Port Douglas was a fitness mecca yesterday, as three Cairns Airport Adventure Festival events encouraged record numbers of competitors and spectators to face off or cheer on.

Australia’s Emma Moffatt continued her outstanding form at the Coral Coast Triathlon 5150, leading from start to finish and finishing in eighth place overall.

Moffatt exited the water with the second group of males after the 1500m swim off Four Mile Beach despite starting a minute behind.

“I was proud of myself for being brave, you would never normally see me swimming out there on my own it was nice to catch those boys at the end.”

She went on to extend her lead on the two-lap bike course over the 40km course.

“It was the first time I have worked on a time trial bike so it felt really fast compared to what I was used to, it was nice to be around the boys to pace myself and know where I am and how hard to go.”

The 10km run is one of the most unique in Australia - 4-laps on the hard sand along Four Mile Beach.

“It was mentally tough out there today and it’s quite hot which makes it hard too.”

Moffatt cruised to victory ahead of Ange Castle who finished second at IRONMAN Australia, Port Macquarie recently. Sarah Crowley rounded out the podium.

With Moffatt preparing to re-join the World Championship Series in Europe, the Cairns Coast 5150 was her last for the year on home soil.

Clayton Fettell laid down the fastest bike split of the day to set up a confidence-boosting win ahead of the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns next weekend.

Fettell held off Brad Kahlefeldt in second-pace, with Olympian and Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist Kahlefeldt setting a blistering pace on the run, but unable to sustain the lead. Joseph Lampe had a solid race to finish third.

A group of six broke away on the swim that included all the contenders. As expected, Lampe and Fettell were first back to land, with Luke McKenzie, Kahlefeldt, Sam Betten and Michael Murphy in quick succession.

“I tried to go off the front in the swim but I just didn’t have the speed that Joey (Lampe) had today, he really opened it up and split the field early in the race, I just sat on his feet,” said Fettell.

Fettell showed his dominance on the bike ,recording a 50:21 split on the two-lap bike course and establishing a two minute lead at the changeover from McKenzie. Lampe was a further 30 seconds back with Kahlefeldt and Betten another 10 seconds behind them.

Kahlefeldt was the quality runner in the field going into the 10km run but faced a 2 minute 40 second deficit to Fettell.

The New South Welshman put in an impressive effort, halving the gap at the 5km mark and going into the final 2.5km just 55 seconds behind Fettell. In the end though, Fettell was too strong.

Kahlefeldt will use his effort as preparation for this weekend's IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns.

“I couldn’t quite catch Clayton, he had a fantastic bike leg and all credit goes to him but it was nice to be out there racing today,” said Kahlefeldt.

Results

Male

1. 01:44:33   Clayton FETTELL   
2. 01:45:43   Brad KAHLEFELDT     
3. 01:47:05   Joseph LAMPE    
4. 01:48:06   Luke MCKENZIE    
5. 01:49:25   Sam BETTEN    

Female

1. 01:54:15   Emma MOFFATT    
2. 02:08:27   Ange CASTLE    
3. 02:09:37   Renee BAKER    
4. 02:11:36   Sarah CROWLEY   
5. 02:12:40   Brooke LANGEREIS    

Meanwhile in the in the RRR Mountain Bike Challenge, Townsville local Nelson Tilley snatched back-to-back victories, with the 20 year-old first across the Four Mile Beach finish line in Sunday's event.

“I had heard that Dominic [Hoyal] was the race favourite, which motivated me to ride hard and score the win two years in a row,” said Tilley.

"There is no race finish like this in Australia."

Local Lauretta Howarth also snatched a repeat win, with the 2012 champ crossing the finish line first in the women's 70km event.

A record field of nearly 600 participants lined up at the start of the Mt Molloy bump track on Sunday, the same path used in the 1870s as the main bullock track from Port Douglas to the gold fields.

In the 70km race, riders looped around a 6km section of Wetherby Station, before heading towards the Four Mile Beach finish line and cheering spectators.

“Wetherby Station is the perfect race venue to showcase the rural elements of the course, featuring the cattle grates, bump track and revisited the old original homestead," USM EVENTS spokesperson, Beau Frith.

"There is no other mountain biking race in Australia that can boast a course like ours,” he said.

70 km Results

Male

1. 02:44:22   Nelson Tilley            
2. 02:44:22   Dominic Hoyal        
3. 02:44:37   Jeff Rubach              
4. 02:49:00   Paul Mashford         
5. 02:49:35   Daniel Rubach        

Female

1. 03:47:50   Lauretta Howarth           
2. 03:47:53   Ivonne Nathan                 
3. 03:04:14   Christine Keir                    
4. 04:14:52   Erika Kohncke                   
5. 04:15:51   Angela Watts

In the third annual Hekili Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge, a record field of 100 canoes and surf ski crews battled it out on the gruelling 40km course between Palm Cove and Port Douglas.

As Australasia’s longest ocean iron race, the 40km event has become an international drawcard for paddlers seeking the ultimate challenge, with this year's event attracting 217 paddlers from Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Western Australia.

Townsville powerhouse Mick de Rooy (2:49:48) finally got the better of his nemesis, beating world champion Dean Gardiner by two minutes. Fellow Townsville local Jonathan Crowe finished third.

OC1 line honours were taken by juniors Andrew Tutaka-George and Mitchell Olds, who out paddled 20 older and highly credentialed competitors, including reigning champion and third-place winner Peter Dorries.

Local duo Emma Morgan and Sue Lockwood (3:28:13) were the first female crew across the line, snatching victory in a thrilling run to the finish arch ahead of OC1 paddler Amanda Ozolins by a second, followed by first-time contender, South Australian Bec Hickson on a spec ski (3:34:13).

The six-man crews OC6 division was again hotly contested, with the top three men’s crews finishing within three minutes of each other – Burleigh Point (3:17:23); Noosa (3:18:30) and Gladstone’s Canoe Point (3:19:48).

Local favourites Hekili came a close fourth against local rivals Coconuts, who won the inaugural GBROC back in 2011.

Sydney and Mooloolaba were the first female OC6 crews across the finish line, followed by Port Douglas.

The top mixed crews were Coconuts, Hervey Bay and Mission Beach.

Event director Sue Lockwood said paddlers came from around the world to test themselves in a new form of extreme challenge, and the GBROC didn't disappoint.

"There is nothing like the Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge on the outrigger calendar, and with 100 craft on the water today, it shows this event is fast becoming one of the most popular formats for ocean racing in Australasia," she said.