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 IM UTAH IM FLORIDA IM IDAHO IM WISCONSIN IM USA BELOW • Treasure Island Tri: Lessing, Gibbs • Stoltz, Angle claim XTERRA Worlds • Du Worlds go to Raux, Don • Lessing, Gibbs take Pacific Grove • Walton, Lindquist storm Chicago • Lindquist, Wealing take NYC Triathlon • Stoltz rocks the house at Boulder Peak • Xterra Central championship to Stoltz, Whitmore • Macca, Smyers take Metropolitan Bank tri in Cleveland • Lindquist wins Life Time "Battle of the sexes" • Attorney drops Madison leptospirosis case • Rifle off-road race cancelled • Larsen, Heilmann win Pacific Crest Half • Big Bear dead in the water • Life Time Tri TV deal a go • USAT responds to Life Time Fitness Tri criticism • Lebrun, Erlank Claim Xterra Richmond • Kenny Souza released from USAT jail • Euros find Ralph's California Half-IM a bargain • Macca, Schumacher power at Wildflower • Wildflower getting ready to rumble • Bentley, Schumacher join Calif. half • Helicopter crash claims Camp Pendleton triathlete • Harry Potter Triathlon opens online registration • Competitor Magazine Endurance Sports Awards on Saturday • Penryn's race a "cult" classic in more ways than one • Siri signs with New Balance • A blast from triathlon's nototious past • Triathlete prevails over San Diego PD • Siri Lindley rumored to sweep post-season awards • Girand romps, Travis squeaks by, in USAT elections • Just the fax, ma'am • Pacific Grove's organizers defiant • Malibu postpones, Hamptons cancelled, Pacific Grove is a go • Klasna outduels triathletes up Palomar • Girand thinks USAT's board seat worth fighting for • Legh takes oldie-but-goodie Santa Barbara |
Treasure Island Tri: Lessing, Gibbs Great Britain's Simon Lessing ran away with another win Saturday, this time at the Treasure Island Triathlon in San Francisco. Lessing, who came off the bike near Australia's Chris McCormack and American Kerry Classen, set out of T2 and quickly opened up a strong gap on his chasers, eventually growing that margin to two minutes at the finish line. Classen kept McCormack in sight to finish third. In the women's race, American Becky Gibbs took the women's race over Germany's Katja Schumacher. Gibbs led out of the water and maintained the lead on the bike, then ran strong to the finish while Schumacher and American Monica Caplan battled behind her to finish second and third, respectively. The age-group field racing Sunday in the sprint-distance race was bolstered by the addition of many Australian age-groupers heading east to Cancun, Mexico for the ITU World Triathlon Championships this weekend. Results are here: http://www.tricalifornia.com/timing. Professionals also were racing for prize money in the first-ever Tri-California Pro Series, which awarded points based on placement at five Tri-California races during the season, including Wildflower and Pacific Grove. Top honors in the series went to McCormack and Gibbs, with Lessing and Schumacher finishing second in the series. (RESULTS) ----- Stoltz, Angle claim XTERRA World Championship October 28, 2002, Maui, Hawaii (First reported in TriBiz Reader) South Africa's Conrad Stoltz continued his domination of Xterra racing Sunday with a successful defense of his title at the Xterra World Championships on Maui, while American Candy Angle poured on the gas in the final meters of the run to defeat Xterra up-and-comer Jamie Whitmore of the U.S. The Maui race is the culmination of a 43-race series that was staged across the U.S. and in eight countries. Athletes tackled a 1.5-mile swim at Wailea Beach, a 30k ride on the slopes of Haleakala (that includes a 2,300-foot climb up the dormant volcano), and an 11k trail run. Stoltz, who took home a $20,000 winner's check for the day, was challenged on the bike by Spain's Eneko Llanos, who last year saw mechanical problems on the ride destroy his hopes of a win. Stoltz, who had won six straight Xterra races before Sunday, was just a minute clear of Llanos at the finish line, with Llanos taking the day's fastest run, a 36:35. "Things went wrong today on the bike climb--my gears were jumpy and I was losing pressure in my tire," Stoltz told Xterra's Trey Garman. "I knew I had to have some time going into the run so I let it all out on the downhill. I was going frighteningly fast and ended up in the bushes a few times but it was still by far the best downhill I've ever done on the mountain bike." The bike course's final descent, called "The Plunge," drops riders 1,420 in less than a mile right before T2. "Today I took my revenge," Llanos said. "Last year I felt so good before I broke my chain, and today I had no problems and it was perfect. I'm very happy with my race. Conrad put a lot of time on me in the downhill and that is where I lost the race." Indeed, Stoltz's bike split was the day's best by more than two minutes. The former Olympian said Xterra is now his focus. "It's been my goal this year and I've trained hard for these races," he said. "I'm looking forward to many more years of Xterra because it is a sport that is expanding and the competition gets better every race. It's a great fit for me." Rounding out the men's podium was France's Nicolas LeBrun, Canada's Mike Vine and Olivier Marceau of France, like Stoltz a member of his country's team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Marceau held the lead in the bike's early stages but a flat tire knocked him out of contention. In the women's race it was Candy Angle who pulled out the win after breaking away from fellow American Jamie Whitmore at the rocky "Salt and Pepper Beach" section of the run in the race's closing stages. Angle was out of the water just steps behind Aussie Raeleigh Tennant, who had the day's fastest swim split. Angle, who won the Xterra Czech Republic race in June and was third at Xterra USA in September, said her partner, coach and fellow Xterra athlete Andrew Noble helped with some adjustments that got her ready for a peak performance. "I was just really in the zone today," Angle said. "I felt good, I was comfortable, I've adjusted quite a few things with the help of Andrew, and am really just hitting my peak now." Angle and Whitmore, who won the Xterra points race this year, were trading leads on the run until they hit "Salt and Pepper Beach," where Angle put the hammer down and scampered away for the win. Angle's run was the day's second-fastest, with the top spot--in 43:39--going to Hungary's Erika Csomor, a former duathlon world champion whose debut Maui race resulted in a sixth-place finish. Shari Kain of the U.S, who won the Maui title in 1999, was third, with Tennant fourth and American Melissa Thomas, with the day's fastest bike split, in fifth. The field was capped at 400 competitors who had to qualify for the championships based on performance at a qualifying race during the sesason. For pros, the total prize purse was $105,000US. For Ironman athletes, there's also the race-within-a-race, the Hawaiian Airlines-sponsored "double" that rewards professionals who complete both the Hawaiian Ironman and Xterra in the quickest total time with $2,500US. Canada's Peter Reid took the men's double, finishing in 20th place with a total time of 11:18:23. Switzerland's Ariane Gutknecht, who was 12th on Sunday, took the women's double in 13:30:26. Challenged athlete Paul Martin also raced the double, along with a host of age-groupers who were vying for round-trip tickets for two to Hawaii from the West Coast. (RESULTS) ----- Du Worlds go to Raux, Don October 20, 2002, Pacific Grove, California (First reported in TriBiz Reader) From USA Triathlon's BJ Evans comes this report of Sunday's Duathlon World Championships staged in Alpharetta, Ga., which went to French duathlete Corrine Raux and Great Britain's Tim Don, better known as a regular on the ITU World Cup circuit. American Barb Lindquist, racing in Alpharetta in preparation for the ITU World Championships in Cancun next month, was the top American woman, in sixth place overall. The top American man was national du champ Greg Watson, in 15th. "In the women's race, top duathletes Annie Emmerson (Great Britain), Lucy Smith (Canada) and defending world champion Erika Csomor (Hungary) set a blistering pace on the first (10k) run, completing it in just over 34 minutes. The pack of three held a 1:30 minute lead on the first lap of the bike and looked to be unbeatable. "But the chase pack, including France's Edwidge Pitel, Raux, Lindquist and Great Britain's Michelle Dillon and Vicky Pincomb, eventually caught the leaders. Raux said that it was after the bike when she realized she could win. She made her attack on a hill around the 2.5k mark. "My objective was to be in the top 10," said Raux, whose winning time was 1:57:36. "When I started the second run, I realized I could win. I'm a better runner than cyclist." Csomor went on to finish second (1:57:50) and Pitel was third (1:58:02). Lindquist, who is known for being a swim specialist, ran the 10k in 35:37 and the 5k in 18:12, and kept pace with some of the top runners in duathlon. "It was definitely fun," Lindquist said. "I think I'll stick with triathlons, but I'll definitely do a duathlon again." While the skies were cloudy all day, it wasn't until the start of the elite men's race that rain began to fall in buckets. The storm brought thunder and lightning that had race organizers wondering if they should continue the race. However, the rains lightened by the start of the bike and competitors did not seem bothered by the weather. Don did not seem bothered as he took the lead on the first run with Belgium's Jurgen Dereere and defending world champion Benny Vansteelant. The three took the lead on the bike and worked together until Vansteelant broke away. Dereere began to cramp and he and Don fell back with the pack. By the end of the bike, Vansteelant had also fallen back into the large chase pack and it was anybody's race. "On the second run, I had to work hard," Don said. "I wasn't the first out of transition. I got to the front, but on the way back in, Greg (Bennett of Australia) and the Italian (Luca Barzaghi) caught me." Don held on for the win in 1:45:28. Bennett, the No. 1-ranked triathlete in the world, finished just behind in 1:45:29 and Barzaghi was third in 1:45:34. Vansteelant went on to finish 31st. Watson, who finished in 1:46:11, was happy with his race. "I'm not a runner, I'm more of a cyclist; so I was happy I did as well as I did," he said. (RESULTS) ----- Lessing, Gibbs take Pacific Grove August 17, 2002, Pacific Grove, California (First reported in TriBiz Reader) Simon Lessing, a five-time world champion and a member of Great Britain's Olympic team in Sydney two years ago, turned in a dominating performance at the Seagate Triathlon at Pacific Grove on Saturday, winning by 2:25 over a class field of international and American triathletes. In cool and foggy conditions, Lessing exited the water 10 seconds clear of a group of three&Mac247;Aussies Craig Alexander and Marc Lees and New Zealand's Kris Gemmell. Once onto the bike, Alexander, Lees, Gemmell and Lessing worked together to distance themselves from the rest of the field, building up a gap of 1:30 over New Zealand's Bryan Rhodes, an Ironman specialist, and Americans Victor Plata and Brian Lavelle by the close of the first lap. Gemmell was dropped and joined the Rhodes group, and the remaining three worked together for the rest of the ride, building up an overall lead of more than 2:30 by T2. Once onto the run, however, Lessing unleashed his trademark footspeed and used his long, fluid stride to build an ever-increasing gap over his pursuers, with Alexander doggedly chasing in second. Lessing came home in 1:50:18 with a 30:33 closing 10k, with Alexander second in 1:52:43. Lees, the first winner of the Pacific Grove Triathlon eight years ago, came home third in 1:53:27, with Gemmell fourth in 1:54:43 and Plata in fifth in 1:56:29. After the race, Lessing said he was glad to return to the grass-roots style of triathlon racing found at American races like Pacific Grove. "It's really, really nice for me to come back and do this type of racing," he said. "It's good to get back into the triathlon I knew from 10-15 years ago." In the women's race, Gibbs turned a hat trick, scoring her third win in the course. She led from wire to wire, breaking her own swim course record with an unofficial swim time of 18:54 and more than a minute clear of her pursuers. She continued to put time on the rest of the field as she soloed the bike course, while behind her a group formed made up of Kehr, New Zealand's Evelyn Williamson, and Americans Alexis Waddel and Michelle Deasy. By T2 Gibbs had an advantage of more than three minutes over her pursuers. She ran strong to come home in 2:03:21, more than three minutes clear of Kehr in second in 2:06:34 and New Zealand's Evelyn Williamson in third in 2:07:53. Hometown favorite Alexis Waddel, a Pacific Grove resident, was fourth in 2:08:53, with Deasy fifth in 2:13:01. The 23-minute swim of Ironman specialist Heather Fuhr of gave her a large deficit to make up on the bike and run, but she turned in the day's third-fastest 10K to come home in sixth in 2:14:09. "I just gave it everything I had from the beginning," Gibbs said after the race. "I guess it paid off." Kehr told the crowd at the finish line that she was used to chasing Gibbs: "I'm so used to it because I train with her," she said. (RESULTS) ----- Walton, Lindquist storm Chicago August 26, 2002, Chicago, Ill (First reported in TriBiz Reader) After record-breaking rainfall earlier in the week threatened to cancel Sunday's swim at the 20th annual race, the sun shined on Chicago's famous Buckingham Fountain while Craig Walton (Australia) and Barb Lindquist (USA) proved Chicago's Lake Michigan shore was fine for swimming. The two posted the day's fastest men's and women's swim splits, 19:33 and 20:41, respectively, en route to their wins at Mrs. T's Chicago Triathlon. The rain did force event management to change Saturday morning's kids' triathlon (900 participants) and super-sprint triathlon (1,000 participants) to duathlons, as storm water and untreated sewage were released from the Chicago River into the lake on Thursday. It might have exposed athletes to bacteria. Cyclists on the course were not so much threatened by heavy vehicle traffic in the outside two lanes on each side of the eight lane highway, but rather by often much faster competitors' passes on their left and right, and countless bike bottles, bungee cords and even a hubcap on the roadway. The weather, in the 80's with little wind or air movement, seemed to be less of an issue for amateurs, as this year's race had noticeably more volunteers handing out water and Gatorade than in the past. While more than a few of the 38 professional athletes did complain of dehydration on the run course, the problem-of-the-day for many was losing sight of Walton or Lindquist, who ran away handily with their wins. Walton finished in 1:47:21 and was nearly a minute faster than second place finisher Conrad Stoltz (South Africa), 1:48:29, who doesn't race particularly well in hot weather. "Before the race, my plan was to catch Walton on the bike," said Stoltz, who won Mrs. T's in 2001 and placed second in 2000. "Unless I have a really great bike, I won't have much of a chance to catch him, and today it was just average." That was hard, too, for the South African, because Chicago "is one of my favorite races. It's the biggest in the world, and I like the flat and fast course." Stoltz, who started the run two minutes behind Walton's fastest bike split of the day, 54:16 (27.4 mph), said, "I made forty seconds up in the first mile, but then didn't make up much more time, maybe twenty seconds. I felt good until the last lap of the run, and then I kind of fell apart." He added he knew he just would not have been able to catch Walton, who "was really 'on' today." Third place finisher Craig Alexander (Australia), has the day's fastest run, 31:16, at an amazing 5:02-per-mile pace. His fleet feet brought him within 21 seconds of Stoltz. In general, the women's race was closer, and had more action. Lindquist bested Joanna Zeiger (USA) by 45 seconds, with a 1:58:40 victory, despite Dr. Zeiger's never-give-up tenacity. After a slower-than-usual swim, the 2001 and 1998 Mrs. T's winner and 2000 U.S. Pro National Championships at Mrs. T's champion, set off on her Cervelo to catch Becky Gibbs and Lindquist. Smooth and scary-fast as she hunted and made up time on the leaders, the only parts of Zeiger's petite body moving on the bike were her legs. Her eyes were locked in at straight-ahead, and she found her first target--Gibbs. "She was still in transition when I got there," said Zeiger. Admittedly, Zeiger "hauled ass on the run," passing Gibbs at Mile One but even her 5:33-per-mile pace, 11 seconds hotter than Lindquist, never allowed her to lock her sights on the lead woman. "The race really was set up on the swim and bike," said Lindquist, who posted a 1:01:38 ride (24.1 mph). She had a 45-second lead exiting the water, and Gibbs rode hard to reduce it. Out on the run, though, it appeared as if Gibbs was beginning to fade. "I put time on her in the run," stated Lindquist, who added that she had a great day and a lot of fun with no problems. Problems unfortunately plagued Nicole DeBoom (USA) from the early stages of the day. Originally, she planned to stay near the front all day, but the race's late start, in the midday heat, had her energy already tapped. "You know it's going to be hot when you start dehydrating before the race," she said. And perhaps she went out a bit hard, too, on the swim, in an effort to stay at the front with Lindquist and Gibbs. "I really wanted to stay with Barb and Becky. I tried hard, but I got dropped, and then Joanna passed me." On the bike, the irongirl, suburban Chicago native had the blues and she couldn't get her mojo working, saying, "I couldn't get my power position going and I was hurting." Still, DeBoom mustered up a decent run to salvage sixth place in 2:04:28. Like Zeiger, Wisconsin and the Midwest's local hero, Lauren Jensen (USA), exited the water later than expected but was driven to make her way towards the front. On the backstretch of the out-and-back cycle course, she caught and passed Zeiger, but was unable to spit her out and eventually relinquished the position. The nearly heroic effort tapped the Shark of her fuel. "I kind of fell apart on the run," said Jensen. "I got a little dehydrated." She took seventh, with a respectable 2:04:56 finish. Another crowd favorite, Karen Smyers (USA), found the day tough. "After a trademark lousy swim, I was happy that I was catching some people on the bike," she said. As spectators settled into the late stages of the pro race under the midday sun, she brought them alive, passing a few of the other women on the run. Unfortunately, Smyers didn't have enough steam to make up 20 seconds more on the run and Evelyn Williamson (New Zealand), and the Kiwi held her off for third place, in 2:01:06. Smyers' goals, though, are for a much different race--Ironman. She's starting off the hard way, and confided that, "with a late start in serious training, it seems as if I'm starting to race myself into shape." Among the other pros, 2002 and 2001 Zimbabwe National Champion Rory Mackie took 16th overall in 2:00:24. A training partner and roommate of Stoltz, in peaceful Colorado Springs, he learned a lot about traffic in Chicago. Early in the morning, on the two athletes' bike ride from their home-stay to the race site, they witnessed a loud argument between two cars on the road. Earlier in the week, they took a taxi ride. Stoltz, in a perfect visual impression, demonstrated their driver's skill at leaning way back in his seat, left hand holding a cellular phone to his ear and right hand spinning the steering wheel, all the while yelling on the phone and at other drivers, while zipping in and out of lanes. "It was unbelievable, crazy," said Mackie, a laid-back, 21-year-old, getting equally shifty and animated. On race-day, he was issued a cycle course penalty for not staggering his bike position. It's a not-often cited violation stating that professionals must not ride directly behind each other, even when outside of the draft zone. Later on Sunday afternoon, at a famous Chicago pizzeria, Mackie and Stoltz asked for directions to the nearest subway train station which would take them back to their home-stay. Naperville, Illinois' Jenny Marine, now a USA Triathlon resident team member in Colorado Springs, took ninth place in 2:07:17, in her first race since breaking her elbow five weeks ago. How did she do it? Working on her draft-legal riding skills in a criterium bike race, with only 30 seconds left in the one-hour event. "It was as good as I could do. I had fun at the race, but I felt flat," she said. "I felt good on the swim, and my arm did not hurt at all. On the bike, though, I had not momentum. It was a struggle the whole time." Marine, a former runner at the University of Illinois, has raced Mrs. T's before. Her first outing at the race, the sprint category in 1996, was also her first triathlon ever--she wore Umbro soccer shorts and a big cotton t-shirt, and rode a mountain bike. It was a far cry from the red, white and blue skin-tights this year. "It was really fun to be back in the city. My family, my friends, all the Rocket Dogs (racing team) came out to watch. It meant a lot," she said with a big smile after Stoltz snapped her family's photo. Like many of the other pros at Mrs. T's, 11th place finisher Alexis Waddel (USA), is hardly recovered from last week's tough race in New York City and is heading to Boston for next weekend's Monster.com Challenge Triathlon. But for her, at the marquee events, it seems sights are set within, to continue improving and shooting for the stars. "I stayed focused on the bike and was able to have is one of my fastest bike times at 1:06," said Waddel, who found Chicago's heat and humidity tougher than life on California's Monterey Peninsula. Perhaps viscerally tougher than some of her faster competitors at Mrs. T's, she noted that despite conditions, she clocked one of her best run times, 37:07. Other notables at Mrs. T's included Ironman Peter Reid (CAN), who was virtually incognito, quiet and gone-before-you-knew-it after the race; Brad "The Croc" Bevin (Australia), who appeared injury-free and looked quite fit again, if not youthful, in his return to one of his perennial races; and the Ban de Soleil bombshell, Fernanda Keller (BRA). Michellie Jones (AUS), who won the race in 1992, '94, '95, '96, '97, '99, and 2000, was at the expo but did not start in the race. (Thanks to Hammy Handwerker for this story). (RESULTS) --- Lindquist, Wealing take NYC Triathlon August 19, 2002, NYC, NY (First reported in TriBiz Reader) Americans Barb Lindquist and Seth Wealing are the new U.S. pro champions over the Olympic distance after claiming wins Sunday at the New York City Triathlon. The second-year race sent athletes into the Hudson River for a swim, up the Henry Hudson Parkway for a 40k bike ride and through Central Park for the closing 10k. Defending champions were Hunter Kemper and Karen Smyers; both made top-10 appearances again this year. The race website is here: http://www.nyctri.com. (RESULTS) ----- Stoltz rocks the house at Boulder Peak August 13, 2002, Boulder, CO (First reported in TriBiz Reader) American Nicole DeBoom and South Africa's Conrad Stoltz were the winners at Sunday's Boulder Peak Triathlon in Boulder, Colo., USA Triathlon's BJ Evans reported. Stoltz's win was an emphatic one, more than two minutes clear of Kona champ Tim DeBoom. It was a repeat of last year's finishing order among the top two. But DeBoom could lay claim to the day's fastest run, a 33:54 10k compared to Stoltz's 34:20, the day's third-fastest. Keeping it all in the family, brother Tony DeBoom was fourth. The race, which doubled as the USA Triathlon National Club Championship, always draws a strong field of athletes training in the Boulder region. The men's top 10 shows lots of top international talent mixed in among the Boulder resident elites--including Ironman Malaysia champ Bryan Rhodes of New Zealand and past Ironman Brazil champ Eduardo Sturla of Argentina. In the women's race, DeBoom's win also was a dominating one. She was more than four minutes clear of age-grouper Amanda Gillam in second, with pro Susie Gallucci in third. The race also includes a duathlon, staged over a 5k/42k/10k course. Complete results are here: http://www.boulderpeak.com. (RESULTS) ----- Xterra Central championship to Stoltz, Whitmore July 23, 2002, Cleveland, Ohio (First reported in TriBiz Reader) From Xterra’s Trey Garman comes this report of Sunday’s Xterra Central Championship in Keystone, Colo.--a race that starts at 9,000 feet and, on the bike course, reaches the rarefied elevation of 11,000 feet above sea level. South Africa's Conrad Stoltz, the current Xterra world champ, successfully defended his Keystone title by biking away from the rest of the field and running strong to cement his win on the 1-kilometer swim, 26k mountain bike, and 10k trail run course. "Today I think it had to do with pacing, and I knew the c ourse so that made a big difference,' said Stoltz, whose finish time of 2:06:40 was more than two minutes clear of second place, American Kerry Classen. Classen now stands second in the overall points standings behind France's Nicolas Lebrun, winner of the East Championship last month. On Sunday, Lebrun ran from sixth place off of the bike into third by the finish. American Ned Overend, who will be 47 next month, posted the fastest bike split and finished the day in fifth overall behind Aussie Jason Chalker. "Overend came out of the water more than two minutes back and passed 41 riders to exit the bike-to-run transition in second place, but dropped three spots in the trail run," Garman wrote. The women's race went to Xterra Saipan champ Jamie Whitmore of the U.S. "It was a sweet victory," Whitmore said. 'I think Keystone is my kind of course because it was all up and down and I’m really small and lightweight so it’s easy for me to climb the hills.' Her finish time of 2:30:55 was nearly four minutes cle ar of Canada's Melanie McQuaid in second. American Kerstin Weule was third, with Coloradoan Kerry Barnholt fourth and Aussie Raeleigh Tennant fifth. Reigning women's world champ Anke Erlank of South Africa finished 14th in her attempted title defense of the Keystone title she won last year. "I had a great swim but right as I entered transition something happened and I went backwards on the bike ride," she said. "Normally, I seem to recover from that feeling as though I’m dying, but today I never did. That’s to take nothing away from Jamie, she’s the real deal--a great mountain biker and she can run, too. I’m really happy to see such great girls coming on the XTERRA circuit. It lifts the level of competition up a notch and keeps me on my toes." (RESULTS) ----- Macca, Smyers take Metropolitan Bank tri in Cleveland July 23, 2002, Cleveland, Ohio (First reported in TriBiz Reader) Australia's Chris McCormack made up for apparent mechanical woes on the bike at the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis on Saturday with a decisive win at the Metropolitan Bank Triathlon on Sunday in Cleveland. And Karen Smyers successfully defended her title, making it five wins at the race overall. The race also marked a return to racing for Aussie Brad Beven, who's been dogged by injury and bad luck in recent years. He came home fifth. Race director Jack Caress' report: "It turned out to be a beautiful warm day and an excellent race. On the men's side it was a tight pack out of the swim with McCormack literally exploding on the first loop of our eight-mile bike course to take a large lead. Laurie Hug led the swim and bike from a patient Karen Smyers. Karen overtook her on the run and extended her lead throughout the remainder. This is Karen's fifth win in Cleveland going all the way back to 1990. Amazing. Heather Gollnick had a great run to come in second. It was good to have Brad Beven here, his first race in 2.5 years." They split a $15,000 prize purse in Cleveland. Of the top five men and women, several had raced Saturday in Minneapolis. McCormack, Great Britain's Paul Amey, Australia's Marc Lees, Gollnick and Smyers also raced the day before at the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon, with Amey the highest placed among them, at eighth overall. (RESULTS) ----- Lindquist wins Life Time "Battle of the sexes" July 23, 2002, Minneapolis, Minnesota (First reported in TriBiz Reader) American Barb Lindquist won the "battle of the sexes" in the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota in dramatic fashion, lunging over the finish line and collapsing from the effort. Closing fast on her heels was fellow American Becky Gibbs, with Australia's Craig Walton another couple of seconds back after giving the women a 9:30 head start. Lindquist claimed a $50,000US prize for the overall win at the race, which enjoyed same-day television coverage in the U.S. on the Outdoor Life Network. The overall purse was $180,000US, making it one of the richest paydays of the year for professional triathletes. The race was conducted in an eliminator format that pitted men against the women, with the men "chasing" the women over the .75-mile swim, 21.3-mile bike and 4.9-mile run course. American Sheila Taormina was first out of the water, with Aussie Nicole Hackett, Lindquist and Gibbs on her heels. Gibbs overtook Lindquist on the bike course, with the pair entering transition within seconds of one another. Onto the run and Lindquist powered past Gibbs, then appeared to struggle in the last stretch of the course as Gibbs ate into her lead. All the while Walton, who'd led from wire to wire after strong swim and bike legs, was gaining, pulling back the women's head start to close within 15 seconds of Lindquist. And a race was forming on the run behind Walton, with two of his countrymen--Greg Bennett and current world champion Peter Robertson--clicking over sub-5:00 miles to pull back the nearly 1:30 advantage Walton apparently had out of T2. Bennett and Robertson, with the fastest run splits respectively, finished second and third behind Walton. The payday for remainders in the top five went like this: $20,000 for Gibbs, $18,000 for Walton, $15,000 for Bennett and $12,000 for Robertson. The full results read like a who's-who of Olympic-distance racing and includes a handful of world champions. They're here. (RESULTS) ----- Attorney drops Madison leptospirosis case July 10, 2002, Chicago, Illinois (First reported in TriBiz Reader) Litigants represented by Ed Wallace, the attorney for Chicago firm Wexler & Associates, have dropped a case against USA Triathlon and Bally Total Fitness Centers, according to a lawyer involved in the case. The suit alleged damage to triathletes caused by a water-borne bacterium called leptospirosis, which was presumed to be in the Madison, Wisconsin, lake where the swim portion of the 1998 USTS Madison triathlon was held. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control subsequently found that only swimmers who competed in the Ironhorse Triathlon in Springfield, Ill., held the week before, had come down with the infection. The CDC gave the Madison lake a clean bill of health. Two of the four original litigants in the Wisconsin case--Michael Wisnefski and Christopher Neubauer--remained attached to the case until this week. They apparently competed only in the USTS Madison race, and not the Springfield race, the lawyer said. The question of how they contracted the illness remains. "I never got an opportunity to depose them," said John Foley of Hinshaw and Culbertson, the law firm hired to defend triathlon's national federation. Two individual suits are still going forward in the Springfield case--one by longtime triathlete Sixto Linares and another by Steve Boebel. Then there's a class-action suit--Greenberg vs. USAT--and in this case Greenberg represents the class, which consists of all competitors in the race save those who've elected to opt out. Ed Wallace still represents Greenberg and the class in this case, which is to be litigated in the Cook County Circuit Court. The judge hearing the case, Stuart Nudelman, is said to be a veteran of multisport racing himself. ----- Rifle off-road race cancelled July 10, 2002, Rifle, Colorado (First reported in TriBiz Reader) The Off-Road Endurance Challenge at Rifle Gap, an iron-distance race set to take place off-road in Rifle, Colo., next weekend, has been cancelled. Race director Darrin Eisman sent an email notice Tuesday to all competitors (the race was limited to 200) informing them that conditions in the area, due to in part to wildfires that have swept Colorado in recent weeks, necessitated the change. The race was set for Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21. The race was to have the first known attempt at an off-road iron-distance race, with a two-loop, 112-mile bike ride and a trail marathon. Given the unique challenge that the distance presented when covered off-road, Eisman had structured the cutoffs in a very different fashion than a road Ironman: The bike cutoff was to be midnight, with the finish line closing the next morning at 10 a.m. All finishers were to get an age-group award. Those who missed a cutoff would be allowed to continue on "unranked" as in adventure racing, and would receive a plaque showing the actual distance completed. Eisman, who runs the Colorado race production company Racing Underground and organizes several duathlons, triathlons and snowshoe races each year, is a top-drawer athlete in his own right. In the past six years, he's garnered a win at the Empire State Building Stair Climb and placed 12th at the Eco-Challenge, third at the Snowshoeing World Championships and third in the Sky Running U.S. Championships. He was the U.S. amateur champion in duathlon in 1994 and turned professional a year after that. We're following this story and hope to have more to share in coming days. The letter to competitors is below: It is with great regret that I must inform you that the 2002 Off-Road Endurance Challenge at Rifle Gap has been cancelled. After many months of planning, hundreds of hours of work, and thousands of dollars in expenses, I must now do the hardest part--and that is cancel the race. Due to the extreme fire danger and ongoing drought conditions across the State of Colorado, I feel that at this time it would be irresponsible to continue with plans to hold the event. There were several factors which have influenced my decision. First and foremost is the issue of the safety of the athletes competing. As a result of the various fires which have been burning across the State of Colorado and in the greater Rifle area, the human resources necessary to provide a safe event for the 200 athletes entered has been severely depleted. In a race as extreme and physically demanding as the Off-Road Endurance Challenge at Rifle Gap, with well over 10,000 feet of elevation gain, temperatures nearing triple digits, and a course that is often quite remote, I feel that it is mandatory that qualified support personnel be available to assist the athletes. I have recently learned that at this time the necessary support is no longer available and I have been unsuccessful in finding replacements. Other factors influencing my decision include an overwhelming number of spectators who have contacted me in recent weeks regarding the race. At this time, it appears likely that more than 1,000 spectators from all over the country plan to be on the course on race weekend, and with the extreme fire danger, the risk of an accidental fire has become too great. Rifle has received less just 1.75 inches of precipitation since the first of the year. As a result, the dust levels on the course--and particularly the JQS Road--are very high. Not only will this affect your performance and your health--if it is windy on race day, visibility will be seriously impaired. And finally, the water level at Rifle Gap State Park is currently dropping at over six inches per day. This means the water will be another six feet lower on race day, potentially compromising the swim course. I realize that most of you have made travel arrangements, and I apologize for the inconvenience--I know I was looking forward to this event as much as the rest of you. I will be sending you information shortly regarding the refund of entry fees, and roll-over of entry fees to other events. Sincerely, Darrin Eisman ----- Larsen, Heilmann win Pacific Crest Half July 1, 2002, Bend, Oregon (First reported in TriBiz Reader) American Steve Larsen turned in a scorching bike split at the Pacific Crest Half Ironman in Bend, Oregon, on Saturday, and came home the winner in 3:54:03. His bike time of 2:05:53 was almost six minutes faster than second-place finisher Eric Bean of the U.S., who finished in 4:01:28 overall. Larsen, who lived in Bend for five years, gave up just 30 seconds to Bean on the swim but powered through the 56-mile bike course and turned in a 1:17:45 half-marathon for the win. Bean took more than four minutes off his 2001 time but came second again, and both Bean and Larsen were under last year's champ Matt Seeley's finish time of 4:01:32 from last year. "It was a good test," Larsen told the Bend Bulletin newspaper after the race. "It was a good opportunity to come home and see good friends." Christine Heilman won the women's race in 4:47:03, a full three minutes faster than Chris Farias (4:50:35). Heilman was in 40th place out of the water but picked it up on the bike and cruised home on the run. Third-place finisher Jennifer Cohen was less than a minute back. Race-day conditions were good for fast racing on the run, with drizzly conditions in the morning giving way to cooler-than-normal temperatures with a light breeze. Race weekend also included an endurance duathlon (56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run), a marathon and a half-marathon on Saturday. A kids triathlon was staged Friday. (RESULTS) ----- Big Bear dead in the water July 1, 2002, Lake Forest, California (First reported in TriBiz Reader) One of SoCal's favorite triathlons has bitten the dust for 2002 due to the drought in the Western U.S. and Big Bear's resulting low lake level. "There's just no good place to swim this year," said Sham Elhag, Syntace USA's president. Syntace now owns the race, and has brought it back to a place of prominence among races in this region. The event will return next year on the assumption that the rain returns first. ----- Life Time Tri TV deal a go July 1, 2002, Minneapolis, Minnesota (First reported in TriBiz Reader) It will be armchair heaven for triathletes. Same-day coverage of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon, to be held Saturday, July 20, in Minneapolis, will be broadcast on Outdoor Life Network (OLN). The 24-hour cable network and leading provider of programming targeted to outdoor enthusiasts will air the program at 11:30AM (Eastern), immediately following OLN's coverage of the Tour de France and be broadcast to more than 45 million homes. The same-day airing of the event is unique to the sport of triathlon, which typically involves a delayed broadcast of several days to many weeks or months. Unfortunately, those who'll make an entire morning of it will not be treated to a riveting Tour stage. Stage 13, from Lavelanet to Beziers, is relatively flat, and is sandwiched between two wickedly hilly stages that each feature a mountaintop finish. But it'll still make for a nice double-feature. ----- USAT responds to Life Time Fitness Tri criticism July 1, 2002, Colorado Springs (First reported in TriBiz Reader) (PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The letter below comes from USAT's board president and its executive director. When the letter uses the term "critics" it is a good guess that this term refers to those in the upper echelon of the ITU heirarchy, a group that the USAT heirarchy is generally friendly with, and so doesn't want to single out by name). Critics have recently expressed concerns about USA Triathlon and its sanctioning of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon to be staged later this year in Minneapolis, Minn. This note is in response to those concerns. As the national governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon and duathlon in the United States, USA Triathlon, like all national triathlon federations, has many responsibilities. USA Triathlon is responsible for setting and enforcing the rules of the sport in this country; it is responsible for selecting national teams and it is responsible for fostering the growth of the sport through events and benefits to our member athletes and race directors. This year, USA Triathlon's annual membership exceeds 40,000 members, and we are on pace to sanction 800 events. Both these numbers are record highs for USA Triathlon. Triathlon and multi-sport racing is more popular in the United States than it ever has been before. USA Triathlon believes it had something to do with this multi-sport boom by sanctioning races that are fair and safe and by offering a variety of benefits and choices to its athletes. Our mission to remain on the cutting edge, define new choices, and foster experimentation in multi-sport has contributed immeasurably to our growth. The Lifetime Fitness Triathlon (LFT) is just such a flamboyant, cutting-edge approach to triathlon. An invitational elite race, LFT starts the women first with an interval calculated to bring them and the men to the finish line at precisely the same time. It is anticipated that this will give all competitors an equal chance at the top-five positions regardless of gender. After the top-five finishers, the remaining men and women will compete for equally distributed prize money. The overall winner will take home $50,000, second only to the winning prize at the Ironman World Championship. This race format is experimental and no more outlandish than the draft-legal format was several years ago. It may not be successful. It may not be accepted by elite athletes. It may have to be changed in subsequent years. But it represents an attempt to try something new; to offer something different--as Americans have demonstrated a flair for doing. This race offers a huge total purse of $185,000. USA Triathlon has sanctioned this race in an effort to foster growth and experimentation in the sport. It brings a valued race organizer into our family from an area of our country where USA Triathlon sanctioning has been limited historically. Outside of enforcing the federation rules and standards, USA Triathlon does not tell its race directors or its athletes what to do. It does not tell race directors what kind of races to organize, nor does it tell its athletes the races they can or cannot do. We have come under fire because we are sanctioning the Lifetime Fitness race. USA Triathlon has been told it does not support the international Olympic style of racing. This, of course, makes no sense. The real reason for USA Triathlon's current position in the international doghouse is the fear that the LFT will interfere with the competitive field at the Corner Brook World Cup race. This is not the case. The LFT organization invited 30 men and 30 women to compete in this experimental format. It is doubtful that more than two-thirds of those athletes will attend. Corner Brook will have a full and competitive field. Our support of international style racing, while not legendary, has been steadily increasing over the last few years. Triathlon was invented in the United States, and it was not invented as a drafting sport. The sport gained popularity in the 1980s on the back of Ironman racing, which is strictly non-drafting. Many of our 40,000 members and race directors are still not interested in draft-legal racing, and we cannot force them to be. To risk a bad pun, the United States is still getting up to speed with draft-legal racing. Perhaps it has taken longer than it should have, but it is not because the United States is not supportive of the effort to expand international racing for elite triathletes. USA Triathlon has put on an ITU Triathlon World Cup race in 2002, will put on a points race in Boston in September and has proposed making two more races in California points races. It is putting on the first draft-legal junior race series in the United States this year. Moreover, USA Triathlon is planning for at least five international points races next year, will continue with the St. Anthony's World Cup, and may have another world cup race in New York City. It is sending large teams to every world championship. It is hosting the ITU Duathlon World Championship and has hosted other world championships in the past. Its coaches have worked with triathletes from other countries as part of the Olympic solidarity movement. In an effort to ensure that all U.S. international-format races are safe, fair and properly officiated, USA Triathlon is moving on two fronts. We have moved the ITU format rules from our general membership competitive rulebook. We are producing a separate, internally consistent and lucid rulebook containing the ITU rules expressly for our elite and junior elite athletes who will compete in draft-legal races. Additionally, we have formed a new elite team of officials who will be trained at the USA Triathlon National Training Center in Clermont, Fla. This team will form a growing nucleus of officials, under separate leadership from our traditional USA Triathlon officials, to work at all ITU World Cup and international points races held in this country. USA Triathlon is doing its part and strives to become a leader in the international Olympic triathlon movement. We also encourage other countries who have not been engaged in the past to step forward as well. Ray Plotecia, President Steve Locke, Executive Director ----- Lebrun, Erlank Claim Xterra Richmond June 25, 2002, Richmond, Virginia (First reported in TriBiz Reader) France's Nicolas Lebrun stormed through a deep field on the run at Xterra Richmond on Sunday to move from eighth place off the bike to first place across the finish line. In claiming the first of four regional Xterra titles up for grabs, Lebrun was clear of American Andrew Noble in second by 20 seconds on the strength of a blazing 35:07 run, the day's fastest by more than three minutes. The women's race saw defending Xterra world champion Anke Erlank of South Africa win by more than five minutes over Canadian Melanie McQuaid in second and former world champ Kerstin Weule of the U.S. in third. McQuaid, a professional mountain biker, had assumed the lead during the bike ride and held it for the first few miles of the rugged urban forest run before surrendering it to Erlank. Xterra'a Trey Garman reports that Lebrun was a minute down off of Classen out of the water, and lost another two minutes when he stopped to fix a broken chain on his bike. It was the first Xterra win for Lebrun, who was second in the pro points series last year. "When I broke my chain in the first loop I thought I had lost my chance to win, but by the end of the bike I was still in the top 10," Lebrun said. "I felt really strong with my run and when I was able to see Kerry and Andrew on the open section of the course, then I knew I could do it." The women's race saw Erlank, in her second season on the Xterra circuit, improve her win stats to five out of seven, Garman reported. "I had a lot of ups and downs on the bike but didn't overextend myself because I knew the run was going to be tough," Erlank said. "Melanie went up by two minutes on me during the bike but I was able to pass her just a little past half-way through the run," Erlank said. "It's a great run because there's a lot of fun stuff that takes your mind off how much you're hurting, plus I practiced the rock jump part this year and had a really good line." Erlank's 44:12 run split was the day's fastest among the women, and she and McQuaid were the only women to go under 1:30 on the challenging course. To learn more, visit http://www.xterraplanet.com. (RESULTS) --- Kenny Souza released from USAT jail June 4, 2002, Colorado Springs, Colorado (First reported in TriBiz Reader) In a pair of resolutions passed by USAT's board of directors over the weekend, the penalty for racing without the appropriate USAT license has been resolved not to exceed one year, and Kenny Souza's 3-year sentence for this infraction has been reduced to "time served." Souza's (infrequent) racing during the late 1990s occured without his having bought a pro license, and when this became known to USAT it suspended him from racing for three years. Board members Erik Schwartz and Jim Girand vigorously pushed for a reduction in his sentence, and one board member called the penalty originally handed down to Souza a "gross distortion." Prior to this past weekend's resolution the penalty for the infraction had never been fixed. The resolutions, which hold for all competitors, not just elites, were passed unanimously. ----- Euros find Ralph's California Half-IM a bargain May 20, 2002, Oceanside, California Ralphs is a supermarket chain popular in the Southwest for its good values, and European racers found racing in the Ralphs California Half-IM a good value on Sunday. In the pro race Denmark's Tobjorn Sindballe and Germany's Katja Schumacher won in drizzly and cold conditions. Sindballe, who ran a 1:12 half-marathon on top of a 2:08 bike ride and 23:52 swim to seal his victory, was elated at the finish line. He had not seriously considered himself a favorite in the race. He told Slowtwitch the day before the race that hot-weather racing—normal for San Diego this time of year—did not play to the strengths of the Danish racers. But a rare cold front made the race seem just like home. In second was Aussie Craig Alexander, who led for much of the run until Sindballe passed him with four miles to go. New Zealand's Peter Clode took third just two seconds behind Alexander, with American Tim DeBoom and Aussie Craig Walton sprinting for the finish line for fourth and fifth, respectively. Walton had his usual fast swim, exiting the water nearly two minutes clear of the other men, and held that lead on the bike until later in the ride, when Danville, California's Chris Lieto (who also rode very well at Wildflower two weeks earlier) and a group of chasers caught him in the final miles. Spotters said the lead men came into transition in a blur, with Walton making it out onto the run first, trailed by Alexander, Canadian Jasper Blake, American Steve Larsen and DeBoom. Alexander caught Walton in the opening miles of the run, then surrendered his lead to the surging Sindballe. In the women's race, newly crowned Wildflower champion Schumacher led from wire to wire, holding off Canadian Heather Fuhr's run charge in the closing miles of the half-marathon to come home in 4:18:44, nearly four minutes clear of Fuhr. It was the third win in a row for Schumacher, who also won Ironman Florida in November. Schumacher clocked 27:18 on the swim, 2:25 on the bike and 1:24 on the run on her way to the win. The course is familiar to Schumacher, who spends much of her year riding and running in San Diego's North County, often with friends Paula Newby-Fraser and unretired (after a 15-year layoff) Liz Vitai, who herself came home seventh. Schumacher came off the bike with American Amy Farrell in second and Fuhr in third. Fuhr was also happy with her performance, closing nicely on Schumacher during the run until the fleet-of-foot Canadian got a little close for comfort, causing the German to step on the gas. The women's race also saw a sprint to the finish between Americans Amy Farrell and Dolly Ginter, with Ginter edging out Farrell for third. Behind them, Canadians Lisa Bentley and Lori Bowden had been battling all day, with Bowden finishing fifth, 16 seconds clear of Bentley. More than 1,700 competitors started the race, which had 22 Kona slots on offer, another 125 to sold-out Ironman North America races and a pro purse of $25,000. (RESULTS) --- Macca, Schumacher power at Wildflower May 5, 2002, Lake San Antonio, California Aussie Chris McCormack defended his title Saturday at the Wildflower half-Ironman, finishing in 4:03:59, three minutes clear of fast-closing four-time champion Cameron Widoff of the U.S. Ironman Florida champion Katja Schumacher of Germany took out the women’s win with a come-from-behind victory on the run course over American Becky Gibbs. McCormack, who set the course record here last year in 4:00:12, was just a month out from his first Ironman win in Australia. He used his footspeed to run down the bike leaders and seal his win. Widoff, who spent about 2:30 in the “sin bin” for a bike penalty, ran a 1:15 half-marathon over the rugged run course, coming within a half-minute of his 1999 run course record of 1:14:34. American Steve Larsen, who rode through the field last year in his half-Ironman debut, posted the day’s second-fastest bike split behind American Chris Lieto but faded on the run to eighth place. Lieto held on during the run for fourth place. New Zealand’s Cameron Brown was fifth. Germany’s Jurgen Zack, who missed six weeks of training due to illness earlier this year, dropped out of the race in the early stages of the bike ride. At mile three of the run, course spotters had the top four as McCormack, Lieto, Larsen and a fast-closing Paul Amey of Great Britain. Widoff was further back and made up serious ground to close the gap to Macca. In the women’s race, Gibbs put a serious gap on the rest of the field out of the water with a 24:47 swim, and maintained her lead throughout the testing bike course with the second-fastest split of the day, a 2:43. But Schumacher was closing fast on the run and course spotters said she narrowed the gap on the last mile, a long and steep downhill back to the lakeshore, where she passed Gibbs for good. Canadian Heather Fuhr, fresh off of her second place at Ironman Australia, logged the day’s fastest run to move into fourth place ahead of countrywoman Donna Phelan. In fifth was American Gina Kehr. American Dean Harper, 49, the first-ever Wildflower winner in 1983, broke the five-hour barrier in his return to the race, finishing in 4:59. (RESULTS) ----- Wildflower getting ready to rumble May 1, 2002, Lake San Antonio, California Wildflower is celebrating 20 years this weekend at Lake San Antonio in California. The fun begins with the mountain bike sprint triathlon and the popular long-course race on Saturday, and winds up with an Olympic distance race on Sunday. Together, the races will draw more than 6,000 athletes and more than 27,000 spectators to a remote lake in Central California. More than 85 vendors are expected at an expo that is one of the country's biggest. The elite field for the half-Ironman on Saturday is a deep one, although it got slightly less so Monday with the announcement that two top contenders--Canada's Peter Reid and South Africa's Conrad Stoltz--wouldn't be starting. It was to have been Stoltz's debut at the half-IM distance, but U.S. immigration officials reportedly refused to allow him into the country when he arrived at Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport last week, Wildflower representatives said Monday. Stoltz's agent, Scott Fairchild, told race officials that Stoltz is back in South Africa and is very disappointed to miss the race. He hopes to solve the visa issue in time to race at the Escape from Alcatraz on June 16. Reid, meanwhile, informed race officials he wouldn't be starting because he doesn't feel fully prepared to race. While he won't be on the start line, he'll nonetheless be at the lake supporting wife Lori Bowden and meeting and greeting at the PowerBar booth. Reid has had a busy April: He ran the Boston Marathon a week after dropping out of Ironman Australia during the bike ride. He plans to toe the start line at the California Half-Ironman on May 19. There's a $40,000 prize purse on the line for pros at Wildflower, and of course bragging rights for those who conquer one of the toughest half-Ironman races in the world. The elite fields include: MEN: defending champ and course record holder Chris McCormack (AUS), Cameron Brown (NZL), four-time champ Cameron Widoff (USA), swim course record holder Craig Walton (AUS), Chris Legh (AUS), bike course record holder Steve Larsen (USA), Jurgen Zack (GER), Marc Lees (AUS), Chad Hawker (USA), Bjorn Andersson (SWE), Gordo Byrn (HKG), Fabio Carvalho (BRA), Erik Burgan (USA), Jonathan Toker (CAN), Kerry Classen (USA), Brian Lavelle (USA), Tim Sheeper (USA), Oscar Galindez (BRA), and Tim Luchinske (USA). WOMEN: five-time champ Paula Newby-Fraser (USA), course record holder Donna Peters (USA), two-time champ Heather Fuhr (USA), Jeanne Anne Krizman (USA), Wendy Ingraham (USA), Lori Bowden (CAN), Becky Gibbs (USA), Mary Uhl (USA), Alexis Waddel (USA), Jenny Tobin (USA), Jody Mielke (AUS), Erin McCarty (USA), Tara-Lee Marshall (NZL), Gina Kehr (USA), Michelle Deasy (USA), Teri Duthie (USA), Dolly Ginter (USA). Also set to start are Wildflower "legends" Dean Harper, Paul Huddle and Scott Tinley. We'll be covering Wildflower live from the lake starting Friday morning, so watch this space and Slowtwitch.com for frequent updates. The Wildflower website is here: http://www.tricalifornia.com. ---- Bentley, Schumacher join Ralph's California Half-IM March 18, 2002, Oceanside, California Canada's Lisa Bentley and Germany's Katja Schumacher have signed on to race at the Ralph's California Half-Ironman in May, Ironman North America spokesman Shane Facteau said. Two-time Ironman New Zealand champ Bentley, returning to form after a hip injury brought an early end to her race in Kona last October, has already logged a win at the half-IM distance in Pucon, Chile earlier this year. Schumacher took a win at Ironman Florida in November and took the top prize at Ironman Europe (Roth, Germany) in 1998. The race, with 20 Kona slots and 100 slots to other qualifying Ironman North America races on offer, is May 19 in Oceanside, Calif. It's got a $25,000 prize purse. The race website is here. ---- Helicopter crash claims Camp Pendleton triathlete February 18, 2002, Camp Pendleton, California A training accident claimed the lives of two U.S. Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. Two more were injured in Thursday's crash of a UH-1N Huey helicopter in the Chocolate Mountains, according to newspaper reports. Killed were the pilot, Capt. Theodore S. Treadwell, 29, of Phoenix, Ariz., and the crew chief, Staff Sgt. Roderick D. Nesmith, 30, of Cortez, Colo., according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Nesmith, a popular and well-known veteran of Ironman competitions and a member of the Camp Pendleton Triathlon Team, leaves behind a wife and five young children. The story, in Saturday's newspaper, is here: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/ sat/metro/news_1mi16twodead.html. The crew was slated to begin a six-month deployment in the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf this summer, according to the newspaper. Nesmith's wife, Jennifer, told the newspaper that her husband delivered valentines to his daughters at school on Valentine's Day. "He told them how proud he was of them in front of the class, how much he loved them," Jennifer Nesmith said. "It's a good memory to have." The outpouring of grief in the Southern California triathlon community was immediate, with a message board on the Ironman California website full of messages of sorrow and sympathy and memories of Nesmith as a training partner and friend. Tributes can be found here: http://www.wi.ca/imcal/comments/. ----- "Harry Potter Triathlon" opens online registration February 13, 2002, Penryn, Pennsylvania Online registration has opened for the Lancaster (Pa.) Family YMCA Triathlon, one of the oldest continuously running triathlons in the world. The race made headlines around the world last month when the Penn Township police-fire, a group of eight volunteers who helped with traffic control during the race, voted unanimously to withhold that help this year because the YMCA reads Harry Potter books to youngsters after school. The police-fire volunteers believe the books promote witchcraft. The township's police-fire is made up of volunteers whose sole job is to direct traffic in emergencies or at special events. Organizers will have to look to other agencies or volunteers for help. The Olympic-distance race, set for September 7, is the 20th annual this year and is therefore one of the oldest continuously run triathlons in the world. The race has a capacity of 1,000 yet has between 400 and 650 entrants each year. Entry fees are $55. Here's the link. If you have other questions, you can reach race director Jeff Kenderdine at jdendymca@dejazzd.com. ----- Competitor Magazine Endurance Sports Awards on Saturday February 4, 2002, Solana Beach, California The tenth annual Competitor Magazine Endurance Sports Awards Banquet will be Saturday, February 9 in La Jolla, California. The banquet, which will take place at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, will include current Ironman champion Tim DeBoom and former Ironman champions Dave Scott, Mark Allen, Kathleen McCartney, Luc Van Lierde, Heather Fuhr, Paula Newby-Fraser, John Howard, and Scott Tinley. Competitor Magazine's Bob Babbitt said the honorees next Friday will include: Triathlon Legends: Kathleen McCartney and Julie Moss. "Their classic Ironman duel and Julie's dramatic finish on February 6, 1982 helped put the sport of triathlon on the map," he said. "This is the 20th anniversary of that amazing race." Race Director of the Year: Tri-California's Terry Davis Runner of the Year: Milena Glusac Running Legend: 'Buffalo Bill' McDermott, the 13-time winner of the Catalina Marathon Competitor of the Year: Tim DeBoom Triathlete Magazine's Short Distance Triathletes of the Year: Siri Lindley and Chris McCormack Rookie of the Year: Steve Larsen Triathlete Magazine Hall of Fame: Mark Allen Challenged Athlete of the Year: 'One Arm Willie' Stewart. "He has run a 2:43 marathon at Rock 'n' Roll, a 10:45 at Ironman Brazil, plus a tenth-place team finish at Expedition British Virgin Islands," Babbitt said. Adventure Racer of the Year: Mike Kloser USA Triathlon's age-group athletes of the year also will be honored. ----- Penryn's race a "cult" classic in more ways than one January 24, 2002, Penryn, Pennsylvania Today's TriBiz Reader contained the following interview. Just past it is an addendum from the Lancaster Family YMCA Triathlon's promoter. (Regarding the wire story referenced below, it can be found here). TriBiz Reader publisher Dan Empfield interviewed Tom Ernharth, township manager for Penn Township, in which Penryn, Pennsylvania sits. Penn Township consists of about 7000 residents, and Penryn makes up roughly a fourth of that total. "Long story short," said Tinley, "here's a guy who came in the early days of triathlon and basically did the smooth-talking used-car sales bit, and sold everybody, including Eunice Shriver and the Special Olympics, the Bahamian government, myself and Jim Curl, a bill of goods and left us all holding the bag. In the meantime it was detrimental to the sport because we were young, corporations caught wind of this fiasco, and it made them gun-shy of this group of wild and renegade athletes." The Bahamas race was not a sore memory for all who attended, however. "I had so much fun at that race I never wanted to find out what my diamonds were worth," said Murphy Reinschrieber. "It was the Wild West. The whole thing was crazy from beginning to end. The race itself was a good production, technically. He had a whole lot of Hollywood stars down there. I was sitting at the awards ceremony with Tinley and Linda Blair. Next to me was another woman who had these gloves up to mid-bicep. I asked her who she was and she said, 'I'm a celebrity.'" "Jim Curl got thrown in jail," continued Reinschrieber. Curl was the one Portner hired to direct the event. "There was a group of athletes who spent the weekend running up a hotel tab. Nobody paid the bill. Curl got on the plane to leave the Bahamas and the police pulled him back off. He was eventually able to convince the authorities that he was simply the hired race director, and not the party responsible for payment. Later somebody made a T-shirt with a picture of Curl behind bars."
"Effectively utilize USA Triathlon resources." What does that mean? Perhaps more insightful than his campaign platform is his unorthodox and very rare energy in grasping for what he wants. That may be his biggest asset in this election. -----
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