ALI’S DAY ECKSTEIN’S RUN
ALI Day could have made it all about him.
Day yesterday won a fifth Coolangatta Gold title to equal Caine Eckstein’s record in the great race and seal his place in history as one of the best endurance ironmen in history.
But as he crossed the line, Day kissed the black wrist band bearing the name of Dean Mercer and pointed to the sky in an emotional tribute to his childhood hero.
Surfers Paradise star Day beat Shannon Eckstein across the line in one of the most anticipated races in years.
But he reserved his tribute for Mercer, whose wife Reen and four sons made a last-minute decision to attend the race.
“It is so special to have them here, to have Darren (Dean’s brother) start the race,” said Day, who looked up to the pair as a youngster in the NSW South Coast town of Kiami, just down the A1 from the Mercer’s base at Thirroul.
“I drew a lot of inspiration from Deano today.
“I wore this (wrist band) obviously for a reason and I knew if I got the opportunity I’d look down on it and kiss up to the sky.”
Day was outstanding in a dominant performance that relegated Eckstein to second, more than six minutes behind.
He broke the multiple world, Australian and NutriGrain series champion in the opening run leg over Miami Hill and increased his lead in the swim, despite worrying Eckstein was going to catch his feet.
“I could still see Shannon just behind me breathing down my neck,” Day said.
“It’s a very lonely place, particularly in the swim, you can’t see what’s happening around you and to have arguably the greatest ironman in history behind me, with his brother Caine who’s won the race five times (paddling beside him as his handler), was quite ironic.
“I had to just keep bringing myself back to the moment, not thinking too far ahead.
“The conditions were hard, there wasn’t much assistance but I was still feeling good in the board and I knew once I got to the beach I’d be OK.”
Day now shares the record of five titles with Caine Eckstein but refused to call out the Northcliffe ironman – although a race featuring Day and both Eckstein brothers is a mouth-watering prospect.
“I wish I could know the pace that Caine would go at, I still think he would be a bit better than me at it, he’s a tough guy,” a humble Day said.
“I know how good he is at it, so it’d be a really scary prospect to race him.
“I’ve got a lot to thank him for. He was the one that I saw finish the old course and I was like, I want to be like that guy.
“It’d pretty ironic today, I had both the Ecksteins behind me helping each other and I’vd got a hell of a lot of respect for those guys.”