HE doesn't have a sleigh or a team of reindeer to help him, but just like Santa, Jack Reen knows how to deliver at Christmas.
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For the second consecutive year Reen claimed long course honours in the Bathurst Wallabies Triathlon Club's Christmas round.
His winning time on Sunday, a 50 minutes, 27 seconds effort, was significantly quicker than the 53:50 he clocked 12 months earlier. Given Reen had to battle the wind the almost entire 16 kilometres of the cycle leg, it highlights his progress.
It also shows the effort he is putting into training for the longer Huskisson Triathlon Festival next February is on track.
"It's a work in progress, obviously my bike has progressed and I'm happy with it given this training week has been pretty big and I'm pretty tired," Reen said.
"I did a 34 kay run Wednesday, so I'm a bit spent, but I'm confident. It's just a work in progress, getting some consistency and not putting too much emphasis on the one day - the previous day is just as important as the next day.
"That will be my first half at Husky which I will be pretty excited for, I think I will enjoy it a bit more as this race is pretty short, but racing here is always good."
The long course field began Sunday with a 500 metres swim and it was Will Kelly who set the pace.
After being part of the Bathurst Swim Club's boys' 13-16 years team which contested the 4x50 metres medley final at the NSW Senior State Age Championships the previous day, Kelly backed it up with a 6:27 split for the swim leg.
He was first into transition, with Luke Gillmer following him 41 seconds later. Reen and Chris Howarth emerged from the pool together another 30 seconds back, but it was the 16km cycle leg that proved decisive.
The effort Reen has put into his cycling leg paid off as he averaged 41.8 kilometres an hour for the course to clock a 22:58 split.
It saw him come back into final transition with a 63 seconds lead over Howarth. Given Reen's strength on the run, it was more than enough of an advantage to know he had it won.
"It was pretty windy on the bike, it's pretty tricky with the TT [time trial] bars and you find yourself moving like a snake, but you just manage it. You can't control the conditions on the day so you just deal with it," Reen said.
"I tried not to look back at all on the bike, I only had one cheeky look back at the end of Morrisset Street. I was just pushing like there was someone on my tail.
"But when I looked back and couldn't see Luke I had a cheeky grin on my face and I just went with it. I knew it was my own race at the end of the day, so I just stayed in my own lane."
Reen clocked the quickest run split of the long course competitors, covering the 5km in 18:30, to ensure his second consecutive success in the Christmas triathlon.
Howarth (52:32) managed to hold off the chasing Gillmer (52:48) on the run to place second.
The Bathurst Wallabies' 2020-21 season resumes on January 26.