Allie foots bill for Gold

ALLIE Britton’s determination to beat the odds in the race she loves has cost her a place in the Nutri-Grain series this summer.

Britton is likely to miss the entire Ocean6 season and its Nutri-Grain ironwoman series due to a foot injury she carried into the Coolangatta Gold last weekend and aggravated during the race.

A two-time Gold runnerup, Britton attempted to push through the gruelling event despite severe plantar fasciitis curtailing her training for the marathon event.

The Kurrawa ironwoman was on track for a courageous finish when she stepped in a pothole on the opening run leg, causing a major tear to her plantar fascia, an injury her specialist yesterday confirmed would rule her out for the next three to six months.

“I felt it go as I was running in (to the water) but I wasn’t ready to face the music,” said Britton (pictured).

She eventually completed the 3.5km swim leg but could not put any weight on her foot and was eventually carried from the surf by partner, ironman Tanyn Lyndon.

“The Gold means a lot to me … and I like the final run leg. But as soon as I went down I knew there was no way I would be finishing that final run,” she said.

Britton was unable to put any weight on her foot for three days after the race. And while she had been feeling pain since the Australian titles in Perth in April, she pushed through in a bid to add her name to winners of the iconic event.

“I just don’t think that I really (understood how difficult it would be). I was looking at all the unicorns and butterflies but we ran out of time to get it better,” she said.

“My plantar fascia is 80 per cent torn now.”

Britton is responding well to injections of platelet rich plasma (PRP) into her foot to treat her injury but the Australian titles on the Gold Coast next April, rather than the NutriGrain series, have now become her major goal.

“I’ll look at getting that done every week until December and hope for a faster recovery than the doctor anticipated,” she said. “But maybe I’ll just do a huge offseason ready for next year’s Gold.”