WHEN Scott Foreman rides and runs along Island Road in the famous Bridge to Bridge on the weekend, he will be using it as just another training drill to prepare for his 20th ironman distance race this year.
“I have been preparing for events by mixing up my training. I race short handicapped triathlons in Echuca or Moama most Wednesday nights. So if you are a backmarker you have to work hard,” the Cohuna farmer said.
If there was ever a face and a local story to promote the 23rd edition of the event, which originated as a pub bet between two local men to swim from Daltons Bridge to the town bridge, Mr Foreman would be the one after more than 20 years of competing in varying events.
Last year he won and broke the senior long course triathlon record with a time of 57 minutes and four seconds and finished fifth in the 50-kilometre bike race last year.
“I am also competing in the long distance Ironman Australia Triathlon in Port Macquarie in May. So I am trying to clock up plenty of swim, bike, run kilometres,” he said.
“I am aiming to complete my 20th ironman distance race this year – 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run.”
Mr Foreman will compete in the long course again tomorrow night at 5pm, before returning on Sunday morning for the 50km pedal.
“I have done swim and run events on the Sunday as well in the past, but I use it as extra training,” he said.
“My open water swimming is pretty much limited to the freshwater most of the time, making use of the long summer weather to swim in the creek or river.”
Mr Foreman will join more than 700 locals and visitors for Cohuna’s biggest major annual multi-sports event, which raises funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital and Cohuna District Hospital.
Competitors will swim, cycle, paddle, run and walk through Gunbower Island and its attractive surrounds.
In its fourth year, the Gunbower Island Bridge to Bridge Triathlon will feature the senior triathlon, legends triathlon, senior short course triathlon and junior triathlon.
Organisers have been forced to cancel all open water swimming and canoe and kayak events – the eight-kilometre swim, 1.2-kilometre swim, 8.5-kilometre canoe and 15-kilometre kayak – after high levels of blue-green algae detected in the Gunbower Creek.
The 6.5-kilometre fun run/walk, 25-kilometre bike ride, 50-kilometre bike ride and 6.5-kilometre junior bike ride will still go ahead as scheduled.
The team challenge is again a feature on the program, made up of at least three competitors per team, completing the 1.2-kilometre swim in the Cohuna Swimming Pool, 25-kilometre ride and 6.5-kilometre walk.
The swimming leg of tomorrow’s triathlon will also now take place in the Cohuna Swimming Pool.
The Made Local Farmers Market will return for the second successive year at Garden Park on the Sunday from 9am to 1pm.
Fresh produce, homemade cakes, art and craft, clothing and food stalls will be provided, with live music entertainment before the event presentations at 12.30pm.
To enter events, visit www.bridgetobridge.org.au and complete the entry form, or fill one out at the Gateway to Gannawarra Visitor Centre at Cohuna.
