Images: World Triathlon
By Kent Gray/Triathlon.kiwi in Townsville
Dan Hunt the IT guy from Hataitai is already the owner of two medals – just two days into the 2024 World Triathlon Multisport Championships. The story of how he made it to Townsville, and what he plans to do next, is hard to beat too. Noble even.
You see, the Tri Wellington rep is one of those characters who can’t calibrate doing things by halves, in sport or life.
That’s why he’s planning to eek all he can out of every possible opportunity in Townsville before confronting his biggest challenge yet – becoming a father for the first time early in the New Year.
The 30-year-old has already snared a pair of duathlon bronze medals, in Friday’s sprint and Sunday’s standard distance. But they’re only “warm-ups” to his main event, Sunday’s Long Distance Triathlon. Oh, and did we mention he’s also giving the Aquathlon a nudge on Friday as well?
Before we get back to his exhausting schedule in Townsville, lets rewind to how Hunt found himself in picturesque North Queensland in the first place.
He only began triathlon last November but promptly qualified for the world champs with 8th place at The OxMan in Oxford. He then earned his duathlon starts with victory in the 30-34 age group duathlon at the Canterbury Classic in late January, edging younger Canterbury Triathlon Club rep and now New Zealand team-mate Abe O’Donnell (a gold medallist in the 20-24 sprint duathlon in Townsville) for third overall with a last gasp kick in the Lyttleton high country.
“My background is running. Got a bit broken, so rode bikes for a while and inevitably had a point to prove, I guess,” Hunt told Triathlon.kiwi of his journey into swim, bike and run.
“I’ve always said, if I wanted to I could make an age group triathlon team and I had some friends that had, so it was like, I’d better do it, and they were like, you have to now.
“So that was kind of the motivator to see how it could go.”
So far, so good.
What have you made of the racing and atmosphere here in Townsville?
“It’s really a privilege to be able to come and do this in nice places, right,” Hunt continued.
“Ultimately, there’s a lot of people who are probably more talented and hardworking than me that aren’t here because they can’t get here.
“So, I’ll go out and give it a stab and try my hardest and, sure, it looks good on paper but it’s a bit of fun.”
Fun before the serious business of trying to be the best Dad he can.
“This is probably it for a while. I’ve got Sunshine Coast 70.3 in a couple weeks, and then I’ll be on a bit of a retirement. We’ve got a baby coming early next year and I’m not too good at half arsing two things. I kind of go full arse into one thing.
“I don’t want to be one of those parents that’s not around because I’ve got to go for a ride or whatever, at least not immediately. That can come later.”
For now though, the good times in Townsville roll. And don’t be fooled by how much hard work Hunt has put into training, specifically for Sunday’s long distance test over 3km of saltwater croc evading ocean swimming, 114km of cycling and 30km of running.
It will be no cinch in the high 20-degree Celsius heat that is great for winter holidaymakers but awfully hot for athletes.
“I think all of us are fairly scared of starting a 30k race based effort after four hours [of swimming and cycling] at 11am. It’s going to be realistically probably 25, 26 degrees when we’re starting [the run], so, yeah, we’ll see.
“I don’t know how it’s going to go but it’s the same for everybody. Just hopefully you manage it best and your training has gone okay and everything goes to plan.”
Given his two medal start in Townsville and that whole-hearted or go home mentality, don’t be surprised if it does.
