Cam Wurf was hit with his first ever drafting penalty as he endured a rollercoaster of emotions at IRONMAN Cozumel.
But the popular Aussie star battled to the finish to sign off his 2024 triathlon season in typically gutsy style, dipping under eight hours despite all the trials and tribulations.
This year has seen the 41-year-old again combine his role as a pro cyclist with the INEOS Grenadiers with no fewer than four full-distance IRONMANs (and two 70.3s).
The highlight was his seventh place at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona in late October when he ran through the field on the run – and vowed to come back for more in the future.
Not content with that, just a week later he clocked a superb time of 2:36 at the New York Marathon.
‘My legs had nothing left’
You never underestimate Wurf in whatever task he sets himself, but even he admitted that Cozumel might have been a race too far this season.
In an entertaining race debrief on his Instagram account, he said: “Well, I had a first today just not the one I envisioned having?♂️
“In a Nutshell, I received my first career drafting penalty. To add insult into embarrassment, it happened just as we’d finally got to the front of the race. From the absolute perfect scenario, to a worst case race nightmare. In the blink of an eye there I was standing in the bright yellow Sin Bin Tent for 5 eternal minutes?
“Gotta say, it really sucks standing there. I certainly don’t ever want to do that again!! At a time of the year when I’m already running on fumes, this totally sucked whatever adrenaline that was keeping me going, well & truly out to me. My legs had nothing left in when I finally climbed aboard my bike again, I was totally out of gas. I simply wanted to be anywhere but on that race course.”
‘Today it finally caught up with me’
Wurf is the opposite of a quitter but he had to dig deep – very deep – to get to the finish line, especially after starting the run at New York Marathon pace!
He added: “I’ve tried to fit in a lot of different things these past few weeks bouncing about the place. I think it’s safe to say that today it finally caught up with me. I honestly believed I was immune to fatigue, sadly it turns out I’m not?
“Anyways, try as I might to abandon, the roaring lungs of my little man, & the knowledge of how horrible it feels to quit, dragged me out onto the run course. The competitor in me tried in vane for a miracle fight back. Thanks to my new found delusional belief in my running legs, I started the run at my NY marathon pace?♂️
“Alas, it didn’t take long for reality to hit hard & I imploded yet again, now resigned to simply groveling to the finish line for a 2:51 marathon & 8th place. To me, it seems easy when everything goes to plan, i feel like I learn the most about myself when the ? hits the fan.
“Huge congratulations to @bartaernouts for a huge win. 40 years young & what a warhorse you are, as strong as an ox all day long??? So pleased for you after the difficult few years you’ve had in the sport, way to grit it out?
“It’s the tuff days that make the good ones all the more special to me. I’ll see you all on a race track somewhere, sometime soon, but not too soon?”
Enjoy the ‘rest’ Cam – probably a tough pre-season block with the INEOS Grenadiers – and we look forward to seeing you back on triathlon start lines in 2025.
