Tim Hola of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, selected as one of Outside Magazine’s 50 Fittest Real Men of 2008, finished in 3:59:25 and earn a 10-minute 35-second margin of victory over runner-up Willy Pickhardt Saturday at the USAT Long Course Nationals-Redman Triathlon in Oklahoma City.
Hola carved out his win with a race-best 2:17:08 bike split, 5 minutes faster than Pickhardt, a University of Arkansas NCAA runner, and a second-best 1:16:52 half marathon run which outpaced Pickhardt by 7 minutes 19 seconds.
"I was feeling very confident going into this race. Much of my training in late July and August was specific for Ironman Hawaii and it seemed to line up perfectly for the USAT Long Course Championships too," said Hola to slowtwitch. "I knew what I had to do on race day, and I did just that. When it started to rain before the race began, there were a lot of worried athletes wondering if the bike course was going to be eliminated. Luckily, the rain subsided enough that all athletes doing the 1/2 and full Ironman distances got to race. For me, it was a great day leading the entire race from beginning to end and feeling strong even racing through the rain."
Rochelle Hair of Mammoth Lakes, California, won the women’s title with a 4:28:37 clocking which gave her a 5 minutes 53 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Lisa Ribes of Tucson, Arizona, and also placed her 11th overall. Hair, who placed first amateur woman in the recent Lake Las Vegas and Harvest Moon triathlons, was virtually even with Ribes after the bike, but pulled away with a race-best 1:24:51 half marathon.
USAT Long Course Triathlon National Championship by Halfmax
Redman Triathlon
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
September 19, 2009
S 1.2mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi
Results
Elite men
1. Tim Hola (Highlands Ranch, CO) 3:59:25 – M30-34
2. Willy Pickhardt (Fayetteville AR) 4:11:00 - M20-24
3. Robert Vernon III (Manhattan KS) 4:18:07 - M30-34
4. Robert Schloegel (Leawood KS) 4:22:24 - M45-49
4. Matthew Brier (Maplewood MO) 4:24:08 - M30-34
6. Sean Schnur (Baton Rouge LA) 4:25:23 – M30-34
7. Don Greiner (Edmond OK) 4:26:24 – M45-49
8. AJ Baucco (Cleveland Heights, OH) 4:27:25 – M20-24
9. Steven Bland (Lake in the Hills IL) 4:27:46 – M40-44
10. Ted Zderic (Columbia MO) 4:28:20 – M35-39
Elite women
1. Rochelle Hair (Mammoth Lakes CA) 4:28:37 – F35-39
2. Lisa Ribes (Tucson AZ) 4:34:30 – F30-34
