhistle had brought Foot into training to lift his levels.
But it was the Riverside 23-year-old who played second fiddle on Sunday coming off the back of a long northern hemisphere season.
Jumping onto the bike after getting out of the water more than a minute behind the leaders, Birtwhistle was forced to retire into the run.
“It was pretty hot out there, but I think after Jake had a nine month-plus racing season, it got to him,” Foot said.
“He’s just coming off that bronze medal at the world championships and it’s a pretty tough task to get back up for another one at Noosa.”
The other standout was Heidi Edmiston, who won the female 65kg-plus category.
The feat was made more remarkable for the 43-year-old in a fourth attempt after racing in 2015, 2016 and for the first time a decade ago.
“It was a really tough swim because the water was really rough,” Edmiston said.
“It was about 32 [degrees] on the run so for us Tasmanians, but I felt quite good.
“It was certainly my fastest time on that course.”
Edmiston would finish the iconic event in 2:47:20.
After spending a year on the outer, she decided to “get fit and have a bit of a crack”.
“I felt quite good in the end and I did deal with the heat pretty well,” Edmiston said.