The last year of the first decade of the 21st Century has ended with more than its share of historic triathlon performances and rising stars. None shone more brightly than Chrissie Wellington breaking Paula Newby-Fraser's 17-year-old course record at Kona and shattering the Ironman-distance world best time at Roth. But Alistair Brownlee was only a few candlepower behind with his perfect season in the hotly contested new ITU Dextro Energy World Championship series. One of the least recognized but most remarkable performances was turned in by a charismatic 25-year-old Dutch woman hand cycle entrant Monique Van der Vorst -- who beat all the men, including two former Kona hand cycle champions with one of the top 10 times in Kona history. The year had more than its share of pulse-pounding photo finishes, none better than the six-man duel to the finish for the $200,000 top prize at the Hy-Vee Triathlon. The year had emerging stars, excellent comebacks, tough cookies who bounced back from bad breaks, close calls and some excellent coaching.
Best finishes of 2009
Hy-Vee Men Why this was the best: Six men. One tight pack. 500 Meters to go. $200,000 first prize on the line. Of the six, there were two Olympic gold medalists, one Olympic silver medalist, one ITU Olympic distance World Champion, one ITU short course Duathlon World Champion, and collectively dozens of ITU World Cup winners. Each of the six were among the best Olympic runners in the sport.
All of them were hungry, ambitious and there was enough bumping and jostling and diving at the finish to satisfy a rabid roller derby crowd.
With 400 meters to go, Javier Gomez and Jarrod Shoemaker were dropped. At 300 meters to go, Gemmell made the first move coming out of a 180-degree turn. Whitfield tucked next on his heels, and Frodeno and Kahlefeldt were nose to tail behind. Then Gemmell drifted wide right and Kahlefeldt went with him. Whitfield and Frodeno stayed left. At 150 meters, Whitfield sprinted ("I was damned if I was going to be out sprinted as I was at Beijing") and opened a separation at 100 meters to go. "Simon's choice of line coming into finish was ideal," said Frodeno. "He took the exact shortest way through a right-right-left turn combination leading into the finish chute. Simon surged ahead on the almost 90-degree second to the last corner -- and I had to chop a step to get in behind him. That was just in time to take the dead straight line from the second last corner to the blue carpet."
On the last straight stretch, Kahlefeldt and Frodeno responded and bridged back up to Whitfield's heels. Near the end, Kahlefeldt faded off to the left and cut off Frodeno's surge. "I had to hold up so I wouldn’t get tackled like a rugby player," said Frodeno.
"Frodo was on my left and Brad was on my right, so I just kept pushing the pace so they would not take my line to the tape," said Whitfield.
At the line, Whitfield held on for the win, Kahlefeldt dove for the $200,000 but came up one place short with rug burns instead. Frodeno was third, Gemmell fourth, Shoemaker fifth and Gomez sixth.
"Even though I pulled the shorter end of the stick, we knew it was a very similar situation to Beijing," said Frodeno. "It was almost a recap of the Olympics. Simon went early and put it all out there. Then we all went after him, but he held on for a well deserved win. It was absolutely great to be involved in a great race for the biggest prize in the sport that people will be talking about for years to come."
1. Simon Whitfield 1:49:43
2. Brad Kahlefeldt 1:49:44
3. Jan Frodeno 1:49:44
4. Kris Gemmell 1:49:45
5. Jarrod Shoemaker 1:49:47
6. Javier Gomez 1:49:51
2. Boise 70.3 men. Why it ranks second: The passionate classic confrontation between the sport's best Ironman runner and the its best long course biker came down to the last 20 meters. At the end of a high adrenaline, deeply emotional race, both competitors collapsed in a heap just past the line, piled one against the other in a brotherhood of ultimate exertion.
Boise Ironman 70.3 was held under dramatic dark clouds, wind, rain and even some hail. Defending Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander and three-time Ironman winner Chris Lieto were coming off a duel at the Honu Ironman 70.3 in Hawaii. That day, surpassingly excellent cyclist Chris Lieto carved out a 7 minute 42 second lead on the Queen K bike, and Alexander dug in and passed his rival at the 11th mile of the run. In Boise, Lieto saw tougher hills, rain and cooler temps which gave him a better chance. He carved out a lesser 5:30 lead on the bike, but reserved a lot more in the tank for the run.
This was the second of three sizzling 2009 duels between Craig Alexander and Chris Lieto. In Boise, things were much, much closer.
After a great 2:04 ride on a challenging, hilly course, Lieto had 5:30 on Alexander, but with cool, rainy weather and holding a little back, Lieto had a lot more left for the run.
For the first few miles, Crowie cut the lead to 3:50. Then for the next six miles the margin stayed the same. "Mathematically, at that point, I wasn’t going to catch him," said Alexander. "But at Mile 8 I heard the margin was 3:25 and I thought that was the first crack in the dam." At 10 miles, the margin was down to 2:40. At 11 miles, the margin was 1:45. At Mile 12, trackside observers had the margin at 57 seconds.
"At that point he took off and I launched into a sprint as well," said Crowie.
"With half a mile to go, people said he was 30 seconds back," said Lieto. "With 200 meters to go, he looked like he was 40 meters and 15 seconds back."
"With 100 meters to go, I got within 15 meters and I went again," said Alexander. "With 20 meters to go, we were shoulder to shoulder."
"I tried to put it into an other gear but my legs were so full of lactic acid I just collapsed at the finish," said Lieto.
Lieto summed it up: "If you see the finish line pictures, we both crossed the finish line and just collapsed. I was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted and frustrated and I just wanted to lay there for a moment, wondering what I could have done, what I did wrong. What I could have done different, where I could have gained a few seconds flashed thru my mind. Then I realized there was really nothing more that I could have given."
"This was a great race, one of those races you will always remember," said Alexander.
Lieto had one more crack at Alexander coming. Just three months later at Kona, Lieto would push Crowie to the edge again at Kona - to the best race of his career.
1. Craig Alexander 3:51:46
2. Chris Lieto -- 3:51:48
3. ITU Short Course Duathlon World Championship
Jarrod Shoemaker used a final sprint to top off a blazing fast 13:52 final 5k to win the elite men’s ITU Duathlon short course World Championship in a photo finish over France’s Damien Derobert. Shoemaker, the 2005 Under 23 Triathlon World Champion who won a breakthrough first ITU World Championship Series race earlier in the summer in Hamburg, crashed in the misty rain on lap five of the bike which put him half a minute back of the lead pack. Shoemaker jetted after the leaders on the run, rising to 4th place after 2.5k. By the time he reached the home stretch on Lowe’s Motor Speedway he had Derobert in his sights. With a quarter mile to go, Shoemaker surged to the front. Then Derobert counter attacked and retook the lead with 200 meters to go. With a second and final burst in the final 30 meters, Shoemaker put the lie to his reputation that he did not have a finish line sprint and nipped the Frenchman at the tape.
1. Jarrod Shoemaker 1:49:02
2. Damian Derobert 1:49:02
4. ITU World Championship Series Madrid May 31
Lisa Norden of Sweden broke into a slight lead with a few hundred meters to go, but Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand regrouped and edged out her rival by a few inches at the line in a finish reminiscent of fellow Kiwi Bevan Docherty’s finish line heroics over Aussie Brad Kahlefeldt earlier in the year at the World Championship Series race at Tongyeong. Jessica Harrison of France fell one second back for third place at the line.
1. Andrea Hewitt 2:05:58
2. Lisa Norden 2:05:58
3. Jessica Harrison 2:05:59
5. ITU World Championship Series Tongyeong South Korea
Leaving T2, Russians Dmitry Polyansky and Andrey Brukhankov moved into the lead, but were hotly pursued by Aussie Brad Kahlefeldt, Kiwis Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell and Jarrod Shoemaker of the U.S. Polyansky quickly dropped Brukhankov but was caught by the chasers at the 5k mark. Polyansky held on when accelerations by Kahlefeldt first dropped Shoemaker, and later Gemmell from the leaders. In the final 500m the Kahlefeldt and Docherty broke clear of the Russian to fight it out.
Coming into the finish chute, Kahlefeldt gained a few yards but Docherty answered. The Aussie kicked again and went past the Kiwi, but lost speed when he slipped just before the line. Docherty then lunged forward and was declared the winner.
1. Bevan Docherty 1:50:25
2. Brad Kahlefeldt 1:50:25
6. ITU World Championship Series London
Jodie Stimpson, Debbie Tanner, Helen Jenkins, Nicola Spirig and Lisa Norden led off the bike. Surges late in the run dropped Tanner, Stimpson and Jenkins, leaving Spirig and Norden to fight it out. Spirig attacked with only a couple hundred meters left and crossed the first by a two seconds.
1. Nicola Spirig 1:54:24
2. Lisa Norden 1:54:26
6. Ironman Florida 70.3
With his Olympic distance speed, Dirk Bockel remained cool enough to grab a pair of Mickey Mouse ears from his wife to wear and still hit the finish line with a 3-second margin over Luke Bell.
"It was a bit of a yo-yo game on the run," Bockel told Slowtwitch. "I threw in a couple of surges and gained ground, and then he came a bit closer and then I would throw in a surge--this went on for most of the run.
"Coming from short course, I have confidence in my leg-speed and knew that I could sprint him down at the end if I needed to. In the last loop I knew that I was the stronger --so it really didn't have to come down to a sprint at all."
1. Dirk Bockel 3:54:40
2. Luke Bell 3:54:43
Best performances
1. Chrissie Wellington 8:54:02 at Ironman Hawaii breaks Paula Newby-Fraser's 17-year-old record by 1:26. Why it was great: Paula was the greatest and her Kona record time held up against a generation of women who competed on some days that were faster. Margins of victory were similarly dominant - 26:12 for Newby-Fraser over Julieanne White, 19:57 for Wellington over Mirinda Carfrae. Comparing the splits, PNF wins the swim 53:30 to 54:31, CW wins the bike 4:52:06 to 4:56:34, and the run 3:03:05 to 3:05:24. You say that Chrissie's bike split didn’t include T1 and T2 as Paula's? True, but those transitions only add 20 seconds to her overall time, making CW's bike 4:52:26. To top it off, the winds, though relatively mild, rotated to make them in the face of even the fastest competitors for the entire bike in 2009. One stat that links the Queen of Kona to her 2009 rival - both women placed 23rd overall against top men's fields.
2. Monique Van Der Vorst - Women's Hand Cycle 11:10:14 finish at Ironman Hawaii.
Why it was great: Van der Vorst's performance was a gender-bending quantum leap for women on the order of race horse Rachel Alexandra winning the Preakness and filly Zenyatta beating all the boys at the Breeder's Cup, not to forget Ann Trason's second overall by just 5 minutes in the Western States 100 mile trail run a few years ago. The charismatic Dutch star not only won the women's hand cycle division, but beat the top hand cycle men -- winner Jason Fowler's 11:25:27 and runner-up David Bailey's 11:35:38. Both men are former champions. Van der Vorst's time was among the top 10 men's Kona hand cycle times ever, topped only by Carlos Moleda's still-standing record of 10:31:15 in 2005 and a 10:55:58 mark winning in 1999, Marc Herremans' winning 10:53:29 in 2006 and 10:57:25 runner-up finish in 2005, David Bailey's winning 11:05:20 mark in 2000, and Akian Aleong's second place 11:00:51 mark in 2006.
She did it on the bike -- Her 7:04:19 topped Fowler's 7:32:03 and Bailey's 7:29:24 -- and the swim. Her 1:14:53 topped Fowler's 1:17:35 and Bailey's 1:29:40.
Which made up for Fowler's (2:19:04) and Bailey's (2:30:23) advantage on the run as Van der Vorst pushed her wheelchair to a more modest 2:41:11 marathon.
3. Chrissie Wellington 8:31:59 Quelle Challenge Roth, which broke Yvonne Van Vlerken's 2008 record 8:45:49 by 13:50. Why it was great: Obviously Wellington proved her dominance again, finishing 20th overall among the men, and smashing the women's Ironman distance bike record by six minutes with a 4:40:28 clocking. Her 2:57:32 run was a bit of a disappointment as Rebekah Keat topped her by two minutes, but that split was 21st overall including the men.
4. Alistair Brownlee World Championship Series Grand Final duel with Javier Gomez won with final surge with 300 meters to go. Topping off a perfect season, the 21-year-old phenomenon met the challenge of the fully revived 2008 World Champion with a stunning 29:05 final 10k. Before getting too excited about the run time, Gomez said that the Gold Coast course was a little short, "but we were both honestly under 30 minutes, and that was the fastest run in World Cup racing I've ever seen." Making Brownlee's performance even more impressive, Gomez, finally free of nagging injuries that had plagued him since late 2008, surged half a dozen times, but Brownlee answered the bell every time.
5. Julie Dibens beats Chrissie Wellington by 1:17 in record 4:10:58 at Boulder 5430 half Ironman. Yes both women were training through this race with bigger things on their minds - Chrissie focused on Kona and Julie on Maui and Clearwater. But, except for Wellington's surprising 6th-place drubbing at the Columbia Olympic distance event, nobody else beat Wellington during a record-breaking year. Dibens did it with a record 2:12:10 bike split and a lot of guts on the run as Chrissie's charge whittled down Dibens' advantage right to the end.
6. Julie Dibens Ironman 70.3 Worlds record 3:59:33. Why so good:: Dibens beat the next best competitor Mary Beth Ellis by 4:16, broke the 4 hour barrier for women with a 2:07:15 bike just 4 percent off the record-smashing men's mark. When talking about the speed, many will argue that the narrow course lanes course and rising quality and quantity of the men's field made for a drafty fest. But with the women given a head start, Dibens wasn't caught until Mile 35 and rode a greater portion of the bike alone than any professional.
7. Craig Alexander wins second Ironman Hawaii. Why So great: Crowie proved once again that he is the consummate professional. Preparing perfectly, he got off the bike with a 12 and 1/2 minute deficit. While such a task even made Mark Allen jittery in 1995, Crowie maintained his cool through a 10-mile, elbow-to-elbow duel with the fearsomely talented runner Andreas Raelert, then took down Chris Lieto's big lead at Mile 21 of the run. Never pushing the panic button when Lieto and his improved run failed to surrender and stuck like glue for half a mile, Alexander took the measure of the field once again with grace and mastery.
8. Amber Monforte breaks Ultraman record,Monforte, a nurse from Reno Nevada, broke the Ultraman Canada course record with a 25:36:49 in her first try at the distance. Monforte, aided by chase crew captain-boyfriend (and three-time Xterra World Champ) Conrad Stoltz, surpassed by 9 minutes and 2 seconds the world best mark set by Tina Bischoff at Ultraman Hawaii in 1989.
9. Kathleen Calkins, 34, of Gold River California set a new Kona age group women's overall record with a 9:46:26, topping Bree Wee's 2007 mark by 1 minute 14 seconds.
Performers of the year
1. Chrissie Wellington: Sub-9 hours at Port Macquarie, smashed world Ironman-distance best at Quelle Challenge Roth, beat Paula's record at Kona.
2. Alistair Brownlee was -- Perfect. Undefeated in four World Championship series races and winning a sizzling duel with Javier Gomez in the WCS finale on the Gold Coast.
3. Julie Dibens won Ironman 70.3 Worlds in sub-4, won 3rd straight XTerra Worlds, beat Chrissie at Boulder 5430 long course.
4. Emma Moffat - not quite perfect, but three wins and one second place (to 2008 Beijing Gold medalist Emma Snowsill before her season-ending injury) in World Championship Series events, plus a dominating $200,000 win at the Hy-Vee World Cup will do quite nicely. This season marked the arrival of the 25-year-old 2008 Olympic bronze medalist as a superstar.
5. Craig Alexander - Fought off two serious challenges - one from Andreas Raelert and another from Chris Lieto that lasted until midway through Mile 21 - to win his second Ironman Hawaii in a row with cool patience. By the way, also won half a dozen tough Ironman 70.3 titles.
Biggest upsets
Michael Raelert took Ironman 70.3 Worlds with a blazing 1:09:05 record run and a record 3:34:04 with a 2:40 margin over Daniel Fontana. Raelert broke Terenzo Bozzone's year-old record by 6:04. He went under the radar all year with 5th to 10th place finishes in the Life Time Fitness-Toyota Cup series -- then poured it all into his target race. Out shone his brother Andreas' runner-up debut in Clearwater - his half marathon broke Andreas' year-old mark by 1:48 . But Andreas gets credit for coaching little bro to the biggest upset of the year and a world title.
Jason Lester won ESPY upsetting heavily favored physically challenged 400-meter runner Oscar Pistorius of South Africa by winning the 2009 ESPY Award voting for Best Male Handicapped Performer.
Best swims
John Flanagan 47:42 Ironman Hawaii
Sara McLarty 17:03 Miami International Triathlon
Best bikes
Chrissie Wellington 4:40:28 Quelle Challenge Roth broke the previous world-best mark by six minutes and topped next-best in field Belinda Granger by 8 minutes. Next best was her 4:52:07 mark against headwinds all the way at IMH.
Chris Lieto 4:25:11 at Ironman Hawaii: This may have been the smartest, fastest bike split ever given all-day adverse wind direction.
Julie Dibens' record 2:07:15 at Ironman 70.3 Worlds
Normann Stadler 4:14:42 Quelle Challenge Roth. Brought the Normannator to the lead, just a few seconds off Thomas Hellriegel's course record. But only had enough left to hold on to fourth.
Best runs
Mirinda Carfrae's IMH record 2:56:51 in her Kona debut, taking down Chrissie Wellington's year old record 2:57:44.
Michael Raelert's record 1:09:05 at Ironman 70.3 Worlds -- 2:55 better than next best Daniel Fontana and 1:43 better than his brother's record.
Alistair Brownlee's 29:05 (little short) but clutch, duel-winning run at Gold Coast World Championship Series finale.
Best other-sport performances by current or former triathletes
Desiree Ficker 10th at NYC Marathon at 2:39:30; Fiona Docherty wins Xterra World Championship off road run title.
Former triathlete Kristen Armstrong's time trial gold medal at the Cycling World Championship.
Triathlon performance showing greatness in a single sport does not immediately translate to triathlon. Still -- not bad.
Mexican marathon champion German Silva at finished in 10:40:44 at Cozumel Ironman. His marathon was 3:12:16
Profiles in courage - tough cookies
Belinda Granger got hit by a car four days before Quelle Challenge Roth, smashing her left hand fingers and giving her a hematoma on her right quadricep. Still;, she hung tough with second fastest bike, and finished 5th.
Javier Gomez went down hard at ITU London World Championship series, losing a ton of skin and suffering massive bruises. Forced to race Yokohama a week later for the series points, Gomez placed third, then unleashed his best race of the season, a stirring duel with Alistair Brownlee at Gold Coast.
Rasmus Henning, a two time winner of Hy-Vee and a two-time ITU long course medalist, suffered a broken hand in a big bike crash weeks before Ironman Hawaii. Forced to receive water bottles at sped on the bike with his broken hand, the Dane toughed it out for a 5th place finish.
Joanna Zeiger was plagued all season with something that made her falling down dizzy, culminating with an ambulance ride away from Boulder 5430 long course. Finally, doctors diagnosed her problem - a lack of salt that produced low blood pressure. After taking in more salt, Zeiger recovered to win Ironman 70.3 Austin in 4:14:53 , her second fastest Ironman 70.3 time ever.
Julie Dibens won Boulder 5430 long course three weeks after hurting her knee in bike crash.
Richard Roll led Ultraman Day 1, then suffered a hard solo bike crash at the beginning of the second day that put gouges in his arm, leg and shoulder. He could not lift his arm up to shoulder, but finished 171-mile bike and 52.4 mile run to place 6th.
Stars are born
Alistair Brownlee It goes without saying that this modest, scholarly-looking Brit is the comet of 2009 - undefeated in the Dextro Energy World Championship Series.
Lisa Norden Finished second in WCS series with a win at Yokohama, seconds at London, Hamburg and the Gold Coast finale, and two closing wins at Life Time/Toyota Challenge Series in non-drafting races at Los Angeles and Dallas
Jordan Rapp won Ironman Canada, where he set the fastest bike split and fastest run, and Ironman Arizona, where he set a course record and recorded the fastest bike split.
Timothy O'Donnell wins St. Croix, ITU long course Worlds in Perth, Ironman 70.3 Calgary, Boulder Peak, and set a course record winning Boulder 5430 long course in 3:45:51. He also took second at Kansas 70.3, the US Pro Nationals. And he took thirds at Rev3, New Orleans 70.3 and the PATCO Pan Am Championship.
Rebekah Keat After lending Chrissie Wellington her CO2 canisters at Ironman Hawaii then year before, Rebekah Keat was ready for her close-up. Benefiting from working with Wellington's old coach Brett Sutton, Keat took a second at Quelle Challenge Roth in the second fastest Ironman time ever - 8:39:24 -- and set the fastest women's Ironman marathon of the year in 2:55:28.
Joe Gambles - excellent 70.3 racer earned star status with his course record win at Vineman 70.3.
Scares
Andy Potts crashed hard into a wobbly age grouper at Chicago, and while recovering in the medical tent, found his heart rate dropped to 20 beats per minute and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He also suffered extensive road rash and injured his elbow. After a week off, he resumed training for Ironman Hawaii where he finished 9th.
Greg Bennett was hit by car in training ride. Lost an acre of skin, bruised shoulder and elbow and his face looking like that classic boxing photo of Jersey Joe Walcott getting hit in the face by Rocky Marciano. After significant time off, managed to recover enough to place 4th at Los Angeles and win at Ironman 70.3 Augusta.
Triathletes Richard Paradis and Julia Purrington were struck by a car and incurred serious injuries while riding at Chatfield Reservoir in Littleton Colorado on August 22. Purrington suffered severe leg injuries and had surgery to repair a damaged artery. Paradis took the worst of the impact and had some head trauma. Purrington was to compete for Team USA at the Olympic distance World Championships in Australia while Paradis was gearing up for the 70.3 World Championships in November.
Monique Petrov, 39, of San Rafael California, was struck by a minivan on a training ride September 16 and was recovering from critical injuries.
Gina Ferguson Crawford passed out for two hours after finishing the bike leg at Quelle Challenge Roth. Doctors deduced that extra caffeine and a recent case of the flu were the culprits. Later, she was diagnosed with Bicuspid Aortic Valve. While it is the same syndrome that forced Torbjorn Sindballe into retirement, Crawford's version does not have a leak and she was cleared to resume training and she finished the year with an encouraging second straight win at Ironman Western Australia.
Young guns
Andrew Yoder, age 21, blasted to lead on bike at New York and hold on for 4th. His killer bike augurs well for the future.
Fearless Philip Graves, age 20, killed fields at UK Ironman and UK 70.3 and took it out hard at Kona until he faded.
Comebacks of the Year
Jamie Whitmore Her career cut short by cancer, the indomitable Whitmore is pregnant with twins.
Natascha Badmann came back strong after 18-month rehab from 2007 Kona bike crash to win New Orleans 70.3 against tough field at age 42.
Sam McGlone, after along recovery from Achilles tendinosis, rose to her 2006-2007 form, taking 5th at Kona and wins Ironman Arizona in course record time.
Kirsten Sweetland of Canada, out for greater part of 2008 with injuries, wins Mooloolaba World Cup, beats Emma Moffat.
Best Coaches
Darren Smith coached Lisa Norden to breakthrough second in ITU Dextro Energy World Championship Series. Also coached a much improved Jenna Shoemaker and rising Swiss star Daniela Ryf.
Craig Walton: When sweetie Emma Snowsill recovered from injuries, Walton guided Emma Moffat to superstar status.
Chrissie Wellington: Coached herself.
Cliff English coached Tim O'Donnell to his recent rise and guided Sam McGlone through long recovery to her Ironman Arizona course record. Also coached fast rising Andrew Yoder and Rebeccah Wassner to New York win.
Brett Sutton guided Tereza Macel and Rebekah Keat to their best seasons and offered excellent guidance when Bella Bayliss rejoined Team TBB.
Jack Maitland and Malcolm Brown coached Alistair Brownlee.
Streaks
Broken:-- Jo Lawn loses Ironman New Zealand to Gina Ferguson.
Continued: Chrissie Wellington (Ironman Australia, Quelle Challenge Roth, Ford Ironman World Championship) won her 8th straight Ironman-distance event without a loss.
Maintained: Ken Glah finished his 25th straight Ironman Hawaii
Farewell
Torbjorn Sindballe retires: Thunder Bear, a beloved competitor who set a bike record at Kona in 2005 and who won ITU long course world championship medals, retired from pro competition because of a heart ailment.
Steve Larsen dies: Tragic death at age 39 caused by a when he collapsed during a run workout at home in Bend Oregon in May. This national champion mountain biker and accomplished road cyclist made a big splash in triathlon, winning Ironman Lake Placid, then terrifying the professional field at Ironman Hawaii in 2001 when he blew by the likes of Normann Stadler and Tim DeBoom to lead the bike before falling back to 9th on the run. Larsen was a devoted family man and a man noted for his generosity toward everyone seeking his advice in training and racing.
