Photo Gallery: 2011 Challenge Cairns

Winner Chris “Macca” McCormack served as the inaugural event’s ambassador, and said, “At 38, you take the titles as you can. I’m ecstatic to win this.” Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Cairns’ Great Barrier Reef location made the perfect spot for an additional open water swim competition, the Quicksilver Reef Swim (1.5k or 3k) off Green Island. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

The Challenge and USM Events team put together 10 days of activities and races, including a mountain bike race, reef swim, kids race and 5k. To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Age groupers warm up as the sun rises over Yorkey’s Knob. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

12x iron-distance champion Belinda Granger gets ready for the start. She took fifth—the same place that her husband Justin got in the Cairns Half. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

The two-loop swim course resembled an M-shape, with plenty of bouys to navigate around. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Sunrise at the swim start of Challenge Cairns. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Three waves (all pros, age group male/female and relay teams/paratriathletes) went off at the start separated by 10 minutes. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

More than 600 age groupers finished the full Cairns Challenge race, right next to the Yorkey’s Knob Boat Club, where spectators could watch the race live while enjoying breakfast. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

A small pro field of mostly Australian and New Zealand athletes showed up to race. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Macca did a quick flip over a railing to get in the right spot before exiting the swim in 47:26. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Tim Berkel followed Macca, out at 49:28, and ended up taking third for the day. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Belinda Granger exits the water with Kirsten Molloy. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

The 112-mile bike course had spectacular views of the coast on the Captain Cook Highway, passing crocodile farms, tropical rainforest and beach resorts. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Leon Griffin crushed the field at the Cairns Half by 12 minutes. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Cairns Half second-place finisher Joseph Lampe ran to second in 4:12:02. Photo: Lucas Wroe. To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Macca led the run and never looked back, winning in 8:15:56. He came across the finish line to see his two daughters waiting for him. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Second-place finisher Matty White said his races “just keep getting better” in the last 12 months. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Rebekah Keat made her way through the field even after a 4-minute penalty on the bike. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

“Sometimes I rush the finish, but when you win you’ve got to take it in,” Keat said. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.

Michelle Mitchell was only racing her second iron-distance triathlon, but took home second after a fast 3:16:10 marathon. Photo: Lucas Wroe To read the race report from Challenge Cairns, click here. Also check out 10 reasons why you should add this race to your dream list by clicking here.