1. 30| Triathlon & Multi Sport Magazine www.triathlonmag.com.au
FirstLeg | LifeintheSlowLane
We all need a little help. And when Adidas put shoes on my feet, my deep affection for the three stripes
went far further than the 14-kilometre race they took me through. With my first triathlon begging,
the City 2 Sea provided an ideal transition from running events to my upcoming St Kilda triathlon,
beginning with an ocean swim.
Words: Luke Dodemaide | Image: Rob Hay
The Sponsor Child
H
auschildt. Docherty. The Brownlees.
Throw in the odd Beckham for good
measure. Adidas certainly has an
impressive stable of charismatic, good-
looking, forward-thinking athletes. Most swim, run
and ride with the best of them. Others, well, run
moderately, swim badly and ride on the coattails
of a column that the lion’s share of TMSM readers
flip through en route to the ‘Nuts and Bolts’ section.
That’s right, you can add another name to Adidas’ Gai
Waterhouse-esque stable of stars: Dodemaide. What,
you were expecting Nike? Please.
Somehow, maybe due to the actions of my agent
editor, Jerry Maguire Rob Hay, a copy of last month’s
column landed on the desk of Adidas’ higher-ups,
who I can only gather are direct descendants of Adolf
Dassler himself and knew a sure-fire opportunity
when they saw one. Like, you know, a guy who’s never
run a triathlon before in his life, spends all day in a
vertically challenged chair and gets up only so often
to fill his cup with coffee.
As part of my triathlon training, however, I decided
to run in the City 2 Sea, a 14-kilometre Melbourne
fun run organised by The Sunday Age and contested
by over 13,000 competitors. From outside the Arts
Centre, around Albert Park’s pit lanes – home of the
Melbourne Grand Prix – and straight down to St
Kilda, it is a rather picturesque route. An in-between
distance that is possible for the newbies but still
makes for a sweatier-than-usual Sunday stroll for the
marathoners.
It is still a race to be won, though. And Steve Kelly
did that with a time of 42:26. He had previously taken
out the inaugural race in 2011. In the women’s event,
Clare Geraghty proved too strong on the back of a
49:44 performance. I, of course, never laid eyes on
either of them.
Back in the field, I was battling it out against a
vague time I’d set for myself. Qualifying as an ‘elite’
runner for this, I promised myself I’d make it to the
line prior to the 80-minute mark. But, considering
the added pressure I heaped on myself because of
a set of comped new shoes, I decided I better go for
a little more. You have to keep the sponsors happy,
right? And following a ‘UK Running Team’ t-shirt-
wearing 30-something with bad knees, I did just that.
With those heavy braces on, yet still enthusiastic,
I surmised that this guy would not necessarily be a
quick runner but that he would be a smart runner. It
was as if he had studied where all the drink stations
were, and shuffled over to that side just before they
arrived. I stalked him like a two-legged cheat sheet.
His meticulous five-minute kilometres granted me
a 1:10:55 finish — a time I shared with Rachel Farley
and Michael Walsh. I have never met those two
competitors, but it was an honour to share 2,011th
place with them. And you know what? If I could give
them the shoes off my feet, I would. However, my new
‘sponsor’ may not approve. From now on, I only take
off my sneakers for the swim and bike leg. Triathlon,
here I come.
Considering
theadded
pressure
Iheaped
onmyself
becauseofa
setofcomped
newshoes,
IdecidedI
bettergofora
littlemore.
Luke Dodemaide is an award-winning
Melbourne-based sportswriter and editor
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