Alban Lakata and Sally Bigham broke course records at the Leadville 100 mountain bike marathon, U.S. phenomenon Katie Hursey won her second straight World Cup at the innovative Tiszaujvaros sprint, Colin Riley and Heather Lendway won the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance age group overall titles, Cameron Dye and Lauren Goss won Rev3 Wisconsin Dells, and Life Time Fitness bought John Korff’s New York City Triathlon.

Course records smashed at 2013 Leadville 100

Austrian Alban Lakata pulled away late from Swiss Christoph Sauser to grab the win at the 2013 Leadville 100 MTB marathon event. His final time of 6:04:02 crushed the previous course record set in 2010 by Levi Leipheimer by 12:35. Brit Sally Bigham dropped American roadie Alison Powers and 4-time winner Rebecca Rusch and took the win in 7:17:02 and bettered the record set by Rusch in 2012 by 11 minutes.

Leadville Trail 100 MTB
Leadville, CO, USA / August 10, 2013

1. Alban Lakata (AUT) 6:04:02
2. Christophe Sauser (SUI) 6:05:08
3. Todd Wells (USA) 6:18:48
4. Cameron Cogburn (USA) 6:36:19
5. Ben Aufderheide (USA) 6:40:19

Top women

1. Sally Bigham (GBR) 7:17:02
2. Alison Powers (USA) 7:21:58
3. Rebecca Rusch (USA) 7:35:27
4. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 8:22:09
5. Jari Kirkland (USA) 8:23:56

New U.S. star Katie Hursey and Florin Salvisberg win Tiszaujvaros World Cup

Rising U.S. star Katie Hursey won her second straight International Triathlon Union World Cup and young Swiss Florin Salvisberg won his first such title at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup sprint final Sunday.

Hursey qualified for the final by taking 2nd, one second behind Australian Natalie Van Coevorden of Australia in Saturday’s Women’s Elite semifinal 1. In the final, Hursey emerged in a pack of eight, 16 seconds behind swim leaders Lucy Hall and Natalie Milne of Great Britain. Hall and Milne rode to a 35 seconds lead on the chasers, who included Hursey, Van Coevorden, Anne Tabarant (FRA), Erin Jones (USA) Aileen Reid (IRL) and Sara Vilic of Croatia. Hall and Milne held on for one lap, then Hursey, Reid and Vilic took control. By the finish, Hursey’s dominating 16:41 5k run brought her to the finish in 1:00:25 with a 27-seconds margin over runner-up Reid and 33 seconds ahead of 3rd place Vilic. The victory follows Hursey’s breakthrough World Cup win at Palamos last month.

Florin Salvisberg of Switzerland, the recently crowned Under 23 World Champion, emerged from the swim in the front pack which included Tommy Zaferes and Ben Kanute of the U.S., Alexander Bryukhankov of Russia and Frederic Belaubre of France. On the run, Salvisberg ran away from his fellow front pack cyclists with a 14:53 5k which brought him to the finish in 53:46 and gave him an 8 seconds margin of victory over Godoy and 12 seconds over 3rd place Belaubre.

The event was held in an experimental semifinal-final format over two days in which both rounds were conducted at the half Olympic distance -- 750 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike and 5 kilometer run. Approximately 80 men and 50 women competed in semifinal heats on Saturday to earn 31 starting spots per gender in Sunday’s finals.

ITU World Cup Tiszaujvaros
Tiszaujvaros, Hungary
August 11, 2013
Finals - S 750m / B 20k / R 5k

Results

Men

1. Florin Salvisberg (SUI) 53:46
2. Francesc Godoy (ESP) 53:54
3. Frederic Belaubre (FRA) 53:58
4. Declan Wilson (AUS) 54:00
5. Gregory Roualt (FRA) 54:03
16. Tommy Zaferes (USA) 54:43
17. Ben Kanute (USA) 54:47
19. Joe Maloy (USA) 54:49

Women

1. Katie Hursey (USA) 1:00:25
2. Aileen Reid (IRL) 1:00:52
3. Sara Vilic (ITU) 1:00:58
4. Anne Tabarant (FRA) 1:01:08
5. Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS) 1:01:14
8. Erin Jones (USA) 1:01:34

Lendway, Riley take overall titles at USAT Age Group Nationals

Colin Riley of Aurora, Illinois and Heather Lendway of St. Paul, Minnesota took the overall titles Saturday at the USA Triathlon Olympic-Distance Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Riley, 25, combined a 68th-best 19:50 swim, a race-best 55:14 bike split and a 19th-fastest 35:10 run to finish in 1:52:54 with an 8 seconds margin over overall runner-up and 20-24 winner Steve Mantell of Fort Collins, Colorado. Connor Weaver of Parker, Colorado placed 3rd overall and won the men’s 17-19 title with a time that was just 14 seconds behind Riley and 6 seconds back of Mantell.

Lendway, 29, a collegiate swimmer and water polo player at Macalester College, swam 18:44, which on elapsed time put her 24 seconds behind 20-24 competitor Taylor Spivey of Redondo Beach, California and 3 seconds ahead of another 20-24 entrant, Erin Dolan of Lincoln, Nebraska. Lendway then took control with a 2nd-best 1:01:00 bike split which put 5:31 on Spivey and 8:16 on Dolan. While Lendway’s 42:55 run gave back 2:55 to Spivey and 5:13 to Dolan, it was enough to get her to the finish in 2:05:37 with a 1:55 margin on 20-24 winner Spivey and 2:15 on 20-24 runner-up Dolan, who closed fast with a 2nd-best 37:18 10k run.

Two familiar names won the oldest division titles. Bob Scott of Naperville, Florida finished in 3:07:08 to win Men’s 80-84 and Sister Madonna Buder of Spokane, Washington crossed the line in 4:06:14 to take the Women’s 80-84 crown.

USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
August 10, 2013
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Top 5 Overall Men

1. Colin Riley (Aurora, IL) 1:52:54 – M25-29
2. Steve Mantell (Ft. Collins, CO) 1:53:02 – M20-24
3. Connor Weaver (Parker, CO) 1:53:08 – M17-19
4. David Giardini (Boulder, CO) 1:54:05 – M25-29
5. Mark Harms (Madison, WI) 1:54:37 – M35-39

Top 5 Overall Women

1. Heather Lendway (St. Paul, MN) 2:05:37 - F25-29
2. Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, CA) 2:07:32 - F20-24
3. Erin Dolan (Lincoln, NE) 2:07:52 - F20-24
4. Ashley Shiver (Satellite Beach, FL) 2:08:12 - F20-24
5. Robin Pomeroy (Folsom, CA) 2:09:06 - F25-29

F17-19: Taylor Fogg (Colorado Springs, CO) 2:13:23
M17-19: Connor Weaver (Parker, CO) 1:53:08
F20-24: Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, CA) 2:07:32
M20-24: Steve Mantell (Fort Collins, CO) 1:53:02
F25-29: Heather Lendway (St. Paul, MN) 2:05:37
M25-29: Colin Riley (Aurora, IL) 1:52:54
F30-34: Kirsten Sass (McKenzie, TN) 2:10:35
M30-34: James Burke (Middleton, WI) 1:54:44
F35-39: Michelle Leblanc (Spring, TX) 2:09:38
M35-39: Mark Harms (Madison, WI) 1:54:37
F40-44: Susanne Davis (Carlsbad, CA) 2:09:32
M40-44: Shane Arters (Morristown, NJ) 1:57:51
F45-49: Steph Popelar (Parker, CO) 2:11:44
M45-49: Doug Clark (Mendham, NJ) 1:55:04
F50-54: Kelly Dippold (Overland Park, KS) 2:13:02
M50-54: Peter Kain (Cupertino, CA) 2:01:18
F55-59: Carol Gephart (Strafford, NH) 2:19:49
M55-59: Dave Irion (Naperville, IL) 2:02:48
F60-64: Karen McKeachie (Ann Arbor, MI) 2:29:11
M60-64: Jim Bruskewitz (Boulder, CO) 2:13:17
F65-69: Sandy Meneley (Holmes Beach, FL) 2:51:26
M65-69: Richard Holloway (Bellingham, WA) 2:22:08
F70-74: Corrina Goodman (Oro Valley, AZ) 2:55:04
M70-74: David McNeely (Glen Arm, MD) 2:34:00
F75-79: Sharon Roggenbuck (Hillsborough, NC) 4:08:36
M75-79: Roger Brockenbrough (Pittsburgh, PA) 3:20:39
F80-84: Madonna Buder (Spokane, WA) 4:06:14
M80-84: Bob Scott (Naperville, FL) 3:07:08

Masters Female: Susanne Davis (Carlsbad, CA) 2:09:32
Masters Male: Doug Clark (Mendham, NJ) 1:55:04
Grand Masters Female: Carol Gephart (Strafford, NH) 2:19:49
Grand Masters Male: Jim Bruskewitz (Boulder, CO) 2:13:17
Athena 39 & Under: Katherine Coward (Minneapolis, MN) 2:34:02
Athena 40+: Leslie Battle (Warwick, RI) 2:43:30
Clydesdale 39 & Under: Jared McDaniel (Chicago, IL) 2:23:17
Clydesdale 40+: Lance Fargo (Ocean View, DE) 2:21:40


Cameron Dye and Lauren Goss top Rev3 Wisconsin Dells Olympic Distance

Cameron Dye of Boulder, Colorado and Lauren Goss of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina won the Rev3 Wisconsin Dells Olympic distance pro titles Sunday.

Dye came out of the swim 1 minute behind Dustin McLarty, 1 second behind Eric Limkeman and 4 seconds ahead of his chief rival on the day, Ben Collins. As usual, Dye took control with a race-fastest 55:25 bike split which was 1:14 better than Collins, 2:36 better than Limkeman, and 4:18 better than dangerous runner Kaleb VanOrt. Dye managed a 34:23 run which brought him home first in 1:50:55, 1:52 ahead of Collins, who was 14 seconds slower than Dye on the run. VanOrt ran a race-best 31:11 10k, but it only advanced him to 3rd place at the finish, 1:38 behind Dye. Dye thus adds another title to his strong 2013 season which includes wins at Philadelphia, Columbia and Rev3 Knoxville.

Lauren Goss began her day with a 20:50 swim that was 1:14 back of Jennifer Spieldenner, 46 seconds back of Helle Frederiksen of Denmark and 35 seconds behind Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic. After Goss unleashed a race-best 1:03:38 bike split, she was 9 seconds ahead of Frederiksen, 28 seconds ahead of Vodickova and 1:19 ahead of Spieldenner.

The mighty mite from Mt. Pleasant then secured the win with a race-best 35:45 run that brought her to the finish in 2:02:08 with a 46 seconds margin over runner-up Frederiksen, 2:21 over 3rd place Vodickova and 3:02 ahead of Spieldenner, who took 4th. Goss’s win adds to her excellent 2013 season that includes wins at Rev3 Knoxville and Kansas City 5i50, a runner-up at Life Time Fitness Minneapolis, and 3rd place finishes at Nautica South Beach, Rev3 Williamsburg and Boulder Peak 5i50.

Rev3 Wisconsin Dells
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
August 11, 2013
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Pro Men

1. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:50:55
2. Ben Collins (USA) 1:51:47
3. Kaleb VanOrt (USA) 1:52:33
4. Brooks Cowan (USA) 1:53:08
5. Eric Limkeman (USA) 1:53:23

Pro Women

1. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:02:08
2. Helle Frederiksen (DEN) 2:02:54
3. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 2:04:29
4. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 2:05:10
5. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 2:06:55

Life Time Fitness buys New York City Triathlon

In 2001, when New York City was bidding for the 2012 Olympics, organizer John Korff founded the New York City Triathlon, which drew 634 athletes and a decent pro field. When the Big Apple’s bid for the Olympics fell short, Korff continued the triathlon. This year, the New York City Triathlon drew 3,800 participants and became an attractive buyout target. Last week, Life Time Fitness added New York to its 11-race national series for an undisclosed price. “We saw [New York] as a missing piece of the puzzle,” Life Time Fitness spokesman Jason Thunstrom told the Wall Street Journal. “We dreamed big and pulled it off,” Korff told the Wall Street Journal. “So maybe it's time for the entrepreneur to step aside.”