PORT Douglas triathlete Grant Knight finished on the podium yesterday in the Coral Coast Triathlon in the perfect lead up to Sunday’s Cairns Ironman.

Knight, 46, pushed eventual winner Brendan Peeters all the way to finish second in the men and third overall with a time of 1hr:03min:08s.

The Port Douglas Surf Lifesaving Club member said the result was ideal preparation for the 70.3km event this weekend.

“I was ecstatic with that result,” he said.

“It was probably the fastest I’ve ever done and one of the first times I’ve been at the pointy end of the field.

“Usually you’re mixed in different age groups, but yesterday you knew where you stood.

“It definitely gives me some confidence going into the 70.3.”

Knight said it was refreshing to be able to go ‘flat out’ in the sprint event, which was part of the Cairns Adventure Festival in Port Douglas on the weekend.

“I really love the sprint races as you can go fairly hard,” he explained.

“With the 70.3km you really have to conserve your energy, you’re just trying to get through it.

“But the sprints allows you to go flat out, and competition usually gets the best out of you.”

Knight will compete in the Green Island Ocean Swim this Thursday before tackling the gruelling Ironman.

In the Hekili Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge it was the experience pairing of Tommy Woodriffe and Keith Burn’s saluting. The pair finished the paddle form Yorkey’s Knob in 2:47:59 ahead of Kendricks and Mark Anderson (2:53:23) and Andrew Love and Toby Hogbin (3:00:11).

It was a thrilling finish in the RRR Mountain Bike Challenge with Dominic Hoyal and Jeff Rubach finishing with the same time of 2:49:53, but the former declared the winner.

The 70km enduro event came to an exciting end on Four Mile Beach, with Duncan Mcintyre rounding out the place getters with a time of 2:56:46.


Coral Coast Triathlon (overall)
1. Brendan Peeters 1:01:54
2. Diane Luethi 1:02:45
3. Grant Knight 1:03:08

RRR Mountain Bike Challenge (70km)
1. Dominic Hoyal  - 2:49:53
2. Jeff Rubach 2:49:53
3. Duncan Mcintyre 2:56:46

Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge (Double Ski Open)
1. Keith Burn and Tommy Woodriffe 2:47:59
2. Greg Kendricks and Mark Anderson 2:53:23
3. Andrew Love and Toby Hogbin 3:00:11

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