Sport
3 June, 2021
Sarah’s ready for Iron Man
The excitement is building as athletes from across Australia and New Zealand arrive in Cairns for this Sunday’s Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of IRONMAN Cairns, and is set to be the largest IRONMAN Cairns on record, a huge boon for our region during a global pandemic.
Its expected the influx of thousands of athletes and their friends and family will deliver more than $10 million to the Cairns economy.
Cairns local Sarah Thomas was the overall amateur female winner of last year and this year will compete professionally for the first time on Sunday.
She said she was feeling in fine form, racing in triathlons in Goondiwindi in February, Mooloolaba in March, Yungaburra in April, and the Kuranda Train race just a few weeks ago.
What started as a “one-off” challenge when she entered a sprint-distance triathlon in 2013 soon became her life’s passion as she increased her distance to half iron man and then did her first full iron man in 2017.
She has been to the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona 3 times.
She trains twice a day, around 17 hours a week and is also a triathlon coach, fitting it all in around her job as a physiotherapist.
She said she was excited and looking forward to savouring the challenge on Sunday.
“Once you get to pro level it can be easy to take it too seriously, but you have to remember that the reason you’re doing it is for enjoyment,” she said.
“It’s a fantastic event, the atmosphere’s amazing, it’s an incredible thing to be involved in, so you just need to reap the rewards of all the hard work you’ve put in.”
For more information on the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns visit: https://www.ironman.com/im-cairns
