Wonthaggi's Phil Hanley takes world ironman bronze

LEADING three-quarters of the way through the bike leg of the Ironman 70.3 World Triathlon Championships at St George in Utah over the weekend, Wonthaggi’s Phil Hanley was sitting pretty.

But he hit the wall, in the form of the towering sandstone cliffs and petrified dunes of Snow Canyon State Park just outside St George, and lost valuable time to the chasing pack.

Phil went from a dominant position in first, ahead of an international field of 36 competitors in the 70-74 age group, to a precarious 4th and was even down as low as 5th as he gathered himself in the transition into the final leg, the 21.1km run.

By his own admission, speaking by text message to the Sentinel-Times immediately after the race, he “suffered big time” late in the ride, and considered himself fortunate to come through that, let alone climb his way back up to an heroic podium finish in third.

"The climb up Snow Canyon was an absolute beast, so happy to even finish," he told friends and well-wishers on Facebook afterwards.

While you can read about the 1.9km swim, the 90km bike course and the 21.1km run in the brochure before you start a race like that, they don’t tell you about those moments in a gruelling event when your fitness appears to be failing you and the doubts set in.

But, it’s the sign of a real champion, who can fight through something like that and come out the other side. Phil Hanley did just that.

“I finished in third place in 6:07:15,” said Phil afterwards.

“Suffered big time on the steep climbs, especially through the beautiful Snow Canyon, but feel very fortunate to be able to race in such a stunning location at the Greater Zion Country. Thanks to all for their well wishes and support. Regards Phil.”

Phil started strongly in the event, finishing the 1.9km swim in third in a time of 35:39 just behind Tom Nagy (US) 35:24 and Gordan McLaughlin 32:49, but a good minute ahead of the rest of the field.

Making up time in transition to the bike, Phil actually emerged in first place, a position he held until the 68.4km mark of the 90km ride when he started “suffering” on several tough climbs.

Between the 68.4km mark and the 74.8km mark, Phil fell down to fourth, was even down as far as fifth when the 21.1km run commenced, having posted a bike leg that was 14 minutes off the pace set by the eventual winner of the 70-74 age group, Volker Fischer (US) who had made up the 6 minute deficit he spotted Phil after the swim, and then some; Fischer’s ride time 2:59:33 compared with Phil Hanley’s 3:14:10.

But, by the 4.3km mark in the run, Phil was back up into 3^rd and he swapped places with Mike Wien (US) and Jim Fuller (US) all the way to the line, ultimately finishing little more than half a minute ahead of Wien, one of the pre-race favourites in the age group.

As it turned out, Phil was well behind the first and second placegetters in the 70-74 section; Volker Fischer (US) 5:51:58 and Stuart Connolly (Canada) 5:57:53, finishing third in creditable 6:07:15, just ahead of his fast-finishing Aussie compatriot Graeme Hampton 6:07:49, who put on a withering run leg of 1:55:30, a full 10 minutes better on that leg than Phil’s 2:05:37 for the 21.1km.

So, in the end, just getting a position on the podium against the best age group athletes in the world was quite some achievement and Phil Hanley received the plaudits of his friends and family back home after the brave effort. Phil will take a few days of rest and relaxation before heading home.