WAGGA triathlete Ryan Miller can rest easy over the Christmas break now another trip to Hawaii is locked in.
Miller capped of a huge year with another top performance at the Busselton Ironman this month, where he gained automatic qualification for Hawaii 2016.
Miller experienced Kona for the first time in October when he finished in the top 20 of his age group at the Ironman World Championships.
He will now take a couple of weeks off training over Christmas and can put his feet up knowing his place at Kona next year is booked.
“It’s good to have it ticked off,” Miller said.
“It’s been a good year, I didn’t expect it.
“You don’t know what to expect going into your first Ironman but it’s been really good.”
Miller has completed three Ironmans in the last seven months.
He enjoyed his first at Port Macquarie in May this year where he qualified for Kona.
Milller and a handful of Wagga triathletes completed Kona in October, then he backed up at Busselton on December 4.
He finished fourth in the 35-39 years age group at Busselton.
He reeled off a three hour 10 minute marathon to jump from 10th to fourth and grab the final Kona qualification spot.
“I came off the bike in 10th and ran my way into fourth,” Miller explained.
“I ran pretty good, especially on tired legs.
“The bike was really tough, it was windier than Kona and it’s renowned as the hardest bike leg, but I got off and felt alright.
“I missed the podium but was stoked to get fourth and get automatic qualification.
“It was a risky going over there, seven weeks after Kona but it’s a pretty quick course and I wanted to try to go over there, get a pretty quick time and qualify for Kona.”
Miller can now pinpoint his training around peaking for Kona next October, rather than having to try to qualify at either Melbourne, Port Macquarie or Cairns next year.
He has also qualified for the half Ironman World Championships at Mooloolaba next September, a race that will fit into his schedule perfectly.
“It will be a good warm up, it will work out perfect,” Miller said.
“Especially after last year’s prep where I had an interrupted prep with an operation on my back.
“This year I’ll be able to set my sights on it.”
“This year I’ll be able to set my sights on it.”
- Ryan Miller
After turning heads at his Kona debut this year and with the bonus of early qualification, Miller hopes he can go even better next year.
“My aim next year, of course you want to finish right up the top, but I reckon I could try to finish top 10 in my age group,” Miller said.
“I’d love to finish in the top 100 overall too, in amongst the pros.”
While others feel the effects in Kona, Miller thrived in the conditions.
“You do the race and everyone says it’s ridiculous and they’re not coming back but it suits me,” Miller said.
“The heat knocked a lot of people around but it didn’t affect me as much.”
