May 8, 2008

Race Results: 2008 St. Croix Ironman 70.3

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from InsideTriathlon…

Laid back. That’s how most first-time visitors to St. Croix Ironman 70.3 describe the atmosphere. However, once the gun went off promptly at 6:30 a.m., the nearly 40 professional triathletes racing for the $50,000 prize purse, were anything but laid back. But when all was said and done, the day was déjà vu all over again … 2006. Can you say, “Aussie, Aussie”?

THE MEN
Craig Alexander loves St. Croix. He had won here each of the past two years, as well as in 2003, and a victory today would tie him with legendary Mike Pigg at four victories apiece. He would succeed (Pigg, by the way, came to St. Croix to help celebrate the 20th Anniversary of this classic race, and he competed in and won the Sprint race earlier in the morning).

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May 1, 2008

Race Preview: 2008 St. Croix 70.3

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from Ironman.com…

It’s no wonder that reigning Ironman 70.3 World Champion, Mirinda Carfrae, and 2006 Clearwater champ, Craig Alexander, rank the St. Croix Ironman 70.3 among their most favorite races. Both athletes won the race in 2006 (Carfrae setting the course record) and Alexander repeated in 2007.

Mostly, though, it’s the beauty and friendliness of the island that attracts these two Aussies, along with over 40 other professional triathletes from 10 different countries, who will compete for the $50,000 prize purse. Alexander even lists St. Croix on his website as his “favorite holiday.”

Men’s Race
This year’s race, on Sunday May 4, will be no holiday for Alexander, however. With the likes of four-time world champion, Simon Lessing; former Ford Ironman World Champion, Faris Al-Sultan; Frederik Van Lierde, second at this year’s Ironman New Zealand and South Africa 70.3; last year’s second place finisher, Richie Cunningham; the always tough Michael Lovato, and Marino Vanhoenacker, fifth in Kona last year. Alexander will need a complete day in all three disciplines to win this race for the third year in a row. Last year, he ran four minutes faster on this tough run course than any of his competitors (1:15:43) to give him a 4:03 victory over Cunningham.

“It’s an old race with a lot of history and prestige,” says Alexander of this event. “All the best triathletes in the history of our sport have raced and won there. The race is hard because of the course and the conditions. It also always attracts a great field; so, to win on Sunday, it will take a consistently good performance across all three disciplines.”

Women’s Race
The women’s race also features a very strong line-up, led by last year’s St. Croix Champion, Julie Dibbens of Great Britain, and 2006 St. Croix Champion and 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, Mirinda Carfrae. Dibbens’ 4:29:11 placed her 10th overall in 2007, ahead of many of the male pros in the field, as well as beating Carfrae’s course record by over a minute. These two appear to be the cream of the crop on the women’s side; but, others to watch include Germany’s Nina Kraft; former ITU and Ironman World Champion (and crowd favorite) 46-year-old Karen Smyers; and the equally popular 44-year-old Brazilian, Fernanda Keller.

When asked what it will take to beat course record holder and returning champion, Dibbens, Carfrae is her usual straight-forward self: “It will take a huge effort and I will definitely have to be on my game on the day. The plan is to try to limit the damage on the swim and do my best to put together a fast 90 km bike and hope that I’m close enough after the bike to catch her on the run.” In her 2006 victory, Carfrae ran a phenomenal 1:22 while last year, en route to her win, Dibbens ran a 1:30.

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April 28, 2008

Race Results: 2008 St. Anthony’s Triathlon

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from InsideTriathlon…

American stars Matt Reed and Sarah Haskins defeated top international fields to take home $10,000 apiece today at the 25th anniversary St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg.

The men

Emphasizing that his upset win in the Olympic Trials last week at Tuscaloosa was no fluke, Reed outdueled top U.S. rival Andy Potts on the run for third St. Anthony’s victory Sunday in St. Petersburg.

“I’m on a roll,” said Reed, the 33-year-old, 6-foot 5-inch New Zealand native who celebrated his recent American citizenship with a chance to represent the red white and blue in the Olympics. “I’m really happy with how I’m going, but it’s even better that I still see room to improve.”

Reed and Potts, who finished second to Reed at Tuscaloosa, broke out to a minute lead out of the water, added another 50 seconds on chief rival Greg Bennett on the bike.

“I tried hard to drop Andy at the start of the bike,” said Reed. “But all credit to him, he stuck with me and made a great race of it.”

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March 29, 2008

Race Report: Exciting Racing at Ford Ironman 70.3 California

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From NA Sports... Oceanside, CA – The men’s race came down to the wire here as defending champion Andy Potts was able to hold off Australian Craig Alexander to take the men’s title at the 2008 Ford Ironman 70.3 California. Potts, the current world champion at the 70.3 distance, had led the race from the start of the swim but was challenged by Alexander late in the run. Alexander, of Australia, put on a surge in the latter stages of the run and the Australian actually took the lead briefly in the last mile. It was a battle to the finish line with the American Potts winning in a time of 3:58:22 just three seconds ahead of Alexander. Third place was won by Paul Ambrose of Sydney, Aus. in a time of 4:03:35. The women’s race saw a number of changes in the leaders with swim specialist Linda Gallo, Mountain View, CA first out of the water. Fairly quickly into the bike, she was passed by a trio of world champions in Michellie Jones (Aus), Mirinda Carfrae (Aus) and Samantha McGlone (Can). Jones led the women onto the bike course but saw her lead eaten away by Leanda Cave (GBR), Carfrae and Erika Csomor (Hun). Csomor, who placed third in the 2007 Ford Ironman USA Lake Placid, put in a solid bike and run to work her way through the field to ultimately win the title her in Oceanside in a time of 4:23:14 followed by Carfrae in 4:25:51 and Cave in 5:26:40. Top Male Pro Finishers 1 03:58:22 1 POTTS, ANDY, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 2 03:58:25 8 ALEXANDER, CRAIG,AUS 3 04:03:35 22 AMBROSE, PAUL, AUS 4 04:05:31 7 THOMPSON, DAVID ST PAUL MN 5 04:05:38 4 CUNNINGHAM, RICHIE, AUS 6 04:05:48 5 JAMMAER, BERT, BEL 7 04:06:42 26 MAZURE, CYRILLE, FRA 8 04:07:33 21 CARTMELL, FRASER, GBR 9 04:07:41 41 ABEL, TORSTEN, MILL VALLE CA 10 04:09:48 27 MARSH, BRANDON, AUSTIN, TX Top Female Finishers 1 04:23:14 82 CSOMOR, ERIKA, HUN 2 04:25:51 58 CARFRAE, MIRINDA, AUS 3 04:26:40 51 CAVE, LEANDA, GBR 4 04:28:51 54 JONES, MICHELLIE, AUS 5 04:29:23 53 MCGLONE, SAMANTHA, CAN 6 04:30:15 60 MORRISON, CATRIONA, GBR 7 04:36:34 63 KOZULINA, TAMARA, UKR 8 04:39:14 52 MARSH, AMY, AUSTIN TX 9 04:40:55 65 NYSTROM, EVA, SWE 10 04:45:33 73 GOOS, SOFIE, BEL
March 28, 2008

All-star pro fields highlight Saturday’s Ford Ironman 70.3 California

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from Triathletemag.com by Jay Prasuhn…

Sam McGlone versus Mirinda Carfrae? Craig Alexander against Andy Potts? Throw in a Michellie Jones, Steve Larsen and Bjorn Andersson for good measure? Any way you slice it, the 2008 North American race season opens with a bang at Oceanside 70.3. No more California Dreamin’; the season is on.

The 70.3 North American spring opener, to be held Saturday in Oceanside, California, just north of San Diego, begins with a 1.2-mile sheltered but chilly swim in Oceanside Harbor, a hilly 56-mile bike through Camp Pendleton Marine Corps military installation and finishes with a 13-1-mile run along the Oceanside waterfront.

The pro start list reads almost like a world-title event. American Andy Potts, USA Triathlon’s ITU and non-Olympic Triathlete of the Year and the reigning 70.3 world champion, is back to defend his title from a year ago. Taking him on is a deep field: 2006 70.3 world champ Craig Alexander of Australia is slated to start. Swim/bike powerhouse Bjorn Andersson of Sweden aims to make waves, as does fellow bike specialist David Thompson. Add perennial 70.3 podium finisher Richie Cunningham of Australia and last year’s third-place finisher Lewis Elliott of Scottsdale to the mix.

Oceanside_ByJayPrasuhn

The race also has two former pro cyclists in its ranks. Massimo Cigana, the recent winner of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, was a teammate of Mario Cipollini with the Italian Mercatone Uno squad six years ago.

But the bigger name making his return to the pro ranks is American cycling legend Steve Larsen, a former NORBA national mountain-biking champion, Giro d’Italia participant (with Team Motorola) and the 2001 Ironman Lake Placid champ. If he has his swim in order, he’ll certainly look to make his mark on the bike, likely taking on Andersson and Thompson at the front of the race, hoping to make things interesting for the balance of the field on the run.

The women’s race is equally as laden with talent. Reigning Ironman 70.3 world champ Mirinda Carfrae of Australia takes the start against the 2007 runner-up at both the Hawaii Ironman and the 70.3 world champs, Canadian Samantha McGlone, who won this race in 2005. How about Michellie Jones, who won this race in ‘06 and looks to use the race as a build-up to the April 13 Ironman Arizona?

The rest of the field is stacked as well. Great Britain’s Leanda Cave takes the start, as will Erika Csomor, the newest Team TBB team member who is also using the race as a hit-out for Ironman Arizona. German Katja Schumacher and Canadian Sara Gross round out the rock-solid women’s field.

A welcome change for race day is the promise of warm, sunny weather. While the day will likely start cool in the mid- 50s Fahrenheit, forecasts call for a high of 69 degrees, a far cry from the grey, rainy and chilly weather the race has historically seen in years past.

March 24, 2008

Pro Triathlon Fantasy game

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Hmmmm… First Second Life and now this…

March 24, 2008 — Press Release: DBM Nutrition, manufacturers of Kona Endurance products, has introduced a free Pro Triathlon Fantasy game. It’s the game where you decide, ‘Do I go with Macca, Alexander or Stadler’.

Play for over $400 in prizes at selected Triathlon Fantasy games throughout the season, starting with this weekend’s Oceanside 70.3 event. Free to enter and first place wins over $250 in Kona Endurance products. You pick your pros and the better they do, the more you win. Please visit www.konaendurance.com to learn more and sign up for this weekend’s race.

Each contestant chooses 5 MPRO triathletes and 5 FPRO triathletes from groups A, B and C. You are awarded points based on your triathletes’ finishing order, with 1st place being awarded the most points, 2nd place-next most and so on. The contestant that accumulates the most points will be the winner. There are valuable Kona Endurance prizes being awarded for first, second and third place and it’s free to enter. Never before has a FPRO 23rd place finish mattered so much!

Sign up now for this weekend’s Fantasy Triathlon event in Oceanside, registration closes March 28, 2008 at 9pm EST. For more information on Triathlon Fantasy and DBM Nutrition, please visit www.konaendurance.com.

November 11, 2007

2007 70.3 Half Ironman triathlon championship results

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Update and an Apology:

In compiling stories I often reference as many sources as possible to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness. In the trailing piece one of those sources was not properly credited and for that I am deeply apologetic. That source was Trijuice.com - a great blog which I’ve been a fan of for quite a while. My apologies to Nick and my assurances to him, and to readers, that I will strive to ensure credit is given when sourcing information in the future.

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Yesterday saw the second annual running of the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida. Up for grabs was $90,000 in prize money, divided among the top 10 pro men and women, with the overall winners earning $18,000.

Andy Potts, as is usually the case in his races, was first out of the water. Bjorn Andersson pushed the pace on the bike to take the bike leg. Oscar Galindez, who recently won at Cancun Ironman 70.3, led most of the run until Potts reeled him in at the very end of the race. Galindez had to settle for second and Andrew Johns took third.

On the women’s side Julie Dibens led most of the race only to fade in the run. At around the 10 mile mark Mirinda Carfrae was able to pass Dibens and just kept on going to break the 70.3 world record set by Natasha Badman at Eagleman earlier this year. Samantha McGlone took second and Leanda Cave third.

On the amateur side of note was another race finish with Dick Hoyt and his son Rick, whom we’ve covered previously. The oldest female finisher (and fastest in her age group) was Sister Madonna Buder and oldest male finisher honors went to Robert McKeague (82 years young).

2007 Ironman 70.3 World Championship Results:

Pro Men     Pro Women  
1 - Andy Potts 3:42:33   1 - Mirinda Carfrae 4:07:25
2 - Oscar Galindez 3:42:37   2 - Samantha McGlone 4:11:29
3 - Andrew Johns 3:43:11   3 - Leanda Cave 4:12:29
4 - Craig Alexander 3:44:10   4 - Julie Dibens 4:12:53
5 - Richie Cunningham 3:45:05   5 - Catriona Morrison 4:14:40
 
October 14, 2007

Macca Wins!

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On his sixth attempt at the big one, Chris McCormack, finally accomplished what he said he could back in 2002 - he won the Ford Ironman World Championship with a time of 8:15:34. (all times are unofficial)

The women’s race was a stunning win by Chrissie Wellington from Great Britain with a winning time of 9:08:45. This was her Ironman Hawaii debut following her first iron distance race a short seven weeks ago in Ironman Korea.
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