ECKSTEIN AND MARRIOTT IN WINNING START

January 16: Defending champion Shannon Eckstein confirmed he will be the man to beat in the 2010 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Serries after a commanding win in round one at Kurrawa Beach on the Gold Coast today, reports DAVID MOASE ...

And the Ironwoman series looks as if it could be the best ever after Alicia Marriott won a thrilling sprint finish from 2009 champion Naomi Flood at the end of a super-competitive race.

The revamped $250,000 Nutri-Grain series started in explosive fashion as round one was raced in an elimination format, which included a series of $1000 Dash For Cash bonuses.

Twenty competitors started in both the men's and women's rounds, with the last five across the line eliminated after race one and another five out after race two, leaving the top 10 to contest the third and deciding race.

Eckstein, from Northcliffe, looked impressive in the first two rounds then unleashed his full power in the round-deciding race three.

After matching strokes with Olympic swimmer Ky Hurst (Kurrawa) in the opening swim leg, Eckstein opened up a winning break in the board paddle and extended his lead in the ski leg to be able to cross the line unchallenged.

He won by 50 metres from Hugh Dougherty (Tugun) and Hurst, a four-time Australian Ironman champion making his comeback to the endurance series after a number of years concentrating on pool and open water swimming.

Fourth place went to surprise packet Alastair Day from the NSW country club Warilla Barrack Point, who was having his first crack at the Ironman series.

"There was a big build-up to today's race with Ky coming back and it was good to assert some sort of authority," Eckstein said.

"I felt good in that last race but you're never sure if you've got the legs or not. Mine were good but it was hard.

"I was always confident and in that last race, with the swim first, I got a really good start and even if Ky was in front I was happy to sit on him and build through the race.

"It's always a thrill to win a race, you never know when your next one is going to be. We've got Zane (Holmes) out injured and you never know when that's going to happen so you've got to enjoy your win."

Eckstein wasn't surprised to see Dougherty emerge as his closest rival in both the second and third races.

"I raced him about a month ago and he was really strong, he's changed clubs and he's now the coach at Tugun and his close friend Jacob Lollback passed away during the off season and I think he's got a lot to race for and is doing really well," Eckstein said.

The four-time series champion is hopeful of another commanding performance in tomorrow's second round of the series, also at Kurrawa.

"It's completely different tomorrow," Eckstein said of the Accumulator format which will see competitors contest four races, with each athlete's accumulated times deciding the winner of the round.

"Today you could cruise through the first couple of rounds but tomorrow's it's bang from the first gun."

Marriott, who moved from Perth last winter to train on the Sunshine Coast under coach Michael King, is chasing her first Ironwoman series and enjoyed her hard-won victory in a thrilling race with Flood.

The Mooloolaba competitor looked stronger as the round went on and took out race two before leading for much of the way in race three.

She took charge in the ski leg but Flood (Manly) caught a wave back to the beach that had the pair side by side as they hit the sand running.

It was then that Marriott, the nib Coolangatta Gold winner last October, saw her endurance training pay off as she edged out Flood in the dash for the line.

"I didn't do as well in the swim leg as I'd have liked but I knew I had better endurance than some of the girls so I just went for it in the ski leg," she said.

"Doing three ironwoman races in today's round is really taxing so having that endurance training base is really important, especially when it comes to soft sand running.

"As soon as Floody pulled down that wave in the final leg she said ‘sorry, mate' because we knew we were both going to hurt big time in the sprint.

"When we started running Floody was actually ahead of me and I knew I'd never live it down if I was beaten by her in a sprint finish so I picked up the tempo and held on."

Despite being beaten, Flood showed some excellent speed and strength throughout the three races and proved she will have a big role to play as the series unfolds.

The Ironwoman series looks set to be hard fought, with Marriott and Flood being closely followed home by Northcliffe's Kristyl Smith and Elizabeth Pluimers, and Hayley Bateup (Kurrawa).

The Dash For Cash element added plenty of excitement to today's races, with athletes choosing whether they would concentrate on keeping their position in the race or taking a slightly longer course in the hope of winning bonus money.

Kelly-Ann Perkins, the 17-year-old baby of the women's field from the Met Caloundra club, grabbed some handy pocket money by being the first Dash For Cash winner in the first race of the day.

Because no-one went for the money after the opening board leg, the prize jackpotted to $2000 when Perkins took the chance to grab the money after the ski leg.

Although she was eliminated at the end of race one, Perkins was still smiling.

Sheree Merryful took full advantage of the bonus, winning it twice in race two, while in the men's races Cory Hill, Dylan Newbiggin, Chris Allum and Eckstein all won $1000 each.

Round two will be held at Kurrawa tomorrow.

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RESULTS

2010 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman Series:

January 16 Gold Coast Round 1

Men: Shannon Eckstein (Northcliffe) Hugh Dougherty (Tugun) Ky Hurst (Kurrawa) Alastair Day (Warilla-Barrack Point) Corey Jones (Met Caloundra) Matt Poole (Mooloolaba) Pierce Leonard (Northcliffe) Dylan Newbiggin (Mooloolaba) Jono Stock (Manly) Rhys Drury (Dicky Beach) Chris Allum (Cronulla) Mitchell Miller James Stewart (North Burleigh) (Mooloolaba) Nathan Smith (Northcliffe) Mark Simpson (Cronulla) Cory Hill (Northcliffe) Alex Tibbits (Mooloolaba) Sam Hunt (North Burleigh) Daniel Moodie (Northcliffe) Sam Hamilton (Tugun)

Women: Alicia Marriott (Mooloolaba) Naomi Flood (Manly) Kristyl Smith (Northcliffe) Hayley Bateup (Kurrawa) Elizabeth Pluimers (Northcliffe) Gemma Newbiggin (Mooloolaba) Amy Nurthen (Terrigal) Terri Sullivan (Northcliffe) Courtney Hancock (Northcliffe) Rebecca Creedy (Met Caloundra) Brodie Moir (North Burleigh) Bonnie Hancock (Northcliffe) Sheree Merryful (Northcliffe) Flora Manciet (Northcliffe) Allira Richardson (Mooloolaba) Kelly-Ann Perkins (Met Caloundra) Alyce Bennett (North Burleigh) Katie Graham (Northcliffe) Jessica Walker (Northcliffe) Harriet Brown (Northcliffe)