While the stacked fields and top performances at the Ironman 70.3 Panama rated a standalone story, the Weekend Box offers a Winter Triathlon from the mountains of Italy, a small duathlon in Florida with an internationally acclaimed field, the 23rd anniversary from a once prominent triathlon in Brazil and running items from Colorado and New York City.
Andreev and Lovset repeat at Winter Triathlon World Championships in Italy
Pavel Andreev of Russia earned his 4th straight ITU Winter World Championship and Borghild Lovset of Norway won her 2nd Winter Triathlon world title at Cogne, Italy Saturday.
Andreev had to work hard for his four-peat as he fought an intense race-long duel with Italian Daniel Antonioli. Antonioli took a lead on the 6k run opening leg, and then Andreev drew even on the 12k mountain bike second leg. Despite posting a one-second faster time in the final 9k ski leg, the Italian, who lingered an instant too long in T2, fell one second short of dethroning the Russian in a sprint to the finish. Dmitry Bregeda of Russia took the final spot on the podium, 40 seconds behind the winner.
Loveset, a race-wise strategist, took the first leg easy, running easily behind Sarka Grabmullerova of the Czech Republic. Loveset then turned on the jets in the mountain bike leg, opening up a 3-minute lead. Playing it conservative, Loveset gave back 1 minute to Russian Olga Parfinenko but still had enough to finish in 1:14:08 with a 2:10 margin of victory over runner-up Parfinenko and 2:25 over 3rd-place Grabullerova.
Loveset’s win was her second ITU Winter Triathlon World Championship title. Her first was in 2011.
ITU Winter Triathlon World, Championships
Cogne, Italy
February 15, 2014
R 6k / MTB 12k / XC Ski 9k
Results
Elite men
1. Pavel Andreev (RUS) 1:03:39
2. Daniel Antonioli (ITA) 1:03:40
3. Dmitry Bregeda (RUS) 1:04:19
4. Giuseppi Lamastre (ITA) 1:04:43
5. Oivindh Bjerkseth (NOR) 1:04:53
Elite Women
1. Borghild Lovset (NOR) 1:14:08
2. Olga Parfinenko (RUS) 1:16:18
3. Sarka Grabmullerova (CZE) 1:16:33
4. Roberta Gasparini (ITA) 1:18:24
5. Tatiana Charochkina (RUS) 1:18:35
Niederreiter tops Shoemaker, Al-Sultan and Sarah Haskins at Clermont Duathlon
It was just a small winter duathlon put on in Clermont by KJ Grog and Gear Multisport, but it drew a pretty good international field of athletes grateful for a workout in warm, snowless weather.
When things were over, Daniel Niederreiter of Austria, whose best career finishes were at 2nd at Ironman Wales in 2011, 5th at Ironman 70.3 Germany in 2011 and 9th at Challenge Walchsee in 2012, prevailed in the 5k run, 25k bike and 5k run. U.S. 2008 Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker was 2nd, 2005 Ironman World Champion Faris Al-Sultan was 3rd and 2008 ITU World Championship silver medalist Sarah Haskins was 4th overall in one of her first races after the birth of her first child last year.
Clermont Winter Duathlon
Lake Louisa State Park
Clermont, Florida
Saturday February 15, 2014
5k run -25k bike -5k run
Results
1. Daniel Niederreiter
2. Jarrod Shoemaker
3. Faris al Sultan
4. Sarah Haskins
5. Dave Burger
Fernandes and Moreno win overall titles at the 23rd Santos International Triathlon
Marcus Fernandes and Carla Moreno won the men’s and women’s elite titles at the 23rd Santos International Triathlon on a hot summer day in Brazil.
Fernandes combined a race-best 1000 meter swim in 12:42, a race-best 40k bike split in 54:26 and a 3rd-best 10k run in 31:38 to finish in 1:38:48 with a 1:50 margin of victory over runner-up Edivanio Silva Monteiro and 2:15 over 3rd-place finisher Flavio da Silva Queiroga.
Carla Moreno, 37, a two-time Olympian who won silver at the 1999 Pan American Games in Canada, edged fellow Brazilian Beatriz Neres by 24 seconds after a race-long duel. Moreno’s 14:31 swim split outpaced Neres by 7 seconds. Neres took 2 seconds back with a 1:02:16 bike split. Then Moreno sealed the win with a 34:42 run split that added 20 seconds to her lead.
Luisa de Baptista Duarte took 3rd, 1:27 behind Neres.
While now a smaller, Brazil-only race, the Santos International Triathlon was a big deal in the 1990s, attracting famous triathletes such as Greg Welch, Chris McCormack, Scott Molina, Oscar Galindez, Ken Glah, Jimmy Riccitello and Michellie Jones, Carol Montgomery and Wendy Ingraham.
Santos International Triathlon
Santos, Brazil
February 15, 2014
S 1k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Marcus Fernandes (BRA) 1:38:48
2. Edivanio Silva Monteiro (BRA) 1:40:38
3. Flavio da Silva Queiroga (BRA) 1:41:03
Women
1. Carla Moreno (BRA) 1:51:33
2. Beatriz Neres (BRA) 1:51:57
3. Luisa de Batista Duarte (BRA) 1:53:24
Running notes – USA Cross Country Nationals and Alan Webb’s farewell to track
Stanford grad Chris Derrick won his second straight USA Cross Country National Championship with a 36:14 performance over the 12k course at the Flatirons Golf Course in Boulder, Colorado. Derrick, a Naperville, Illinois resident who trains in Colorado Springs, finished 25 seconds ahead of Luke Puskedra of Eugene, Oregon. Derrick just missed making the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, finishing 4th in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in the 10,000 meter run.
In the women’s Open race, Amy Van Alstine of Flagstaff Arizona posted what many thought was an upset over two-time Olympian and 2011 1,500-meter world champion Jenny Simpson. Van Alstine ran away from the field, finishing in 27:35, 22 seconds ahead of Simpson. What many pre-race experts failed to take into account was the fact that Simpson had rarely, if ever, raced at a distance over 3,000 meters and she faded off the lead pace at about the 5k mark.
At the famed Millrose Games track meet in New York, running legend Alan Webb bid farewell to his pro track career at the Wanamaker Mile. Underlining the wisdom of his decision to retire, the man who set a mile high school record of 3:53:43 in 2001 and an American mile record of 3:46:91 in 2007 only had enough gas left in the tank to post a 4:06:11 for 11th place, 13 seconds back of winner Will Leer. The good news is that Webb is now free to pursue a triathlon career.
