Brothers race hard ‘all the way’ to take the win

Preparation for the Super Sprint Race weekend consisted of 20 hours of training a week

Brady, 13, and Lachlan Blake, 17, at the Super Sprint Race Weekend at Runaway Bay December 12-15

TRIATHLON: For the second year in a row, brothers Brady Blake, 13, and Lachlan Blake, 17, have competed at the invitation-only Super Sprint Race Weekend.

The Runaway Bay event was held December 12-15 and is part of the Australian Youth/Junior/U23 Triathlon Series.

The brothers competed in numerous events over the four days including: a 1500m track run, aquathlon, hyper-sprint and ultra-sprint triathlon.

A series of longer distance finals saw 18 participants race for gold.

Brady won the Youth C final for the 13-15 age group.

“I pushed myself the whole race and to take a win home at the end of the weekend was a great way to finish off,” Brady said.

He said encouraging himself to run after a hard ride was the toughest part.

“Especially versing some strong runners,” Brady said.

Lachlan won the Junior C final for the 16-19s.

He said he was disappointed to miss out on the A and B division finals but felt good about the win.

“It was a great satisfaction and mental boost to take out the final,” Lachlan said.

“Making a solo breakaway on the bike to take the lead, and maintaining that lead, was a major realisation of how strong I am.”

Lachlan put in a lot of training to gain success.

“Training prior to this event ranged around 20 hours a week,” he said.

“It consisted of swimming training, 4am wake-ups to go riding, running and to the gym.”

To help his younger brother, Lachlan gives Brady advice before races.

“To race hard all the way to the end,” Lachlan said.

“Improvise and improve on mistakes made in each race over the week.”

Lachlan plans to continue training hard to do well in future rounds of the Queensland Triathlon Series.

“My main focus is to make the Qld state school triathlon team in February to compete at nationals in May,” he said.

The triathlon series is the key national racing development opportunity in Triathlon Australia’s talent pathway for athletes aged 13-23.

It is designed to challenge and enhance Australia’s most talented developing triathletes by competing against their peers in a series of races.

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