In the Weekend Box we present Challenge Family races in Laguna Phuket, Thailand and Forster, Australia, plus a contest on Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. In addition, we noted an intriguing personal essay in the New York Times examining the wisdom of virginity in which an Ironman World Champion played a cameo role.

Frédéric Belaubre and Charlotte Morel prevail at Indian Ocean Triathlon

Organizers boast that their Indian Ocean Triathlon on the island of Mauritius is “the world’s most beautiful,” and from the photographs they post on the website, this is a highly defensible assertion.

Frédéric Belaubre had to work to gain his second title at this race while Charlotte Morel breezed to victory at the 5th edition of this tropical triathlon Eden.

In the swim, Belaubre carved out a 1:40 lead on former ITU World Cup standout Glen Gore and 4:15 over 2000 Olympic distance ITU World Champion Olivier Marceau. By the time the men reached the challenging hill on the bike leg called Chamarel, Belaubre held a 4 minute lead over Marceau, who had pushed hard to pass Gore. By T2, Marceau cut Belaubre’s lead to 1:50. On the strength of a race-best 1:34:40 bike split, Jeremy Morel took over 3rd, 2:33 behind Belaubre.

On the first of a two lap run, Marceau clung to a 2 minutes deficit, and Morel dropped to 3 minutes back. By the finish, Belaubre’s 2:55:32 time was 5:10 ahead of runner-up Marceau, 5:45 ahead of fast-closing 3rd place finisher Boris Toulet of Mauritius and 6:40 ahead of Morel, who took 4th.

Charlotte Morel made the women’s contest a victory procession as she led nearest pursuer Caroline Koll of South Africa by 14:25 after the bike. At the finish, Morel’s 3:13:43 finish earned her a 13:36 margin of victory over Koll and 25:28 over 3rd place finisher Bettina Haas of Germany.

Indian Ocean Triathlon
Le Morne Brabant, Mauritius
September 23, 2013
S 1.8k / B 55k / R 12k

Results

Men

1. Frederic Belaubre (FRA) 2:55:32
2. Olivier Marceau (SUI) 3:00:42
3. Boris Toulet (MRI) 3:01:17
4. Jeremy Morel (FRA) 3:02:12
5. Christophe Jouffret (FRA) 3:02:29

Women

1. Charlotte Morel (FRA) 3:13:43
2. Caroline Koll (RSA) 3:26:49
3. Bettina Haas (GER) 3:39:11
4. Gabrielle Weber (RSA) 3:58:50
5. Fadhira Benabfelkader (FRA) 4:05:04

Tim Reed and Rebecca Hoschke win Challenge Forster; Tim Berkel hit by car

Tim Reed capped off a strong season by dominating the men’s field and Rebecca Hoschke prevailed in a back-and-forth battle among the women at the inaugural Challenge Forster Half.

Reed emerged from the swim in 9th, 54 seconds down to Dylan McNeice. He took absolute control with a race-best 2:07:10 bike split that was 6 minutes better than his closest pursuers, then nailed down the win with a race-fastest 1:16:11 run. Reed’s 3:44:21 race time was 7:51 better than runner-up David Mainwaring and 8:48 ahead of 3rd place Lindsey Wall and made for an all-Australian podium.

Top contender Tim Berkel of Australia was hit by a car which bystanders said had been waved on the course by a police officer. Berkel was taken by ambulance for medical care and given 5 stitches.

Reed’s win wrote an exclamation point on an excellent half Ironman distance season that included a win at Yeppoon 70.3, runner-up finishes at 70.3 events at Vineman, Buffalo Springs Lake, Busselton and Cairns, and a 5th place at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas.

In the women’s race, Australian Annabel Luxford, led the swim with a 20:05 split which put her 3:16 ahead of fellow Aussies Michelle Bremmer and Rebecca Hoschke. Luxford led the field through the first lap of the bike, but a mechanical issue at the start of the second 28-mile lap allowed Bremmer and Hoschke to catch up and the trio started the run together. Hoschke then drew away on the run posting a race-best 1:26:56 split that brought her to the finish in 4:17:43 with a 4:03:03 margin over runner-up Bremmer and 6:23 over Luxford, who finished 3rd.

The victory was Hoschke’s second of the season as she won Ironman Australia earlier this year.

Challenge Forster
Foster, Australia
November 24, 2013
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Tim Reed (AUS) 3:44:21
2. David Mainwaring (AUS) 3:52:12
3. Lindsey Wall (AUS) 3:53:09
4. Alex Reithmeier (AUS) 3:55:26
5. Michael Fox (AUS) 3:56:07

Women

1. Rebecca Hoschke (AUS) 4:17:43
2. Michelle Bremmer (NZL) 4:21:46
3. Annabel Luxford (AUS) 4:24:06
4. Jessica Mitchell (AUS) 4:29:46 * F18-24
5. Rosie Oldham (AUS) 4:33:12 * F25-29

Ruedi Wild and Melissa Hauschildt win Challenge Laguna Phuket

Ruedi Wild of Switzerland topped Massimo Cigana of Italy and Melissa Hauschildt of Australia edged Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic to win the elite titles at the Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest.

Alberto Casadei of Italy (23:18) and Simon Agoston of Austria (23:36) led the men out of the water just under 2 minutes ahead of Wild, about 2:30 ahead of Frederik Croneborg of Sweden and another 3 minutes on Cigana (28:44). Cigana then ripped through the field with a blazing fast 1:20:37 bike split that was 7 minutes better than Wild and up to 12 minutes on the rest of the chasers. Wild then returned the favor as his 40:08 split for the 12 kilometer run put 5:12 on Cigana and gave the Swiss 2:34:41 finish and a 2:03 margin of victory over runner-up Cigana and 4:05 on 3rd place finisher Agoston.

Melissa Hauschildt added yet another win to her incredible 2013 season which includes victories at the Abu Dhabi International, the ITU Long Course World Championship, her second Ironman 70.3 World Championship and a second place finish at the Olympic-distance Hy-Vee 5i50 Championship.

As usual Hauschildt started her day 1:39 back of the top swimmer, which this day was Radka Vodickova and her race-best 25:47 split. Tamsin Lewis and Belinda Granger started the bike within seconds of Hauschildt, but it was Lewis who stayed within 13 seconds of Hauschildt’s race-best 1:31:40 bike split. That put Hauschildt, Lewis and Vodickova (1:33:35 bike split) within 15 seconds of one another at T2. But once they started the run, Hauschildt’s race-best 44:06 split was 1:04 faster than her Czech rival and 5:13 better than Lewis and gave the Australian a 1:29 margin of victory over Vodickova and 5:38 over Lewis.

Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest
Laguna Phuket, Thailand
November 24, 2013
S 1.8k / B 55k / R 12k

Results

Men

1. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 2:34:41
2. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 2:36:44
3. Simon Agoston (AUT) 2:38:46
4. Alberto Casadei (ITA) 2:41:05
5. Frederik Croneborg (SWE) 2:44:36
6. Chris McCormack (AUS) 2:46:23

Women

1. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) 2:45:24
2. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 2:46:53
3. Tamsin Lewis (GBR) 2:51:02
4. Belinda Granger (AUS) 2:57:46
5. Ange Castle (AUS) 3:01:59

The mysterious case of the unrequited Ironman world champion 'booty call'

The august pages of the New York Times carried a personal essay on the meaning of virginity in their Private Lives category on November 13. In an article filled with anecdotes, author Amanda McCracken, a freelance writer, licensed massage therapist and running and triathlon coach who lives in Boulder, Colorado, recounted a few close (and no-so-close) calls to her chosen status of sexual abstinence while waiting for the right guy.

In an anecdote intriguing to some in the triathlon world, which rarely if ever gets fed racy tidbits from the media, much less the paper known as The Grey Lady, McCracken wrote: "I once answered a booty call from an Ironman world champion at his hotel room (purposefully leaving the door cracked in case I needed to yell for help). When the champion informed me that I had not 'finished the job,' I told him that, considering his world title, he could finish the job himself."