Yes this is very fortunate and a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Wow, that sounds incredibly low, even considering the pandemic. How many would normally do this event? Is there some travel restriction or other direct cause of that few racers?

---

Dimond Bikes Superfan

I thought there were still travel restrictions between some states in Australia. From what I recall Melbourne lockdown was just lifted in Victoria but maybe in all the Covid19 news I am confused.

Someone from Aus can correct me, but I believe:
1. International travel into Aus still banned;
2. There was also a 14 day quarantine period for inter-state travel, so no one other than a few pro's travelled for the race.

So basically only athletes living in Cairns did the race.

Looks like last year there was just over 1100 athletes. There are travel restrictions all over Australia and unless you came from Queensland it would have been very difficult to get there or like WA you would have had to quarantine 2 weeks on return if you could get back in. It is usually an Australasian regional championship so 75 slots. Lucky for the Queenslanders that could and did make it. On the flip side there was one ladies pro slot and maybe 2 men’s pro slots.

..
No not Cairns only because you would have had 50 people between the full,half and teams if that was the case.

It was essentially a Queensland only event and Queensland is a bloody big place with a shitload of triathletes,1,200 of whom raced at the Queensland Triathlon Series Round 1 events in Brisbane on the same day as Ironman Cairns.
https://www.moretondaily.com.au/...yi0qgu0lLG4pPVh-wfno
.
https://www.racetecresults.com/...mp;RId=792&EId=1

This is just an extreme example of where you live having an impact on your road to Kona. On any normal year, the same situation applies if you cannot easily access a Kona qual event due to where you live, economics, visas etc etc. So this is just an extreme example of 'your chances of KQ are higher depending on where you live" (the kid from Rwanda or Mongolia have a harder time to KQ on every year).

Do you actually have to quarantine for 2wks or can you get a test on return and just quarantine until the results come back? (which is the case in my state in the US).

---

Dimond Bikes Superfan

...
...
The winning time in our age group on Sunday in Cairns was 11:34:10..Crazy stuff...I can tell you that standing on the sidelines near the finish line was crazy quiet for both athletes and spectators..Last guy came in at 16:02 I think but man it would have been lonely out there after dark..Even the bars and restaurants on course were super quiet compared to normal.
(Full results for you)
.https://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/...2020/events/1?page=1

Wow . . . refreshing to see Ironman take it on the chin vs a competitor. I'll bet a fair few of those 1200 wish they'd done the Ironman now though!

---

Dimond Bikes Superfan

.
Well the Queensland Tri Series (Owned and run by Kiwi ex-pro Brendon Downey for the old school boys) always gets those numbers as Ironman isn't the be all and end all of triathlon in Oz.The vast majority of those folks wouldn't race Ironman.Maybe the 70.3.

The difference was the uncertainty of the race going ahead at all so the Queenslanders who were concerned about it being cancelled deferred to next year and the rest of the country just sat in their lounge rooms wishing they were allowed to travel.Queensland Tourism gave Ironman $300K to help with costs which was great as they would have taken a big hit financially.

Well I can testify being day 7 at the Hyatt hotel here in Perth. I had a test on day two and apparently a nurse will rock up at my door around day 10 or something for a follow up but I am forced to not leave my room for 14 days. Flying from Melbourne which is just coming out of its second wave, everyone from my flight were all loaded 10 to a bus and taken here. Funny enough I found a letter under my door last night saying Victorians (state I just came from) as of 5 October can quarantine at home 14 days, you could be police checked at any time and if you breach will face I believe a $5000 fine regardless of test outcome. I believe all other states can quarantine at home but you have to apply for a pass to get into WA and satisfy the police how you will manage your 14 days without having to leave your accomodation IF you qualify to enter.

I have been forced to move to WA as I work fly in/fly out for work and WA has the border shut pretty much to everyone unless you are basically considered essential in some way (military, police, medical, services). I work for a company that supplies domestic gas for the state so was fine but had already done two quarantines before the Melbourne second wave and they locked me out of WA totally. I got a special exemption one time access in IF I chose to relocate here and has become the only option if I want to keep my job. Luckily I'm originally from WA and have houses I could move into so not such a huge deal for me but I have colleagues and friends doing the same thing with kids, separated and the like so causing major stress for them. No triathletes would have been granted access to get back in if they left for the IM even with quarantine.

It's somewhat of a power play by the state premier as WA has had no covid for something like 150 days. You can nightclub here, I think the football stadium will have full capacity 60 000 people for a final this weekend, no masks and life is normal. There is a state election coming so everyone here sees the premier as a god and his popularity is riding high for that reason. He is also trying to rid the likes of me flying into his resource rich state, earning the big $$$ and flying out to live and spend in another state.

A longwinded response but you kind of need the full story for context (and I have time to kill:) as the country is very divided by states at the moment. The WA premier is taking no risks until the March election. Anyone flying into the state is being forced to quarantine 14 days regardless of testing and I think partly to force FIFO workers hand to relocate as it sucks balls for me and cost companies money (I'm paid during quarantine and company pays all quarantine costs) forcing their hand under the guise of keeping the virus eliminated. I have spent the last 8 weeks stage 4 lockdown in my house in Melbourne pretty much, so extremely happy to be here and the freedom WA offers after being let out of my quarantine prison cell...

There were also a number of athletes from Adelaide - South Australia who flew up to race. We didn’t need to quarantine heading up or coming back.
A mate changed from the 70.3 to the full two weeks prior when It was announced Busso was cancelled.
He ended up finishing third in his AG and snagging a Kona slot.
Interesting Tim Reed and Tim Berkel both flew to adelaide for two weeks quarantine so they could then head up and race in Cairns.

In the M35-39 category there were 10 slots for a field of 30 finishers. It would be interesting to know how far the roll down went. While KQ is a goal for many people, the possibility of physically getting to Kona next year seems pretty slim at this stage.

Wow, sounds pretty intense, not fun. A bit over-the-top if you ask me, but what do I know? I’m doing some air/intra state travel this weekend ... into a ‘hot zone’ even ... I could get a test as soon as I get home, probably have the results in 24Hr, meanwhile I would have to quarantine at home, as would my whole family that isn’t traveling ... but, my wife wants nothing to do with me when I return, so I’m quarantining ‘at the lake’ [to give time for my infection to grow and actually test positive according to my wife]... an extra week to myself, that’ll definitely suck. I think the rules are pretty sensible here, but enforcement is very lax ... I’d basically have to be turned in by a neighbor or something in the case I came back and did not quarantine or get tested.

---

Dimond Bikes Superfan