Cameron Brown Secures T-5 in Challenge Taiwan

Vision triathlete Cameron Brown was able to clock in the fifth best time this weekend at Challenge Taiwan. Here is his take on the race:

“Well, it was another tough day of racing on Saturday at Challenge Taiwan. Conditions were very humid (as expected) and with the minimum temperature of 25°C and a max of 29°C. Plenty of the 4,800 competing athletes found themselves dehydrated by the finish line, me being one of them.”

“The swim leg was held in a local man-made lake and was one of the warmest fresh water swims I have ever raced. With a balmy 29°C for the 3.8km swim, I exited some 6mins down on former 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert, with Per Van Vlerken and Romain Guilherme 4mins in front of me. It was a position I would find myself throughout the day and I rode the 180km as well as the 42km run by myself as a time trial.”

“The rolling bike course was beautiful, but particularly hazardous with such open roads. The weekend drivers were out in force and you had to be cautious and continue keeping your head up on the lookout for traffic! The wind was starting to blow so the first 45km leg north was into a head wind and then a tail wind back to the turn-around. After the second lap, you could feel the wind pick up again. I was off the bike a long way down and by this stage still feeling average. My operation on my nose under a general anesthetic three weeks before the race was still playing its part in making me feel tired and very average. I was still dealing with some scar tissue this week, but I feel like my breathing has improved, so I'm looking forward to it fully healing. The highlight of the race was on the run course when a 8 foot snake passed just in front of me. My heart rate soared after that! Luckily I didn't have to jump over it…”

“I managed to hold on to a 5th place finish. The last 10km of the run was not pretty, but I'm glad I finished and got through this tough Ironman distance race. My body is crying out for a rest mentally and physically, so I'm going to have 3-4 weeks off as I've been training and racing without a large break for a number of years now. I'm 47yrs old in two months time and I need to look after my body. I know the last time I did have a large break I came back and had one of my best seasons ever! I will now look to race in August and September.”