Barlow now stands tall as an Australian Ultraman, and the 48-year-old farmer has shared the details of his extraordinary weekend in Noosa.
Making his final dash on Monday, Barlow triumphantly crossed the finish line of the 2022 Ultraman Australia in 23rd place after three challenging days.
Flanked by an overjoyed support crew that included wife Kate, kids Lachlan and Harry and his Echuca-Moama Triathlon Club mates Sam Tolman, Troy Bauerle, Justin Weeks and Blake Taverna, Barlow came to a relieved stop.
But he was also happy to have finished at all, with a final-day storm reportedly dumping 100mm of rain on exhausted competitors.
“Day three will go down in the record books as the most epic in the history of the event,” Barlow said.
“It was that close to being called off, just due to torrential rain and horizontal wind. The water was knee deep in places.
“The crews were outstanding, especially the volunteers that were standing in umbrellas and raincoats telling us where to go and checking we were okay.
“It was just phenomenal how it all panned out and I’m grateful they didn’t call it off.”
Triathletes were faced with a day one swim of 10km and 146km bike ride, followed by a day two ride of the same distance before finishing with an 80km run on the third and final day.
Competitors are allowed 12 hours during the day to complete the segments.
Barlow finished the day one bike course in eighth place, a result he admits he struggled to wrap his head around initially.
“It was good to get off the bike, have a look at the board and be sitting in eighth place, I had to pinch myself a bit,” he said.
“I was quite fatigued so I couldn’t comprehend what just happened.
“The coach advised me not to drive the bike course before the event — I think so as not to scare the crap out of me.
“There was about 2000m of elevation over that 240km.”
The day two ride was navigated along slippery roads, but Barlow nonetheless made it to day three of the event in the allotted time, although paranoia began to seep into his tired mind as he neared the finish line on Noosa beach.
“My crew kept saying you’ve got plenty of time, you can start walking and enjoy the moment,” Barlow said.
“But all I could think in my mind was that I wasn’t going to make cut-off and that the last two days would have been for nothing.
“To have Kate and the kids and the four guys being able to run across that finish together was just beautiful — it’s like they were carrying me along all the way.
“They knew what I needed and got me out of those dark places I was in.”
On top of completing the Ultraman, Barlow has also been raising money for Dolly’s Dream, an organisation dedicated to addressing the culture of bullying and youth mental illness in the wake of the passing of 14-year-old Dolly Everett.
Barlow said fundraising efforts had so far seen $11,000 contributed to the cause.
“It’s so far well above the intended target, which is just unbelievable support,” Barlow said.
Support for the fundraiser can be directed to https://fundraise.dollysdream.org.au/fundraisers/lukebarlow/ultraman-2022--doitfordolly
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