JOSH HOPING FOR "CHIEF'S" MYDAS TOUCH IN nib COOLANGATTA GOLD

nib cg square.jpgNEWCASTLE, October 1: Two of Newcastle's favourite  sporting sons , Ironman  star, Josh Blair and  NRL legend, Paul Harragon came together at Newcastle Beach today in preparation for two very different but physically demanding challenges.

Josh Blair at 31, a household name on the Australian Surf Life Saving circuit will take plenty of experience into the 2008 nib Coolangatta Gold on the Gold Coast on October 19. Blair is synonymous with Ironman racing and has competed at the top of his game for the past 15 years with Swansea Belmont.

Famed former Newcastle Knights rugby league hard man turned TV presenter, Paul ‘The Chief' Harragon, has also been in training to undertake his own "Ironman" event as he prepares to walk the gruelling Kokoda track in Papua New Guinea at the end of the football season.

For the two Novocastrians, it also signifies the annual ‘changing of the guard' of Australia's favourite sporting past times as the rugby league season officially comes to an end this Sunday with the NRL Grand Final while our heroes of the surf are just getting warmed up for the start of an action packed summer of competition and patrols with the countdown well and truly on for the iconic 46.6km nib Coolangatta Gold endurance epic in two weeks time.

For Blair, it will hopefully be a case of third time lucky when he heads to the Surfers Paradise start line.

Blair first contested the Gold as a raw-boned under-prepared 16-year-old in 1995 and then returned to the scene in 2005 when he finished seventh.

But he was clear about his plans for the 2008 assault on the big race as he shared his training routines with Harragon, declaring: "My goal is to win it."

"I've done the Gold as a teenager in 1995 and finished seventh in 2005 so knowing what you're getting yourself into is a big bonus in a race like this.

"My preparation this year has been better than anything in the past and I've really concentrated on doing more training up and around the four hour mark and even as far as visiting the Gold Coast and doing the course just over a month ago.

"In the earlier days of Ironman I've won races consistently over the two hour mark and all the base work I've done for the Gold will only springboard me from this race into the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Series Trial in November and onwards to a successful summer.

"I enjoy juggling training and working full time as a sales representative for Cadbury and even though I love to indulge in the odd block of dairy milk, the intense training has stripped eight kilos off me.

"Our training squad has been strong this off season especially having Olympic kayaker and Australian single ski champion Peter Scott to paddle with on the ski.

"It all looks well for the race but with the Gold you just don't know how your body is going to react after the three hour mark and hopefully I'll be right up there."  

The nib Coolangatta Gold is Australia's ultimate Ironman and Ironwoman endurance race. The event will take place on Queensland's Gold Coast and surrounding beaches on 19 October 2008.

For the second year running, the nib Coolangatta Gold will be open to entries to all elite athletes, not just members of surf life saving clubs.
For more details visit http://surfsports.slsa.com.au/

FAST FACTS....

nib Coolangatta Gold

WHEN:                    October 19, 2008
WHERE:                  Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

START TIMES:                   
6:50am                             Mermaid Boat start
7:00am                             Open Men's Race Start
7:05am                             Masters Men Race Start
7:20am                             Teams Race Start
7:55am                             Open Women Race Start
7:55am                             Masters Women Race Start
8:15am                             U19 Men Race Start
8:30am                             Junior endurance Ironperson Briefing

OPEN MEN, MASTERS & TEAMS

Leg     1 SKI (Surfers Paradise to Greenmount 23km)

            2 RUN (Greenmount to Coolangatta 0.65km)

            3 SWIM (Coolangatta to Bilinga 3.50km)

            4 RUN (Bilinga to Currumbin 4.00)

            5 BOARD (Currumbin to Burleigh Heads 5.5km)

            6 RUN (Burleigh Heads to Surfers Paradise 10.00km)

            TOTAL 46.65km

OPEN WOMEN, MASTERS & U/19

Leg     1 SKI (Surfers Paradise to Currumbin SLSA15km)

            2 RUN (Currumbin SLSC to Currumbin Creek 1km)

            3 BOARD (Currumbin Creek to Burleigh Heads SLSC 4.5km)

            4 SWIM (Burleigh Heads SLSA to North Burleigh 2.5km)

            5 RUN (North Burleigh to surfers Paradise 7.5km)

            TOTAL 30.5km