RETRO - Rowlings Endurance Triathlon & Running Org

21/05/2025

STAY SAFE!
Pretty obvious that weather conditions are less than optimum to head outside for a run, and with another 100mm predicted to hit our area the safety concerns become paramount.
Therefore the usual Thursday morning training sets will not go ahead tomorrow, May 22nd.
This has only happened on two previous occasions over the past 21 years, but is the sensible choice at this point.
Those who have treadmill access, perhaps a 40-50min steady state run, but lift the incline by 1% each 4-5min whilst enjoying staying both warm and dry.
If you do get a weather window to head outside, consider out-and-backs so you can have more control on the underfoot mud and water choices a bit more? Maybe 10min out, then build return; 10min out, then firm return; 10min out, return as 2min fast and remainder as a cool down.
Hopefully back to normal routine next week, even though likely to be even longer until we get some oval access, which we have had only twice in the previous 11 weeks!

22/04/2025

GOLD COAST MARATHON REMINDER
Again this year you have the option of having your race bib delivered to Coffs in the leadup week, and avoid the long queues for collection at the Convention Centre.
This applies to any distance over the weekend of events.
Deadline approaching, so need to get it done in the next couple of weeks!
Entries are via http://goldcoastmarathon.com.au/enter/ using the following details:
Team Name: RETRO
Team Pin: RETRO
Thanks to Katie Hein for setting this up again for 2025.

The 45th ASICS Gold Coast Marathon will be held Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 July 2025 on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

25/03/2025

Cross Country calendar for those looking for some winter focus.

15/12/2024

For those who have asked...

28/11/2024

GOLD COAST MARATHON BLACK FRIDAY 5km ENTRY
It is possible to get an entry into next year's Gold Coast Marathon 5km distance today at a reduced price.
The reduced entry fee is for today only, and for the 5km only.
You will be able to enter other distances from Monday, December 2.
Again this year you have the option of having your race bib delivered to Coffs in the leadup week, and avoid the long queues for collection at the Convention Centre.
Entries are via http://goldcoastmarathon.com.au/enter/ using the following details:
Team Name: RETRO
Team Pin: RETRO
Thanks to Katie Hein for setting this up again for 2025.

Run for the good times and enter the 43rd Gold Coast Marathon to be held 1-2 July 2023 on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

31/08/2024

CATCHING UP
Been a hectic few weeks on the running front, with athletes all over the place and excelling on the road, track and cross country.
Time to draw breath and reflect on some notable achievements, then set the sights on further upcoming goals through the back end of the year.
Hot on the heels of the Olympics the world's biggest fun run, City to Surf attracted 90,000 competitors including many from the North Coast. Many treat this one as a social outing, and an opportunity to enjoy the morning jog to Bondi with like-minded people, while those up the front take the 14km as an opportunity to time trial over a distance that is out of their normal wheelhouse. Standout run from Leah Fitzgerald, getting the revs up and pushing the pace on a much shorter journey than she usually favours, hitting a 54min finish that had a load of positives.
Athletics Australia All Schools Cross Country Championship was conducted in Victoria, bringing the best from every state together in a chase for medals. Hard not to be impressed with the improvement shown by Sara Bergen over the previous few months, coming away with a silver in the individual 3000m, gold in the teams, and another gold in the 1km time trial. Wilton Townsend ran a creditable race in the 4km, then backed up to be first Australian in the 2km TT that concluded the week in a confidence boosting manner.
On the track we have seen Elijah Hein collect an 800m title that pushes him through to NSW All Schools next week, while siblings Jemima and Isaac also raced well at State level on top of some impressive 5km efforts. Regional success for Poppy Barclay over 1500m as the track season really looks to kick into gear for her.
Pushing it out a lot further, Rebekah Winduss headed to Adelaide marathon intent on an even split, aiming to hold the back end of her race together and match her outgoing 21km; ended up giving a little time back through the closing stages, but certainly a step in the right direction as she now prepares for Perth marathon.
Athletics Australia conducted their national cross country championships in Tasmania this weekend, in wintery conditions that featured strong winds, a heap of mud and heavy rain. Kyle McIntosh took the silver medal in the open ambulant category, running from the front and only being pipped within sight of the finish line. Another great result for Wilton Townsend taking 10th in his age division, a huge improvement on the 31st position last year. Joseph Hein crossed the line 13th as he continues to build both strength and speed, coming off the back of an injury-riddled 12 months that has tested both his physical and psychological strength; the best results are still to come.
Then there was the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru where Daniel Williams contested the 1500m midweek. He raced smart and with maturity, despite being the youngest in the event and was perfectly poised with 120m to go. However, the legs just wouldn't kick it home to get into the final, which he missed by a couple of places finishing in 3min48sec, just outside his PB. This event concluded a hectic 18 months, with very little chance to rest and recover, so the priority now will be to have a few weeks down time before building up into the 2024-2025 track season. He leaves Lima tomorrow, but not coming home direct... a detour to check out some of the US College options is on the agenda prior to coming back to Australia.
All in all, a very productive and rewarding month of racing for a lot of athletes of all ages, abilities and disciplines. From my perspective the aim has been to keep everyone on a low profile, allow them to focus on their racing, and keep any expectations to a minimum.
Hoping to have more regular updates moving forward, rather than single big information dumps like this one!
Welcome to Spring, and the promise of warm weather hoping to bust some out of their winter hibernation.

26/08/2024

TOWNSVILLE TENACITY
Rewarding race outcomes need a lot of small components to come together at the one time, with management and co-ordination of all contributing factors vital in being able to deliver when it counts.
Getting your travel timing right, nailed your pacing, on top of hydration needs for each race environment, keeping the fuel tank topped up, comfortable in your race suit, adequate sleep in the leadup, enough recovery in your preparation to avoid injury, balancing work and training loads, hitting the start line fresh and invigorated... the list goes on a lot deeper.
When you have everything under control, arrive at your race destination confident, relaxed and psyched to go it should then just be a matter of executing your race day strategy.
Julie Whitton personified all of the above, arrived at Townsville for the Triathlon World Long Course Championships and then unpacked her bike to discover the frame was broken in transit and deemed "beyond repair" by the local bike shops.
Instead of throwing everything out of the cot, the immediate reaction from Julie was to source a loan bike from the local triathlon community, grit the teeth and make the most of the circumstances she found herself in.
Couple of test rides, some height adjustments, get it into transition and work on ensuring the swim and run were executed to potential.
Out firmly in the swim, easing it back through the beach exit at half way to control the heart rate, then build that second lap had Julie cover the 3km in 52min31sec, with only a couple of girls in her category faster.
Try to get comfortable on the bike, minimise the damage and get the fuel tank topped up to run. Certainly dropped both time and placings in the 114km ride, but not as big an impact as it could have been. No power feedback meant more concentration on how she felt rather than definitive feedback. Bike split of 3hrs48min meant there was up to 15min left out on the course from pre-race goal time.
The run was approached conservatively in the initial stages, always looking to minimise any back end fade. This was put together nicely, even with some over-exuberance in that initial 3-5km. Covering the 30km in 2hrs53min, Julie moved herself into 9th place in her category and capped off a memorable day.
Yes, things could have been a bit smoother, but there were so many positives to draw on when those future goals are discussed.
Also competing at Townsville was Stacey Clear in the Long Course Aquabike with a 3km swim and 114km ride.
Stacey also had to overcome some hiccups on the way, with a bike crash six weeks ago leaving her with broken ribs and the inability to train how she would have liked.
Strength between the ears got her through the day in a tick over five hours, which was sensational considering she was unable to ride outside or swim until that final week.
Perfect example of the body fulfilling the commands of a strong mind.
Now time to allow those ribs to recover fully, then set the sights on taking that long course strength into a new season of racing.
Another tackling the Aquabike was Gary Ward, who went in with the aim of back-ending his race and ensuring he finished strongly.
Usual solid swim, despite some navigational mishaps, before building into the multi-lap ride and closing off the final lap right on 200 watts.
Gary finished in 4hrs41min with a smile of satisfaction on his face.
All three athletes who headed to Townsville performed to potential, enjoyed the experience and were complimentary on the quality of the event. Brief reset before season 2024-2025 kicks in.
NOTE: for those who have asked, I will do a run roundup of the past month of results next week... been a huge amount of racing since the conclusion of the Olympics, and that continues this week with athletes competing all over the place.

18/08/2024

IRONMAN SWANSONG
Impossible not to be impressed with the manner in which Tina McEvoy signed off on Ironman distance racing overnight, crossing the line in first position in her division at IM Kalmar.
Heading back to the country where she grew up, but competing under the Australian flag was a perfect combination that saw an almost perfect race from Tina, and one that was as built around tenacity through training consistence then backed up with long course experience.
Swimming 1hr8min on a 3.8km that had many twists, turns and direction changes; riding 5hrs50min whilst fuelling to set herself up for the run; then settling into rhythm for the 42km in 4hr28min... always being toward the front of her category and putting some distance into the other ladies toward the back end for an 11hr43min finish time.
Congratulations on putting it together when it mattered, but also on maintaining life balance whilst still getting those training miles completed.

24/07/2024

NSW ALL SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY
Hectic couple of days of cross country running at the Sydney Equestrian Centre as all of the state's schools sent their best athletes to test themselves and chase selection in the NSW team to compete in Victoria later in the year.
Kicked off on Tuesday with the primary students on the start line where we saw Valla Parsons 28th, Lacey van Hoek 42nd, Hugh Morgan 45th and Amelia Harrigan 34th in their respective age categories.
Solid results, all in the front half of the field and gaining valuable experience at the upper level of competition.
Wednesday had the older runners strutting their stuff when the secondary competition was conducted and a lot of the local athletes prominent... Amelia Wilson 6th in the 14 years, Poppy Barclay 20th in the same race, Wilton Townsend (pictured) 6th in the 15 years, Joseph Hein 15th in the 17 year race, and Sara Bergen 2nd in the multi class 17/19 event.
Likely a few of those secondary runners will secure state team positions when they are finalised later this week.

14/07/2024

MIXING IT UP
Youngsters competing on a few varied stages over the weekend, with NSW Short Course Cross Country at Dapto and Coast2Coast track meeting on the Gold Coast.
Appears as though Joseph Hein has finally got on top of a series of niggles that have been a continual interruption to his training, stringing together six months of consistency that was critical in him advancing to the national titles to be held in August.
Blasting the 4km course in a fraction under 13min, Joseph put himself into the race early and picked off competitors in the latter stages to snare his position in the NSW team.
Younger siblings Jemima and Isaac put in their usual high quality performance, while Elijah and Lydia contested the fun run held in conjunction.
On the track at Gold Coast, an 800m hitout on Saturday into a focus 1500 on Sunday attracted Wilton Townsend, Poppy Barclay and Daniel Williams back over the border for a second consecutive weekend.
The two-lap event to kick off their weekend was more of a shake out and getting the feel for the track, but Wilton and Daniel still took dominant wins, while Poppy blew out the travel cobwebs.
Sunday's 1500m had Poppy take third position a fraction outside her PB, closing off well.
Wilton built into his run, finishing the final 700m strongly and dropping 4sec from his previous best.
Focus for Daniel was chasing some back end target splits to get a gauge on what areas need focus with Peru U20 only six weeks away.
Very happy with the way they put things together, both boys taking category wins and Poppy setting down a baseline from which to work as the track season gets closer.
Younger brigade now mainly focussed on NSW All Schools Cross Country in Sydney next week.

07/07/2024

GOLD COAST WEEKEND
Hectic couple of days north of the border with the annual Marathon weekend covering a lot of varied distances and attracting in excess of 30,000 athletes.
Weather conditions on both days did have an impact on times, and PBs were a rarity.
Leading the way in her usual stylish manner, Leah Fitzgerald crossed off marathon #25 with another consistent and impressive run, finishing in a shade over 2hrs50min despite nursing some hip tightness over the closing stages. Leah continues to deliver, and glancing through her list of finishes the standout is the lack of any poor performances.
Also on the full marathon route was Rodney Howe, settling into rhythm and staying there for the most part, notching a 3hrs28min finish and nursing the body in a much more mature approach than we have seen in the past.
Pleased for Nick Leaver coming in under 90min in his half marathon on Saturday's rain and wind... a good stepping stone into a couple of target events further down the track.
Going 21km for the first time, Katie Hein set a great example for her kids, smiling her way through the event (maybe the occasional grimace). Great achievement with her previous longest run only a little over half race day distance.
Sunday morning's 10km had Isaiah Koopmans toward the pointy end early, but easing through the back end for a 35min finish.
Heidi Currell also soaked up the big event atmosphere, cruising the 10km and taking in the sights along the way.
Big contingent in Saturday's 5km and a few breakthrough runs with Both Isaac and Joseph Hein hitting 5km PBs, as did Wilton Townsend despite pulling up a bit short of the line.
Poppy Barclay into the 19min zone in a bit of a battle with Aleska van Heekeren, and Jemima Hein executing well.
Well paced effort from Georgia Ensbey, hitting her targets enroute to a third in her division.
Kyle McIntosh and Daniel Williams both second in their category and up toward the front of the field.
Nice running from Lydia and Elijah Hein in a very speedy but hectic 4km dash.
In all a great weekend away, with the younger brigade taking the opportunity for some track sessions on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to complement the race experience.
Congratulations to all those familiar faces I saw on the roads, and looks like the majority performed well and finished with a smile on the dial.

25/06/2024

EUROPEAN RACING
Progression of Sam Woolford continues on that upward curve, currently competing on the European cross country circuit.
Sam's final preparation event before the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) in the first week of July was the Carinthian Cup in Austria, consisting of 3x middle distance races.
Consistent results of 2nd, 5th and 4th saw him take second position overall just behind an athlete with far more experience and racing under his belt.
Picture shows Sam at the award presentation.
He is currently traveling to Czechia to prepare for Junior World Orienteering Championships.
Great to see one of the Coffs youngsters performing so well in the bigger stage... even though Sam now calls Tasmania home while in Australia and gaining that university education.