Challenge Wanaka Favourite Hoping To Perform In Home Race

Wanaka triathlete Rebecca Clarke is hoping home town support and local knowledge will give her an edge in tomorrow’s Integrity Homes Challenge Wanaka half.

Coming off the back of a win at the Tauranga half in January, Clarke is considered by many as the favourite for the middle distance event, which includes a 1.9km swim in Lake Wanaka, a 90km bike and a demanding 21.1km offroad run above Glendhu Bay.

“I’ll have lots of friends around the course and they’ll be yelling my name, which I’m hoping will give me a boost, and I’ve got family here as well. That’s great, you always want to perform in front of your home crowd,” Clarke said.

“I’m feeling really good. It’s nice staying in my own bed, not having to travel and pack up my bike and everything like that. It kind of makes you feel almost too relaxed but once I’m at the race site you start to get the excitement for the race.”

Now in its 17th year, Challenge Wanaka includes 13 events culminating in the flagship middle distance race which gets underway at Glendhu Bay at 7.05am.

Clarke will make the most of her knowledge on both the bike section, which takes the field through Wanaka township, out to Lake Hawea and through Luggate before returning to Glendhu, and the offroad run on a mountain bike park with almost 400m of ascent.

Her stiffest competition is likely to come from Dutch athletes Els Visser and Lotte Wilms, currently ranked 36 and 25 respectively in the Professional Triathlon Organisation (PTO) World Rankings, as well as Grace Thek from Australia.

“I know the bike course really well, I train on parts of it every time I go out cycling,” Clarke said.

“I’ve had a chance before to do some of the run course so I can also know what’s ahead. It’s almost good to not know how hilly it is, but it is good to know in terms of pacing. It’s definitely one that’s going to take some sting out of the legs.”

While keen to do well in her home event, Clarke is also mindful of her other goals this year.

“(Tauranga) was a confidence boost in terms of where my run is at, at this point of the season. I do have Ironman NZ two weeks later, which I’m conscious of, so I will race hard but I also need to be smart about it.”

Meanwhile, triathlon legend Sebastien Kienle will be racing in Wanaka for the first time as part of his ‘retirement tour’.

The German has won events all over the globe and is a former world champion at both long and middle distance triathlon.

He’s part of a men’s field that includes top Australian athletes Matt Burton, Caleb Noble and Fraser Walsh, along with homegrown New Zealand talent Jack Moody, Mike Phillips and Sam Osborne. Fellow New Zealander Matt Kerr, racing his first pro season in 2023, is also considered one to watch.

“This race is like a postcard and I’m thinking I definitely should have come here earlier,” Kienle, who was feeling more confident after struggling with some illness and jetlag, said.

Kienle was enjoying Wanaka so much he plans to base himself in the Central Otago resort town for the next two weeks before heading to his next race.

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