FOR someone who was just “looking forward to being part of it” Peta Cutler has returned home from Ironman 70.3 Western Sydney with a fantastic result.
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The Bathurst competitor was making her return to the sport in Sunday’s 113.1 kilometre race hoping just to reach the finish line but came home with a bronze medal in her age group.
Not bad for someone who spent two years out of the game.
Cutler completed the 1.9 kilometre swim, 90km cycle and 21.2km run in a time of five hours, seven minutes and four seconds.
The beauty in Cutler’s race was her consistency, finishing third fastest across all her legs in the women’s 30-34 years age category.
“I went there with no expectations. I was just looking forward to giving it a go because I hadn’t been doing it for a while,” Cutler said.
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“During the swim I was thinking ‘Oh this is quite hard. What am I thinking?’ but it was really good and I enjoyed it a lot.
“I didn’t know much until I got off the bike, when my husband told me I was in third place.
“It didn’t bother me where I was. I just thought that whatever happens, happens. I just did everything I could to hold that position.”
Cutler completed her swim in 32:08, the bike in 2:36:31 and the run in 1:53:52.
Terry Roberts was the fastest overall out of the Bathurst group with a time of 4:37:53 – strong enough for a silver in his age group.
Nick Hosking completed the course in 5:17:23 and Kath Stutsel was home in 6:27:10.
Richard Hobson was another Bathurst competitor making his return to racing at this level, finishing in a time of 5:06:05 after a tough race.
Hobson battled through a swimsuit malfunction but didn’t let that get in the way of helping Cutler defend her position.
“He could have just thrown the towel in but then he put in one of the fastest bike splits on the day. He caught me on the run, knowing I was in third, and ran with me,” Cutler said.
“He kept me in that spot. He was amazing. He could have given up but he didn’t and to me that’s so impressive, finishing what you started. I have a lot of respect for that.”
Hobson was fifth fastest on the bike for the men’s 50-54 years division.