ASHLEIGH ANYTHING BUT GENTLE IN TWILIGHT RUN

Mooloolabah Triathon Festival: March 9, 2018: Ashleigh Gentle’s Commonwealth Games triathlon training took a slight detour with Queensland’s favourite girl tearing up the tarmac in the opening event of the Mooloolaba Triathlon Festival, the Twilight 5km run.

Gentle recorded 16:52 to take the honours in the women’s event and shared the spotlight with Brisbane lad Louis McAfee who smashed out a very handy 15:11 over the hilly and windy course to win the men’s race.

Ashleigh used the iconic Festival event to test the legs and also have some plain old fashioned fun at one of her favourite race destinations.

“The race was really great. I raced Abu Dhabi last weekend and I originally planned to skip Mooloolaba because I didn’t want to have to back up so soon, but I always want to be part of the Festival. I am up here to re-join my coach and my training squad so I thought I would enter the run and also do the ocean swim.”

“It is a lot different to run without the swim and ride but the intent is still there. You run hard whether you have swum and biked or not. It was a tough course, back to going over the hill and back again, so four hills in five km super tough especially in this wind. It was a great test and I will take that time. No matter the time or not, the effort was there so that is what I was after.”

Ashleigh will be commentating the ITU Mooloolaba World Cup (10 March) while keeping an eye on the competition and her training partners.

“My whole squad is racing the World Cup so I am really interested to see them have a hit out. Then we go to Lennox Head for a pre Commonwealth Games camp, so it is exciting and it is nice to be in Queensland.”

“Even when I was younger and didn’t race I would come up and watch people like Moffy and Snowie duke it out. So Mooloolaba has always been a part of what I do. It was so great to see so many people here. I turned up to the start line and it was fully packed that I had to go around the outside to squish myself through. It was fantastic to see and I was trying my hardest to pass as many of the men as I could. I got a few,” she laughed.

Fresh from a stint racing the US College circuit for Boise State in Idaho, twenty one year old Brisbane runner Louis McAfee cleaned up everyone with a stunning run and improved on his third place last year. After several years in the US, Louis is back home to finish his studies and see how quick he can go.

“It is really hard over there but you live like a professional athlete and it is really cool. Coming back home it has been a lot different. It is back into the real world now, I am at university here doing teaching and business. Then I have to find myself a job.”

“I am going to Sydney next weekend to do three km on the track and then I will do a few road races before the Commonwealth Games to see what the competition is like with those athletes in town. I just want to test myself and see how I go.”

“I came to Mooloolaba to have a bit of a post season hit out. We finished two weeks ago and needed to get a solid race in because I am going to World Uni Cross in April. I needed to get race in, it is good prizemoney, good competition and a good event. I did Mooloolaba last year and came third so this is a nice step up. I am very happy with the run tonight and my training partner got second so it is all good,” Louis said.

Open Female

1          Ashleigh GENTLE                   00:16:52

2          Lillian PRICE                           00:17:49

3          Samantha PHILLIPS               00:17:59

Open Male

1          Louis MCAFEE                       00:15:11

2          Jack CURRAN                        00:15:17

3          Daryl CROOK                         00:15:35

Mooloolaba Triathlon Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland as part of the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar. Queensland, just the place to experience Australia’s best live events.

Further information contact: Noel McMahon, IRONMAN Media Manager (Oceania) +61 455 091 476, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About IRONMAN

A Wanda Sports Holdings company, IRONMAN operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock n’ Roll Marathon Series^®, Iron Girl^®, IRONKIDS^®, International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series races, road cycling events including the UCI Velothon Majors Series, mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic, premier marathons including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon and other multisport races. IRONMAN’s events, together with all other Wanda Sports Holdings events, provide more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. The iconic IRONMAN ^® Series of events is the largest participation sports platform in the world. Since the inception of the IRONMAN^® brand in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines at the world’s most challenging endurance races. Beginning as a single race, IRONMAN has grown to become a global sensation with more than 200 events across 50 countries. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.

About Wanda Sports Holding

Wanda Sports Holding is the world’s leading sports business entity, founded to capture the opportunities in the global sports industry and to contribute to the prosperous international sports landscape – in three key areas: 1) Spectator Sports (media and marketing business), 2) Participation Sports (active lifestyle business), 3) Services (digital, production and service business). Led by President and CEO Philippe Blatter, Wanda Sports Holding incorporates the international sports marketing company Infront Sports and Media, the iconic endurance brand IRONMAN, and Wanda Sports China. The headquarters are in Guangzhou, China.