We Noticed: Hauser and Fullager Nail Noosa, Retirement News, and Add Another Name to the “100 IRONMAN” List

Jess Fullagar takes the Noosa win. Photo: Korupt Vision

After taking the World Championship in Wollongong a couple of weeks ago, Australia’s Matt Hauser added the prestigious Noosa Triathlon title to his 2025 resume.

“I’m feeling elated after the win, I finally got a win here in Noosa, it’s been a few years coming to this race and there’s such a great crowd here, so it’s always a place to come back to and good to get on the top step,” said Hauser.

Hauser takes his first Noosa title. Photo: Korupt Vision

“In the swim I took it out for the first few hundred metres and then Brayden Mercer, the defending champion, took the reins and then kind of controlled the pace a little bit,” Hauser continued. “I think it grouped up quite a bit with the calm conditions, and then there was a big group on the bike. Only a few of us were working like myself, Luke Willian and Ben Dijkstra towards the end. Thankfully, Ben rolled through, I knew he wasn’t doing the run, so I knew he could push a little bit hard on the bike, so it was good to have him up there. And then the run, I kind of just tried to get a bit of a gap for the first one or two kilometres and then consolidate from there. And when I turned around and saw John Reed with only a 15 second deficit back to him, it was time to turn on the jets and I kind of attacked the race like I did in Wollongong. I made sure I was conservative in the first half and then was able to back end it with the heat and humidity out there, overall a very pleasing race for me.”

Hauser would end up a minute ahead of Reed, with Luke Willian rounding out the podium just over a minute behind the American.

Great Britain’s Jess Fullagar was just two seconds behind Olympic gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand out of the water, then put on a cycling clinic as she pulled well ahead of the rest of the field to start the run with a sizeable lead. She would cross the line over three minutes up on Aussie Richelle Hill, with Beaugrand finishing just under a minute behind her to round out the podium.

“This is my first experience of Noosa and I absolutely loved it, hopefully I’ll be back very, very soon,” Fullagar said. “I had no idea what to expect, so I just said to my coach, I’m just going to race the race that’s in front of me. We were kind of in this small group in the swim and I just slid in, and then I came out of T1 first and thought, this is my opportunity, head down, just ride like you normally do, aggressive from the front and see what the time split is at the dead turn. I saw I had a bit of gap, so I just thought even pace it now all the way in and then again see what times that you’ve got in transition.” 

“Then again, I was like, okay, just break it down in your head kilometre by kilometre and it was definitely getting hot out there and the girls were keeping me honest because Richelle and Cassandre, they ran very fast,” she continued. “I’ve never experienced anything like this event, 8,000 people, to be out there at the same time as them, something quite unique, and there were people everywhere on the course, and music as well, I just loved it, everyone’s so friendly in all the events yesterday and today. It’s a whole atmosphere, an event that I encourage people to experience once.”

Noosa Triathlon – Elite Men’s Results

1. Matt Hauser – 1:42:38
2. John Reed – 1:43:38
3. Luke Willian – 1:44:44
4. Brandon Copeland – 1:45:12
5. Jack Willis – 1:45:42
6. Brayden Mercer – 1:46:36
7. Chase McQueen – 1:47:14
8. Jack Crome – 1:47:20
9. Sebastian Asher – 1:48:59
10. Aaron Royle – 1:49:34

Noosa Triathlon – Elite Women’s Results

1. Jess Fullagar – 1:56:08
2. Richelle Hill – 1:59:34
3. Cassandre Beaugrand – 2:00:32
4. Lotte Wilms – 2:04:04
5. Danielle De Francesco – 2:06:42
6. Charlotte McShane – 2:10:43
7. Kerry Morris – 2:11:10
8. Megan Chapple – 2:11:24
9. Emily Donker – 2:11:27
10. Ebony Webb – 2:12:34

Braden Currie Calls it a Career

Braden Currie on the run at the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Popular New Zealand triathlete Braden Currie announced his retirement on Friday.

“It’s been an incredible journey and I feel that in my own way I’ve achieved more than I ever believed I could have achieved in my career,” he said in a YouTube video. “I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve achieved as a family and as a unit with coaches and sponsors. The journey’s been probably one of the most challenging journeys I could have chosen … I feel lucky enough to not regret anything in my IRONMAN journey.”

Currie was a late entrant to the sport, turning to triathlon after competing in Adventure Racing – he won the prestigious Speight’s Coast to Coast race in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (and also in 2022). He then turned to off-road triathlon and took second at the XTERRA World Championship in Hawaii in 2016. He turned his sights o IRONMAN racing in 2017, winning his debut over the distance at IRONMAN New Zealand that year, and would set a course record in winning IRONMAN Cairns, the Asia-Pacific Championship the following year. He took third at the IRONMAN World Championship in St. George in 2022, getting passed just short of the finish line by Lionel Sanders.

Respected and liked by his competitors and triathlon fans alike, Currie has received numerous warm messages to his post, including this one from three-time Kona champ Patrick Lange:

“What a ride, mate! We’ve had some truly inspiring battles out there. Massive respect for the way you’ve carried yourself on and off the course. Seems like all of us from ‘that era’ are slowly hanging up the race suits… also special thanks for letting me join the squad of @benreszel. Enjoy the next chapter, legend.”

… And So Does Aaron Royle

Royle wins IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast.

The two-time Olympian took 10th at the Noosa Triathlon earlier today, which will be his last race as a pro. Royle had won the prestigious Noosa tri three times, making it a fitting way to end his career.

Even before competing at the Tokyo Games, Royle had dabbled in long-distance racing, winning the 70.3 Sunshine Coast race in 2021. In 2022 he was third to Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt at the PTO’s Canadian Open, and was a regular on the T100 Tour in 2024. This year he took 10th at Challenge Roth.

Jill Walker Finishes her 100th IRONMAN

Jill and Dougin Walker pictured with son Drew at IRONMAN Cairns in 2023. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

I first met Jill and Dougin Walker at IRONMAN Cairns in 2023. The couple were in the midst of competing in six IRONMAN races on six continents in six weeks. They’ve since become friends, which made it sad that I missed Jill’s 100th IRONMAN race yesterday. She completed the feat at IRONMAN Florida, despite a knee injury that’s made her last few races a struggle. She walk/ jogged her way through the IRONMAN World Championship last month, then finished the race in Panama City Beach in 14:32:17.

When I first met the couple, the six in six weeks challenge was just an extension of some of their other feats over the years as they seek to join “The Club” – a select group of athletes who have done every IRONMAN race in the world. (The Club members include Canadians John Wragg and Elizabeth Model, Mexico’s Luis Alvarez, American Jeffrey Jonas and Germany’s Holger Muller.) In 2019 Jill and Dougin did six IRONMAN races on six continents in six months. In 2022 they did five IRONMAN races in four weeks (doubling up on one weekend at IRONMAN Kalmar and IRONMAN Copenhagen). Later that year the pair were married on the bike course at IRONMAN Cozumel, taking a half-hour break on the first loop of the bike course for the ceremony.

“She thinks it’s fun,” Dougin told me when I interviewed them for the first time in 2023. “It’s no fun at all. It’s Type 2 fun. After I’m finished, it’s fun to be done. I like the planning – the before and the after.”

“I enjoy the whole day,” Jill piped in. “When I cross the finish line I get post-IRONMAN depression for two days, but then I get excited for the next one. It’s kind of a sickness.”

Jill managed to talk almost 100 of her triathlon friends to join her for her big feat yesterday.

In terms of the over-100 club, Wragg is considered the leader on that front, with over 270 IRONMAN finishes and over 300 full-distance events. (He’s completed Challenge Roth, the Great Floridian and the Esprit full-distance events as well.) Susan Haag was the first woman to reach 100 IRONMAN races – she also hit the 100 milestone at IRONMAN Florida in 2016. Model made it to 100 at IRONMAN Wisconsin in 2021 and has continued to add to her tally.

In addition to his 213 IRONMAN finishes, Alvarez has also climbed the seven highest mountains on each continent (“Seven Summits”).

I’m not sure how many IRONMAN races that Jonas and Muller have done, but I’m going to guess they must be at the 100 point as well.

In terms of athletes who have completed 100 full-distance triathlons, there are a number of athletes who have managed the feat on consecutive days, but, obviously, those weren’t (for the most part) at official races. James Lawrence, the “Iron Cowboy,” completed a full-distance triathlon 101 days in a row in 2021. Then, two years later, Great Britain’s Sean Conway did 105 in a row. Last year Germany’s Jonas Deichmann finished 120 long-distance triathlons in a row on the Challenge Roth course. Deichmann’s record-setting spree did include Challenge Roth on one of the days.

If there are any others who have completed more than 100 IRONMAN or full-distance races, I would love to know – feel free to add that info in a comment to this post.

For now, though, I’ll simply end by congratulating Jill Walker on joining a prestigious club.

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