Triathletes qualify for Canada event
Two Karratha triathletes secured their places at the 2014 Ironman World Championships in Canada with top performances at the Ironman 70.3 Mandurah half-marathon.
Shannon Tunstead and Tania Neeson, from Nickol Bay Tri Club, will travel to North America next year after successful showings in the November 10 event.
Tunstead ranked 122nd in the overall competition, and 17th in the 35 to 39 years division, clinching the final qualifying spot with a time of 4hrs. 46min. 8sec.
Just under two minutes slower than the time he recorded in 2012, Tunstead said the conditions were "pretty tough".
"The Mandurah 70.3 is one of my favourite races, this is only the second time they've run it but I like the course, the swim leg is in the canals instead of an ocean swim, no other race has that," he said.
Neeson also had a successful day, finishing as the 44th female, and seventh in the 40 to 45 years division.
"The course was awesome but the run was a killer because of the heat," she said.
"It's exciting that I'll be able to represent Australia and awesome to get a holiday to Canada."
Neeson said she trained between 14 and 20 hours a week but sometimes found it gets hard to fit in training between three kids and teaching full time.
The other NBTC triathletes to compete in the Mandurah event were Peter O'Neill, Gail Greensill, Jason Geike, Stacey Taranto, Nathan Hughes and John Raphael.
Vice president Peter O'Neill said he was proud to see the NBTC represented at the Mandurah event.
"It was especially great to see two of our committee members Shannon Tunstead and Tania Neeson obtain places at the 70.3 Ironman world championships in Canada next year," he said.
"We have our 2013-14 season commencing on December 1 and it will be a good opportunity for people to get down for our first race and experience what triathlon has to offer.
"This also goes to show how the NBTC has grown in strength over recent years."
The local season opens at Dampier Palms on Sunday December 1, starting at 7am.
O'Neill said it would be a good opportunity for anyone interested to experience what triathlons had to offer.
For more information about the upcoming season, call O'Neill on 0448 777 218.
