Burnett Heads athlete Ben Artup won today's Bargara Sprint Triathlon in the impressive time of 1:06:09, finishing 15 seconds ahead of David Wallace from Bundaberg.
The 44-year-old veteran, who has been competing in triathlons for 31 years, completed the course six minutes faster than previously in May.
The event involved swimming 750 metres in choppy conditions at high tide, riding 20km and finishing with a 5km run.
There were 46 competitors.
Twenty-nine juniors aged 7-12 took part in the Turtles race, with Levi Marsman from Innes Park crossing the line first in 12:28.
The Turtles swim 100 metres, ride 2km and run 500 metres.
Artup is a former professional athlete who once represented Australia at age championships.
After that he turned to marathons and also represented Australia in the longer form.
Asked how he improved his time by six minutes in five months: “I just put aside the chocolate and Tim Tams for eight weeks and added one hour a day of exercise,” he said.
“I dropped over 7kg. Most improvement was on the bike, where power-to-weight ratio went up.
“I still have a goal to go a bit faster in the next race, maybe break the hour.
“Eliud Kipchoge breaking two hours for the marathon recently proved no human is limited.”
Artup said the running leg today was hard work in the heat.
The next Bargara Sprint Triathlon will be on 16 February 2020.
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