Matty White

Shepparton 70.3 (The story behind the story)

I usually wait a few days to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard (yes, literally one finger per letter) to write a race report but I feel I need to so I can clarify what actually happened on the weekend at Shepparton 70.3 which incidentally is one of my favourite races of the year.

I arrived at Shepparton on the Friday without the long 10 hour drive under my belt this time as I flew into Melbourne and hired a car, I was lucky enough to be hosted at the fantastic Shepparton Quest Apartments which was opposite the new aquatic centre. So a big thanks to Simone and the crew for facilitating this, adding to the great organisation of this event was a prelude welcome night on Friday evening where dignitaries got to meet the pro athletes and mingle in a nice environment.

The weather for race weekend was perfect really with slight overcast skies and warmish conditions, so I was thinking that times would be fast. For me personally I was in no mans land after injuring my calf last week just before flying out to Port Mac 70.3. I have never experienced an injury before, so I was not sure how the body would stand up to a major 70.3 race. I had been having intense Physio from my great sponsors at Back in Motion and the calf had been getting better most of the week even though I decided not to push it by testing it too much.

The night before the race I went for a light jog with my mate Tim Berkel and it felt ok which gave me a lot of confidence, and as I was feeling fit I decided to have a good crack at defending my title from last year. Race started at 7am and it was off to a cracker with noted swimmer Matty Bailey and Paul Ambrose setting a fast pace. The passed few weeks I changed a few things with my swim stroke and felt great in the water settling in behind the 2 leaders and was comfortable with Ollie Whistler on my feet. We exited the water with about a minute on the chasers of Leon Griffen, Rix, Berkel and Co so I was off to a great start except when I stepped out of the water and up the bank into transition where I felt my calf twinge. I knew this was not good and the run toward the bike confirmed this! Check the FOTB video which captures the moment when it happens…and I apologise in advance for the language I used!

http://www.firstoffthebike.com/races/2477-703-shepparton-updated-to-include-race-video

At this point I decided to keep going onto the bike as I knew I could still ride but in the back of my mind I was not going to run a hard 21km on a torn calf, especially with Ironman WA in 3 weeks.

The ride for me was going great as I set the early pace with Bailey, Whistler and Ambrose. Ambrose dropped off early due to a virus and coming into the end of the 1st 45km lap we had a lead of about 40 seconds on a solo Griffen. This is where the DRAMA unfolded as I was in the lead at this point trying to drive the pace high to keep the chasers at bay. The main thing that most amateurs need to realise is that at this level and especially in half ironman these days the pace is so fast, and at this point we were averaging 43km/h for the first lap. If you put yourself in that position while leading a major race and add to the fact that you have followed this car at every turn point so far on that lap, then add some more adrenaline as you pass through a large crowd it is only instinctive that you will follow the lead vehicle around that point, especially when the round abouts are very similar.
No one stopped us or yelled at us that we went the wrong way and the lead vehicle just kept going so in my mind nothing had happened and the race was running its course.
This is not an opinion but it is what actually happened and was going though my own mind at this point in the course, I am not defending my actions or blaming anyone I am just getting the point across that this is what went through my mind at that time.

As I entered Transition to start running I was issued with a yellow card to which I didn’t really understand as I had received no notification on the course, so there was a bit of confusion and as you can see on the Video Peter guy and the TO’s did a good job of explaining it. I cant see the point of arguing as it gets you know where and full credit to Matty and Ollie who also did the same.

Fortunately for me I had a little bit of time to test the calf out while waiting for my 5 minutes to end, and the signs were not good as it was really tight so essentially I was not to upset as I couldn’t run anyway. I did feel bad for Bailey who would have had his best result if he didn’t get the penalty. Ollie on the other hand was in a state of massive confusion as he was issued with a yellow card on the course for drafting as well, speaking to Ollie after the race, he thought the 5 minute penalty in transition was for his drafting violation, he was not aware that he had 2 penalties hence the reason he was DQd at the finish.

Overall I hope this clears things up for people and the Shepparton Crew who worked so hard to put on a showcase event this year. These things are a learning experience for both the athlete and organiser. We should know the course and personally I was confident of the turn point as the roundabout are very similar, the lead car just put my mind set at rest and convinced me (which is not hard to do with a HR of about 180bpm and 45km/h!) Secondly I think it highlights the need for a separate pro briefing which happens at most events these days, as parts of the course like this need to be highlighted more so for the pros who will be leading the race at that time. There was no pro briefing at Shep this year which I believe will change next year after this event.

I was disappointed not to defend my title this year but I will certainly be back next year, also well done to the Shep Organising Committee for a great event, it’s just unfortunate that a small issue such as this can be highlighted in such a way as there were so many great positives of this race. On a personal note I am back at the physio trying to sort my calf out for Ironman WA, I know I am fit which is great but as is the case these days half the battle is just getting to the start line 100%.

Hope this clears everything up

Matty