General News
9 June, 2022
Former Broncos Prop Nick Kenny to race at Ironman 70.3 Cairns
ON Sunday, June 12, former Brisbane Broncos prop Nick Kenny will continue his triathlon journey as he takes on the Cairns Airport IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns.
From 2005 to 2011, Kenny spent seven years playing in the NRL for the Broncos. However, after 78 appearances, he was forced to retire at 29 after sustaining a career-ending neck injury.
With his NRL days over, Kenny decided to escape Brisbane and moved nearly 3,000 kilometres away to Groote Eylandt, a remote part of the Northern Territory, where he eventually found his way into triathlon.
“When I moved to Groote Eylandt after retiring from the NRL, I continued to train to keep fit but felt a bit lost without competition and having a goal to work towards,” Kenny said.
“A friend of mine suggested I start swimming and riding and do a triathlon, so I did, and IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns in 2017 was my first.
“From then, I was hooked and wanted to learn how to go faster and longer.”
Thirty-nine-year-old Kenny is now based in Cairns but spends most of his time travelling around the Northern Territory, visiting remote indigenous communities through his work as a physiotherapist.
As Kenny said, living in remote areas in the Far North of Australia, with its scorching heat, deadly wildlife and lack of access to equipment, is not exactly favourable for IRONMAN training.
“The hardest part about training in remote places is the safety considerations you have to take that you don’t when you are in a town,” he said.
“Things like the heat, access to water, wild animals and the running surface.
“You have to plan your long runs and consider where you are going to refuel with water.
“You have to ensure your Garmin is charged up and you have a plan to make contact for help if you need it so that if you get lost, you can navigate your way home or that you know where the nearest road or house is if there isn’t any phone reception.”
Kenny said despite the remoteness, he embraces the training because he loves these places.
“I love training in the many beautiful landscapes throughout Cape York and Arnhem Land, where I travel for work, and I’m very fortunate that the families I work with have given me permission to explore them,” he said.
“It’s quiet, wild and full of wildlife.
“There is so much history in these places and knowing that the local people have lived off those lands for thousands of years and still have such deep spiritual connections to the many hills, rivers and billabongs you run through, it’s humbling.”
Not wanting to get trapped in a COVID-19 hotspot and therefore unable to visit his clients, IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns will be Kenny’s first IRONMAN event since completing the total distance Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championships Cairns in 2021.
Kenny said he is excited to return to the Cairns start line and experience the energy of an IRONMAN event again.
“The IRONMAN in Cairns is my favourite IRONMAN event for a heap of reasons,” he said.
“The rolling beach swim start at Palm Cove has great energy, the bike leg along the coast to Port Douglas is stunning, and the multi-lap run along the Cairns esplanade and CBD full of cheering supporters and fellow competitors creates a unique atmosphere.
“Above all, racing at home with my friends and family on the course supporting and waiting to cheer me across the finish line is the highlight.”
Kenny will use IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns on June 12 to build toward his ultimate goal of the year, the 2022 Supersapiens IRONMAN World Championships that is set to take place in Kona, Hawaii, in October.
He qualified for that event in 2020, where he finished 10th in his age group at IRONMAN Cairns.
For more information on Cairns Airport IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns, visit www.ironman.com/im703-cairns
