Iron win a bolt from blue

Martinborough endurance athlete Marilyn Morrison surprised herself when she won the women's 50-54 age group title at the recent Western Australian Ironman near Perth.
Morrison was aiming for a time of around 12hrs for the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle ride and 42km run but was clocked at 11hrs 14mins. "It was a lot faster than I thought I would do," Morrison said yesterday when reflecting on her performance.
"I guess it was one of those days when everything fell into place. I actually felt pretty comfortable all the way through."
For Morrison, the Perth event was her third Ironman in the past two years, and her fourth in total, and her victory qualified her to contest the prestigious Kona Ironman in Hawaii next October for the second successive year.
Already she has beating the 12hr mark as an objective for 2011.
"The heat can be very trying there so times can be slower because you need to conserve energy," she said.
"Knowing what to expect should be a help though."