10th Anniversary of a Straddie icon

Offical Race Report

The 10^th Anniversary of the Straddie Salute Triathlon Festival was held at Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island on the weekend of May 20 & 21, 2017 and attracted the largest field of competitors that the island has ever seen. Despite a forecast of heavy rain in South East Queensland almost 900 people took part in a range of events including a fun run, ocean swim, kids duathlon and two triathlons.

In the Straddie Pure sprint triathlon it was Straddie newcomer Ryan Waddington who led an impressive field home in a time of 1:13.22 ahead of Travis Coleman and Luke Harvey. In the Women’s field it was Defending Champion Annelise Jefferies who held off a strong challenge by Felicity Abram before taking charge on the tough run course ahead of Abram and a fast finishing Mel Newton.

The Straddie Salute Triathlon saw Nicholas Free record the fastest run split of the day with 31.36 to claim the overall win from Defending Champion and current National Tri Cross Champion Brodie Gardner. Josh Campton finished in third place. In the Women’s Straddie Salute Kate Schultz showed great form to beat previous Champion Leela Hancox and Anne Alford. 2011 Champion Yoko Okuda-Thomsen made a popular return to the event to claim 4^th place.

In the Straddie Stride Fun Run it was Defending Champion Iain Bishop who again provided too strong while Lucy Whyte headed the Womens field and placed 2^nd overall behind Bishop. The Straddie 1000 Ocean Swim saw Ben Jimmieson return to defend his title while Meegan Hoare dominated the women’s field.

Event Director Steve Guise praised this year’s competitors saying “it was great to see the camaraderie shown by competitors across all our events this year. Despite the threat of rain and some choppy swim conditions everyone embraced the spirit of the event and the island – the feedback has been fantastic!”

Event organisers are planning to introduce some new initiatives to the event in 2019 after taking a break in 2018. “We are very excited about what the next ten years holds for the Straddie Salute” Guise said.

The Icon Events Team

From the start….

In 2008, 110 nervous competitors assembled on a start-line at Point Lookout not knowing what lay ahead in an event that promised an “adventure in nature’s playground” . Dubbed the Straddie Salute as a nod to the migrating humpbacks that grace the waters of North Stradbroke Island, the race was born as an offroad tri, and not one to be taken lightly.

30km of surf, sand, gravel and dirt later and the inaugural champions were crowned with Brisbane’s Dave Brown and Jacqui Kelly taking line honours.

Fast forward 10 years and the Straddie Salute has evolved into a multisport festival that caters for more than just those with the pioneering spirit.

With the Straddie Pure road tri introduced in 2012, an ocean swim and a fun run thrown into the mix the Straddie Salute has become a weekend away for mates, couples, groups and families. 2017 saw further expansion with the introduction of  StraddieKidz, a duathlon for 7 to 12 year olds.  2017 also featured a “Champions of Champions” field with past champions invited back to battle it out in the event’s historic 10th birthday celebrations on 20 May 2017.

_

_

RACE LOCATION

2017 EVENT SCHEDULE

Major Sponsors

Supporters