Bendigo-born professional triathlete Fraser Walsh will be hitting the O’Keefe Challenge this week to see what he can muster in his first marathon.

“This is my first fresh marathon. All my marathons I’ve done have been off a 180km bike usually in the hot afternoon.”

Growing up around triathlons, Fraser Walsh has had his eye on the prize since a young age. “We had a great culture here for a few years and I really just loved the sport. My old man did the Ironman events when I was younger. I remember going to those big events thinking one day I want to be part of this at the top level. I raced age group for a year, then went overseas to learn from the best and realised I was capable of racing at the top level and racing quite well. So I thought why not.”

With a 2nd in the half distance at Challenge Shepparton in 2022 and a lot of top 6 finishes around Australia and two in America, Fraser has had some solid success. “My greatest achievement so far was 3rd at Ironman Busselton in 2022 in a time of 8.11 on a very hot and windy day. It’s a short window, to race at a high level, and against some of the best. I’m just trying to make the most of that.”

So what has Fraser’s training schedule looked like in the lead up to The O’Keefe Challenge? “Not your typical big run volume weeks. I have definitely mixed it up still with a couple hard rides and runs off the bike a week. A hard hilly run on a Wednesday and a long run on a Sunday & just some 3-4km swims in between that. I’ve been around the 16hr training mark for the past 5 weeks but have definitely had some lighter weeks. A normal week would be around 25-30hr a of training.”

“I have a lot of respect for the distance and just can’t wait to get out there. Whatever the time will be, it will be. It’s a tough course. I’ve seen previous winners like Leon Griffin and Jamie Cook run a bit slower here compared to their road marathon times.”

Having lived in Brisbane for the past 5 years, Fraser is looking forward to the community aspect of the O’Keefe Challenge.
“You really miss those community events run by great locals. Just seeing everyone out on course, there will no doubt be a lot of familiar faces. It really is a great course that I’ve always wanted to do but things just haven’t aligned. The off road surface is something I enjoy running on and running past a pretty full Eppalock at the moment. And finishing back in Heathcote… great wine region with an even better bakery.”

We look forward to seeing Fraser and all of our other participants out there getting it done this Sunday!