About 180 competitors got a taste of triathlon when they turned out for the Whangarei leg of the Contact TriWoman series. The event, staged at Marsden Point, was the second leg of 10-event series organised by Triathlon New Zealand to get more women involved in the sport. Race co-ordinator and WhangareiTriathlon Club president Mike Gowing was delighted with the size of the field and the enthusiasm Northland women had shown.
"We are rapt because we can claim the top turnout of the series - we got more ladies here than the first event did at Narrowneck in Auckland last weekend," he said. While there were competitors from outside the region, who were contesting all the events at various venues, the majority of competitors were from Northland, Gowing said. The 300m swim was in waist-deep water next to Marsden Point Refinery, in perfect conditions, while the 10km bike went out to Marsden Cove and back, followed by a 3km run around the refinery.
And Olympic triathlete Sam Warriner was there at the finish line with a microphone to encourage entrants to tough it out in the final few metres of the race. Gowing said having the event in Northland was a positive move for the sport, as plenty of interest was generated for the sport, and for the Whangarei Triathlon Club. The next event is to be held at Wellington on February 6.
