In what will be recorded as one of the closest races in Nutri-Grain IronMan history, the former Kiama ironman Ali Day has taken the 2014-15 series crown from his idol Shannon Eckstein.
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In an extraordinary battle of wills, Day, who has come back to the sport after a year off with health issues, executed a superior performance across the six rounds to obtain the win.
Needing only to secure a first or second placing in what was recorded as the fastest-paced eliminator race ever, Day battled Eckstein in small surf at Newcastle to cross the line in second, followed by Matt Bevilacqua in third, Matt Poole in fourth and Caine Eckstein in fifth.
Holding back the tears, an emotional Day said it was his testing year on the sidelines due to illness and injury that motivated him to get back into the sport he loved.
“I can’t believe it, it was a tough year coming back and I have to pay credit to Shannon, his brother Caine, Zane Holmes, Ky Hurst and Wes Berg who made me want to do this sport when I was a young kid,” said Day.
“Five years ago I started this dream but to win a Nutri-Grain Series, and the fact that it is 20 years to the day that my coach Michael King won his IronMan Series…it felt like it was fate.”
Day snagged the crown from Eckstein with one point, who conceded he ran a tactical race with a little bit more to give but played it safe to keep Day closer to the pack.
“I didn’t want to bring Ali with me and further away from the field, I had to try and keep it close for a little bit of luck at the end, obviously it just wasn’t good enough,” said Eckstein.
“We haven’t had a battle go down to the last couple of rounds for probably eight or so years, it’s good for the sport.”
“Good things happen to good people and Ali is kind-hearted and it’s good to see him win. He obviously had some tough times last year and he’s come back and raced well consistently all throughout the year.”
Matt Poole, who helped drive the pace of the extraordinarily fast round six race, finished fourth behind up and comer, Matt Bevilacqua, and clinched third place in the overall Nutri-Grain Series standings.
Poole, who is Day’s training partner at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, said it was a tough and fast era of racing, and today was no exception.
“I had to work really hard in the first race today to qualify into the second round but that’s the sort of depth in the men’s field at the moment and there’s more hot junior talent coming through.”
“It’s kind of terrifying but it’s also exciting for the future of the sport.”
