MERCER A ‘LAY DOWN' CHANCE TO FINALLY STRIKE GOLD

October 16: VETERAN Ironman Dean Mercer today unveiled the secret weapon he hopes will take him to a long-awaited victory in Sunday's nib Coolangatta Gold on the Gold Coast, as DAVID MOASE reports ...

At 39 years of age, Mercer will be trying to win the gruelling 46 kilometre race for the first time.

He will use a slick new craft for the 5.5km board paddle, which comes immediately before the final 10km run to the finish line at Surfers Paradise.

And faced with a host of rivals more than 15 years his junior - including defending champion Caine Eckstein ­­­- he is hoping that literally taking a low profile will give him the vital advantage and hand him victory in his seventh crack at the iconic event.

The Excel board is specially made so Mercer can lie down throughout that part of the race and save his legs for the final run from North Burleigh to Surfers Paradise.

In the past, the pocket-sized powerhouse has struggled to get his legs going after kneeling during the board leg and is confident lying down will make a major difference.

"I'm looking forward to the race, it's a very, very talented field this year," Mercer said.

"My coach Pat O'Keeffe and I hatched a plan some months ago to try a lay down paddle board to try and conserve my legs.

"You do spend most of your time lying down anyway and with my history with cramping in my legs we thought it was best to try something different.

"I had a special board designed for me and although it may not be as quick as kneeling up, I think the benefits when I jump off and start running will be worth it."

Mercer retired from Ironman competition after the Whereis Australian Championships earlier this year but was soon drawn back to the surf in pursuit of just one race - the nib Coolangatta Gold.

His best results have been third placings in 1992 and 2006 but a move to the powerhouse Northcliffe club on the Gold Coast and a winter of hard work under the guidance of coaching guru O'Keeffe have him looking as fit as a 20-year-old.

Northcliffe is the home club of many of the top chances in Sunday's men's race, including Eckstein, Cory Hill and former Australian Ironman champion Nathan Smith, who will be hoping to improve on his third placing last year.

Smith, who works as a teacher in Sydney and is unable to dedicate long hours to training, is happy to downplay his chances of winning on Sunday but will take a load of big-race experience into the event.

His hopes of winning will rely on using his proven skills on the ski, board and in the swim to open up a lead on Eckstein, Mercer and rising Mooloolaba star Matt Poole before the gut-busting run to the finish.

"I'll need to be in front at North Burleigh headland - that's the only way I can win," he said.

"I've been training as much as I can in Sydney but with work and the colder water there it is impossible to do the same amount as the athletes here in Queensland."

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On Sunday morning at 7am a record open men's field of 60 supremely fit Ironmen will again set out from Surfers Paradise to conquer the sport's toughest test, which was first won in 1984 by Guy Leech, who repeated the feat in 1985.

For the open men it's four-and-a-half hours of pure pain from Surfers Paradise to Coolangatta and return and for the women (who start at 8am) it is a three-and-half-hour trek from Surfers Paradise to Currumbin and back.

The women's event is shaping as a race between three-time winner Hayley Bateup, of Kurrawa, and 2007 champion Alicia Marriott, now with Mooloolaba, with Northcliffe duo Courtney Hancock and Elizabeth Pluimers not to be discounted.

A record total field of 528 competitors will take to the famous Gold Coast stretch of beaches in the open men, open women, under 19, masters and teams events.

There have only been six winners in the eight-race men's history of the iconic race and two winners in the four women's events since its addition in 2005.

The 2009 event has a catch cry "Can Overcome" - printed on the front and back of every competition rash vest - and for every competitor it represents a sense of achievement.