from NAS…
Tempe, AZ – It was a race to the finish for the men’s title at Ford Ironman Arizona with just 74 seconds separating the top four finishers. First time Ironman winner Jozsef Major bested the field to take first place. Fellow Hungarian Erika Csomor took the women’s race on a day that saw the heat become a major factor for all competitors.
Major raced to a hard fought 8:34:19 just 18 seconds ahead of American TJ Tollakson of Des Moines, IW. Third place was Jordan Rapp of Scarborough, NY who was followed closely by the man who had led the race for much of the day, James Bonney from Austin, TX.
Csomor beat out both the 2006 and 2007 Ford Ironman Arizona Champions today posting an impressive 5:02:30 bike ride on a very windy course for an overall time of 9:14:49.. Michellie Jones finished in second place, the 2006 World and Arizona winner posted a 9:25:52 and was followed by the defending Ford Ironman Arizona Champion Heather Gollnick in 9:32:07.
There is no question that the extremely high temperatures, coupled with wind on the bike course were responsible for a higher than average number of athletes not completing the course. Just over 2000 athletes embarked on their Ford Ironman Arizona journey this morning and at the end of the day 1690 were official finishers.
The Ford Ironman Arizona took place today in Tempe, Arizona for the fourth time. Athletes were competing for a pro prize purse of $75,000 and 80 qualifying spots for the 2008 Ford Ironman World Championships. For more information, please log onto www.ironmanarizona.com, full results may be obtained at www.sportstats.ca
Top ten finishers
Men
1. Jozsef Major, HUN 8;34:19
2. TJ Tollakson, Des Moines IW 8:34:36
3. Jordan Rapp, Scarborough, NY 8:35:04
4. James Bonney, Austin.TX 8:35:32
5. Rene Goehler, DEU 8:42:36
6. Jonathon Caron, CAN 8:48:01
7. Massima Cigana, ITA 8:54:33
8. Brian Buller, AUS 9:00:51
9. Serge Meyer, CHE 9:01:39
10. Bernhard Keller, AUT 9:08:04
Women
1. Erika Csomor, HUN 9:14:49
2. Michellie Jones, AUS (Calif) 9:25:52
3. Heather Gollnick, Bradenton, FL 9:32:07
4. Tamara Kozulina, UKR 9:34:18
5. Linsey Corbin, Missoula, MT 9:34:38
6. Tara Norton, CAN 9:35:45
7. Tiina Boman, FIN 9:47:26
8. Hillary Biscay, Tuscon, AZ 9:53:21
9. Sione Jongstra, NLD 10:05:58
10. Teri Albertazzi, Tuscon, AZ 10:07:38
