Locals race to podium finishes at Goondiwindi triathlon event

The annual Hell of the West Triathlon event took place in Goondiwindi on Sunday, March 26 and was well-supported by Narrabri and Wee Waa participants.

Two local teams excelled as they secured podium placements, and Narrabri High School teacher Clayton Pursche completing the gruelling event on his own.

The race comprises a 2km swim in the Macintrye River, an 80km cycle leg and a 20km run.

Pursche lined up for the first time to compete in the individual category and produced an outstanding result with a final time of 5:57 hours.

That included a sensational swim time of 40 minutes.

Wee Waa’s Georgie Haire, Moree’s Renaye Madden and Narrabri’s Pippy Donaldson placed third in the female teams event at the Hell of the West Triathlon in Goondiwindi on Sunday.

Narrabri’s Pippy Donaldson and Wee Waa’s Georgie Haire teamed up with Moree’s Renaye Madden and they competed in the open female teams category.

They placed second with an overall time of 5:29 hours.

Donaldson got them off to a great start, being the first team competitor out of the water with a phenomenal time of 34 minutes.

That was only six minutes behind the fastest elite female athlete on the day.

Haire was up next and produced an outstanding ride with a time of 2:51 hours in tough head wind conditions to help the team maintain its lead, and then Madden brought it home with the run in just under two hours to secure their podium position.

Narrabri’s James Thomas, Dave Boyle and Mitch Carrigan competed in the male teams event and placed third.

Carrigan got them off to a good start in the swim, and the team was in fourth position heading into the cycle leg.

It was Thomas on the bike and he got the team into third position after a 2:32-hour time on the ride, and then Boyle produced a gutsy effort during the run to achieve a personal best time of 1:44 hours and help the team secure a third-place position with an overall time of 5:08 hours.

The overall individual winner for the day at the 2023 Hell of the West event was Max Neumann, who broke the course record with a final time of 3:20 (25-minute swim, 1:44-hour bike at 51km/hour average speed and a 1:06-hour run).