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LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (January 17, 2009 ) — Blitzing the course record, Australia's Chris McDonald powered home to win the third Challenge Wanaka long distance triathlon in 8.37.41, nearly seven minutes clear of plucky Kiwi Keegan Williams. Czech Petr Vabrousek rounded out the podium just 30sec in arrears in what turned out to be a close-fought battle on the run.

The race covers 3.8km of swimming, 180km of cycling and a marathon run on a scenic course through the Southern Lakes region and along the Clutha River.

McDonald, 30, placed second here last year and said frustration with a slow swim sped him through the first 80km on the bike and a final time that slashed 10min off the course record of 8.47.49, set here by last year's winner Marc Pschebizin of Germany.
McDonald exited Lake Wanaka two and a half minutes down on the race leaders but by 30km into the cycle had moved to the front. "I got on the bike and hammered the bejeezus out of the first 80km," he said, noting he'd clocked 1.55 over the distance. "I thought I better slow down."

McDonald came into the transition area with four minutes on training partner Justin Daerr, a young American triathlete who finished fourth on the day. He went through the first 21km of the run in 1.23 and at 32km learned he had seven minutes in hand and settled into a steady pace. Behind him, though, it was all change as Daerr dropped back under the withering pace of the veteran Czech campaigner and the young Williams, who was off the bike third more than six minutes adrift of McDonald.

The win makes a great start to McDonald's 2009 campaign, one that follows on a win at Ironman Wisconsin one week after a second at Ironman Kentucky and a fourth place in the Quelle Challenge Roth. "I couldn’t be happier. What a way to start the year," he said.

Defending champion Gina Ferguson exited the water first and was never headed to break her own course record by some five minutes and finish in 9.28.27. "The swim was hard," she said at the finish. "I had a great ride."

She exited the lake with the top male swimmers in 54.34, then set a new bike course record of 5.14, breaking the 2007 mark set by Aussie Belinda Granger.

Ferguson said she struggled from 20km to 30km on the run then came right. "You just have to keep pushing," said the Christchurch-based athlete, who was a winner at December's Ironman Western Australia after an eighth at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. She arrived in Wanaka with only three weeks of training after a bit of a break after the Australian event.

"It was tough to do it yourself all day long—mentally tough," she said. "I hope that will stand me in good stead when I go to race in Hawaii."

Wanaka’s own Merryn Johnston, fourth here last year in her professional debut, improved to second in 10.03.56. Third spot went to American Hillary Biscay, who was second here last year, in 10.16.39.

With less than 24 hours to go until New Zealand's fastest growing iron distance triathlon, Challenge Wanaka, takes place, the top seeds of the race are finishing their final preparations with their eye on the $70,000 prize pool.

Defending women's champion, Gina Ferguson, said that despite her recent success in the world championships and Western Australia, she did not feel any different than this time last year.

"My one goal is to do the best I can and cope with the circumstances that come my way during the race. I had a good two-week rest after WA and have been building up for the last four weeks with a lot of volume on the bike. I'm feeling fit and strong and will just do the best I can."

Defending men's champion, Marc Pschebizin (GER) said he was hoping for a repeat of last year’s performance. "I want to do the same good race as last year but it's hard as coming out of European winter. I have had some really mentally hard rides in mid-winter at home in minus 15C so am prepared to suffer on course which will be a good mental advantage. If it’s hard conditions, that'll be good for me but if it's a hard race, it's also a fair race as everyone has to fight with the same conditions. I had a phenomenal run last year (2hrs 48min) and it'd be great to do it again."

Petr Vabrousek (CZE) has, in his words, "some unfinished business" on Saturday. At the inaugural Challenge Wanaka, he was disqualified, something that took him six months to get over. Then last year his flights were cancelled and when he finally arrived in New Zealand his luggage and bike were nowhere to be seen. He raced on borrowed equipment and despite his bad luck continuing with a puncture, still managed to finish sixth.

"This year when my first flight was cancelled I though the bad luck was continuing. This race has made me very mentally strong after my bad luck in the past. This year, everything is perfect so far – I can’t wait for a great race on Saturday with a good result."

Hillary Biscay's (USA) goal is to be the fastest swimmer "but I definitely have some competition, it'd be great for Gina and I to lead all the guys out of the water!! I enjoy any kind of extreme conditions – pouring rain, extreme heat, the more extreme the better, we didn’t come here to do something easy so why not just go all the way?"

Biscay has competed at every Challenge Wanaka event, along with Justin Granger (AUS) and Vabrousek. "I've raced all over the world – this might be my very favourite, definitely top two that I have ever done," she said. "The venue is unlike any other – it's unusual to run on trails let alone the wonderful setting. The small town getting behind the race makes a huge difference, no matter how much you're struggling in the race, it feels like the whole town is behind you. Coming back year after year is like being at a family reunion – that's why you'll see the same faces every year as once people have experienced Challenge Wanaka, they'll want to come back again and again."

Over 180 children aged between six and 15 turned out for the first ever Puzzling World Junior Challenge Wanaka. The event kicked off the week long Challenge Wanaka Triathlon Festival in style with children and their families traveling from all over the region to take part.

Challenge Wanaka pro athlete and inaugural Challenge Wanaka winner, Luke Dragstra (CAN) was on hand to sign T-shirts, Radio Wanaka was pumping the tunes and everyone got a finishers shirt and prizes from Puzzling World. Many of the volunteers were athletes taking part in next weekend's iron distance race, supporting the next generation of triathletes. Challenge Wanaka race director, Victoria Murray-Orr, said she was hugely impressed, not only with how may children were taking part but also the great displays of good sportsmanship.

"All the kids were so amazing and everyone had a wonderful time – there are some really keen triathletes out there which is great to see," she said. "The best moments of the day were when we saw kids helping their friends finish the race, crossing the line hand in hand and supporting each other. Our event manager, Mike Johnston, did an amazing job on the course that was achievable for all age groups and it was a brilliant start to Challenge Wanaka 09."

Seven-year-old Liam Shepherd from Invercargill made short work of the first swim-bike-run of the day crossing the line first and taking out the boys’ race in 6-7 age group. Fastest girl was Queenstown's Jacque Lattimore (7). Both Liam and Jacque, together with the other age group winners from today, will run down the finish line chute carrying balloons behind next week’s winners of Challenge Wanaka. The fastest team was the Crusty Demons from Wanaka featuring Mitchell Evans (6), Ethan Kerr (7) and Fergus Reid (6).

Attention then turned to the 8-9 year olds who also did a 50m swim, 1km bike and 500m run. Tegan Buchanan (9) of Cromwell had an easy victory in first place while the fastest boy was Gregor Findlay (8) of Wanaka who came across the finish line just ahead of fastest team, The Cartoon Characters Rocks from Queenstown featuring Robyn Blackstock (8) and Amelia Hide (8).

The course lengthened for the largest age group, the 10-12 year olds, with the swim now 100m, the bike 3km and the run 1km. Casey Strachan (11) of Wanaka took out the race and the boys' title, followed by the fastest team, Wanaka's Three Amigos with Ellie Russell (11), Libby Tones (12) and Alex Thomas (11). Twelve-year-old Georgia Vessey from Alexandra won the girls’ race.

The final race of the day was for the 13-15 year olds with a 200m swim, 5km bike and 2km run. Queenstown's Jaime Kruijer (14) was streaks ahead of the rest of the field and, winning the race and the girls' title. Behind her was Team Jam with Amelia Pasco (11) from Wanaka, Jessie Taylor (13) and Margie Anderson (13) both from Dunedin, followed by the fastest boy, Lochy Brown (13) from Cromwell.

With entries now closed for the 2009 event on January 17, Challenge Wanaka organisers today announced an overall increase in entries of 52.5%, totaling 474 athletes. The 2009 field of New Zealand's fastest growing iron distance triathlon will include 19 nationalities, 140 individuals and 117 relay teams.

New Zealand's fastest female iron distance athlete, Gina Ferguson is back to defend her title while multisport world champion, Richard Ussher is lining up for the first time fresh from his victory at the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. Other big names include inaugural winner, Luke Dragstra (CAN), Hillary Biscay (USA) and Petr Vabrousek (CZE) as well as defending men's champion Marc Pschebizin (GER).

The eldest individual competitor is 72-year-old Garth Barfoot while the eldest relay team is the Septuagenarians with a combined age of 230 featuring the event’s eldest competitor, 79-year-old runner, Stan Gawler. The youngest competitor is the 13-year-old swimmer for Team McTryHards, Cameron McMahon, who is currently ranked fifth in New Zealand for his age group.

When over 450 iron distance athletes take to the region's roads and running tracks for Challenge Wanaka on 17 January 2009, there's added incentive for spectators to line the course and support them with the introduction of the Mitre 10 Supporters' Prize.

The best group of supporters, whether the loudest, most colourful or most energetic will win $1,000 from Mitre 10, so long as their signs show both the Mitre 10 and Challenge Wanaka logos, as judged by Challenge Wanaka course directors.

"Thanks to the generousity of Mitre 10 this is a great opportunity for community groups, schools and other organizations to get out on course, support the athletes and raise significant funds," said Challenge Wanaka race director, Victoria Murray-Orr. "Even if they’re not lucky enough to win, it'll be good fun day out and will provide a huge boost for these amazing athletes."

Mark Watson, store manager of Wanaka Mitre 10, said, "Challenge Wanaka has brought a lot to the community and at Mitre 10 we'd like to see the community to give back their support! The $1,000 Mitre 10 is offering is great encouragement and will come in handy for a community group."