6:30 AM: Today's the day. The first realistically viable alternative to 140.6 takes flight in 30 minutes, and we'll see if Triathlon One-O-One can execute. Of course we'll be watching the pro race, and a dandy field it is. On the men's side, the favorite is Marino Vanhoenacker, who came off a 6th place in the most Ironman Hawaii to finish third a month later in the ITU Long Course Worlds, held at roughly the One-O-One distance.
6:33 AM: Florida has been good to Vanhoenacker. He won this state's Ironman in 2005, before winning in Austria in '06 on a gaudy 8:07. Marino is known for his run.
6:45 AM: The Belgian will be pushed, though, and some of those doing the pushing are specialists at this distance, like Swedish pro Jonas Colting, who wants to make it two-for-two for the "Swedish Doodes," His buddy Bjorn Andersson took Wildflower yesterday in probably the biggest win of his career. Like Vanhoenacker, Colting is a fierce runner, with a best of 1:47 for 30k in a triathlon of this distance.
6:56 AM: It's a calm day today, and probably not yet 70F. The swimmers are preparing to go, all 140 or so of them. A fourth of the field is pro, chasing the fifty-thou in prize money.
6:59 AM: Back to the men's pro field. David Thompson is likely to challenge for the early lead on the bike, along with Slowtwitcher Jordan Rapp. To the degree you like the way the forum here looks as of late, Rappstar is czar of forum functionality around here. He's also possibly czar of this bike course today. We will see.
7:00 AM: And they're not off! Yes, it's scheduled starting time, but they're still getting the swimmers out of the water, and we'll have to wait for the national anthem. Depending on the cadence of the singer, we're looking at 8 or 10 more minutes.
7:04 AM: Back to the men's field. Andrew Johns is not here, neither is his GF Lisbeth Kristensen. That means in the men's field we're left with almost exclusively long coursers. Among them is Petr Vabrousek, the flying Czech runner who never saw and ultra he didn't like, and like a squirrel stuffing acorns into his cheeks Petr tries to stuff as many long races into a season as he can.
7:08 AM: National anthem was dispatched with pace, they're ready to go. The swim will be three loops, not two, due to lower than expected water levels. The temperature is actually warmer than it feels, just cracking 80F, not the 70F we thought it was.
7:10 AM: And they're off... really! Nobody's wearing wetsuits today, and this was a point of issue yesterday. The water was certainly too warm for pros, but what of AGers, who have a different temperature standard? Could it be that they would be allowed to wear wetsuits when pros could not, in a mass start race? But, we can dispense with that possibility. Supposedly there's an age-group swimmer, a female, who's blazing fast and may actually lead the swim.
7:14 AM: These three laps of the swim aren't your typical ITU-style laps, where swimmers exit the water and you can see who they are. The swim is conducted around a triangular-shaped course, swimmers never leaving the water. And frankly we can't identify the swim strokes of all these swimmers, knowing them by sight as we may have in a race full of SoCal pros with whom we typically swim in training. We know Jonas' stroke, because we swim with him a lot. Otherwise, we'll have to rely on some help from the crowd.
7:22 AM: The women's field is stacked. Of some controversy is Nina Kraft, one of the few who admitted taking a banned substance, and had her Kona title yanked for EPO use. She's here, along with long coursing expert Bella Comerford and former ITU specialist Leanda Cave. According to my recollection, Comerford is a Scot and Cave is Welsh. Comerford is sort of the women's version of Vabrousek in terms of durability. She has raced some back-to-back-to-back long stuff, a force and a factor almost every time she toes the line.
7:28 AM: One lap is done, in 12:20. Leading is that AGer we told you about, Ashley Carusone. She's trying to step up to pro on the back of this race. She has a 3 body length lead over the lead pack, though one male is attached to Ashley's feet. That lead pack is 5-strong, with Jonas Colting the 4th in line. Just behind Jonas is another female, who's finding the pace very hard and looks as if she may detach.
7:33 AM: That lap time would seem to indicate an accurately-marked course. Part of today's story will be the level of execution of this brand new race series, and we give them a B+ for being late but not too late on the race start, and provisionally a high grade for an accurate swim course.
7:35 AM: One might think that as a former short courser, Leanda Cave would be the gal in the chasing pack. But it seems not to be here, as the swimmer in question appears quite short and with a fast, choppy stroke.
7:39 AM: Kraft, Comerford and Cave are not the only horses in the women's race. Lori-Lynn Leach is yet another fine Canadian long course specialist. They'll all be pressed by Americans Karen Holloway and Hillary Biscay, and Czech Teresa Macel.
7:40 AM: Lap-2 of the swim is in the books. They've slowed a little, coming around in 25:15. Ashley Carusone is wearing out the field. She's a former U of Florida swimmer, and that's a fine Division I program. Her pop is a local race director. She's got two in tow, as someone from that chasing pack made the jump. It may have been the lone woman in that pack which, by the way, is no longer a pack. The field of chasers has exploded.
7:42 AM: Joe Bonness has come through lap-2 in just over 30 minutes. Joe is 50+, but may have one of the top-5 bike rides today, notwithstanding a pro field over more than 30. We've got a half-lap to go, and Carusone has decided she'd prefer to be alone. She's dispatched the hangers-on and is soloing to the swim course win. She recently outswam Hunter Kemper in a race, so we hear, if that gives some indication of her speed. It would be interesting to see her and Linda Gallo go stroke for stroke.
7:45 AM: Carusone can do more than swim. She is a former AG word champ, in 2001 in Edmonton. This is her longest-ever triathlon.
7:50 AM: More Carusone: she's an IM specialist, as well as a distance freestyler. She's sub-9min for 800m long course, and 16:36 for 1650y. She's also got some run credentials, from back in high school. She was a two-miler, Florida state champ, and 3rd in state in XC.
7:54 AM: Carusone first out, Leanda Cave second, Steven Bayliss third. Bayliss first out of transition.
7:56 AM: Nina Kraft is out with Jonas Colting. It was Kraft we recognized as the choppy stroker. Cave we didn't recognize as being a female -- she's larger than your typical long course women, and all the swim caps are the same color here.
7:57 AM: We think Aussie Paul Ambrose was also out fairly early.
8:00 AM: Recapping, it appears to be Bayliss, followed by Carusone and Cave. Ambrose appears the next man. Nina Kraft and Jonas Colting are out next. Then it's David Thompson, who'll probably challenge early on the bike. Then as follows:
David Thompson @3:10
Tereza Macel
Marino Vanhoenacker
Hillary Biscay
Jordan Rapp @4:05
Karen Holloway @4:15
Chris McDonald @4:20
Petr Vabrousek @4:25
Ted Aas @4:35
Manuel Barreiro @4:45
Zach Ruble @4:35
8:06 AM: We've got some Slowtwitchers here. The front group could and ought to include Jonas and Rappstar, with BIGZACH not far behind. In truth, Rappstar (Jordan Rapp) ought to make it to the front quickly, if David Thompson doesn't run away and hide. I don't think either Vanhoenacker, Vabrousek or Colting can ride with the Scarborough Kid.
8:12 AM: More in the Scarborough Kid (aka Rappstar). He spent some time up here at the compound after the non-start at Oceanside 70.3. Most of his base training has taken place in Flagstaff this Spring. He set our "mountain record" some weeks ago, only to have Bjorn break it by about a minute. Considering how Bjorn rode yesterday -- did he break the WF bike record? -- Rapp is in good form, one suspects.
8:15 AM: Halfway into the first of six laps on the bike course, Nathan Kortuem has gotten himself a lead. Kraft and Carusone are together in the women's race, but our spotter did not mention Cave -- another case of the Scot being mistaken for a male rider, because of her lack of small stature?
8:16 AM: Slowtwitch forumer "dre" writes yesterday, "Watch out for my friend Nate Kortuem. He lead Disney 70.3 last year from the start through mile 7 of the run and finished 5th. Rappster had a faster bike split by 1:21 and they were the only 2 under 2:10 that day." Apparently dre knew whereof he spoke.
8:19 AM: Yes, Kortuem entered the run first in the Clearwater 70.3 worlds. We're just down the road from that race, the same type of course, same conditions. It could be Kortuem wire-to-wire here as well, leading into the run.
8:21 AM: More Kortuem: This fellow is a world-class triathlete cyclist based on his Clearwater race. While this was a draftathon for many AGers, not so -- or less so -- for the pros. Off the bike it was Rapp @1:22, Richie Cunningham @3:38, Luke McKenzie @3:42, and Tim DeBoom @3:49.
8:21 AM: Monty reports as follows, after lap one of six on the bike:
Stephen Bayless
Paul Ambrose @:43
Nathan Kortuem @48
David Thompson @1:03
Jonas Colting @1:13
Marino Vanhoenacker @14:40
8:30 AM: Leanda Cave is first among women, with Kraft @1:30 or so, and Carusone :35 of Kraft, which is a damned good ride for the local AG gal so far.
8:32 AM: Of course this lead us to wonder whether our spotter earlier on missed both the men's and women's leaders. It's hard to imagine Bayless taking :45 out of Kortuem in 6mi. But, perhaps he did. Cave, yes, we figured her to be at or near the lead.
8:34 AM: Holloway, Macel, Biscay, in that order, all between 1min and 2min back of Carusone.
8:35 AM: Vanhoenacker shall hereinafter be referred to as MVH. Colting his playing it cagey, staying with the fellow whom is the projected winner -- or is MVH staying with him? These guys can stage a Dave & Mark style race, never straying 10 feet one from the other, until the end. Both are superb 30k runners. Colting says he's planning his peak to occur at the Clear Lake race, next month, but often racers are fitter earlier than they plan to be, or think they are.
8:40 AM: There's been a Bonness sighting. At this point, 15mi into the ride, Smokin' Joe's 14min off the first man. His strategy, going in, was to ride the first two-thirds of the bike like it's an Ironman, and then let it hang out a bit more. In front of Joe were Bella Comerford, 8min down on Leanda Cave, and Lori-Lynn Leach @10min from Cave.
8:45 AM: About 21mi in the race is starting to take shape. Stephen Bayliss is trying to run away with it on the bike -- as opposed to others later on, who'll try to ride away with it on the run. Bayliss is keeping his gap, the size of which we're not precisely sure but it seems to be between :45 and a minute. Behind him a group has formed, and it consists of Thompson, Ambrose, MVH, Colting and Kortuem, in that order.
8:45 AM: That's a predictable group, with the one missing ingredient being Jordan Rapp. It is likely we won't know of Rapp's whereabouts until they pass our next spotter a few miles hence.
8:52 AM: Aussie Paul Ambrose, we are informed, has turned in some impressive recent results, including 4th in the Aussie Long Course Champs. He seems to be a 70.3 specialist, based on his race schedule over the recent Southern Hemisphere season.
8:54 AM: Women at 21mi: Cave, then Kraft @2:20, Carusone @3:30, Holloway @4min, Macel @5min, Biscay @5:20.
8:57 AM: Big change in the men's race! David Thompson put the hammer down, and bridged to Stephen Bayliss. They are riding side-by-side, and are some distance in front of a group of three, now, MVH, Colting and Ambrose. Nathan Korteum appears dropped from that group, about :25 in arrears.
8:59 AM: We're not even 30mi into this race and the fireworks are starting. Ted Aas was about 1:30 behind Korteum, Chris McDonald 1:50 back of Aas.
9:03 AM: We think there's something wrong with Rapp's race. He came in just in front of the male pros, that is, he's either catapulted into the lead, well off the front, or he's about to be lapped. That would indicate a flat, perhaps, but a long flat, as each lap takes about a half-hour.
9:05 AM: About those lap times. It appears that a good male pro lap takes about 31min. A very fast pro lap takes about 30min. David Thompson rode that second lap in 29:20, which explains how he hoisted himself to a share of the lead.
9:06 AM: Meanwhile, Leanda Cave just rode a 33:45 lap, compared to a 34:15 lap for Kraft. That places Cave in the lead by :40 over the German long courser, they're the first two.
9:10 AM: Carusone is the next woman, continuing to have a superb race. Macel and Biscay follow in that order.
9:11 AM: Bonness has come through just after Biscay. Joe has to pick up some of these women. As a fellow 50+ competitor, I urge Joe to be the first woman, at least.
9:11 AM: More changes in the men's race. David Thompson continues his scorching ride, and has shaken off Stephen Bayliss. MVH, meanwhile, has decided, apparently, that he needs to get rid of Colting prior to the run, or he needs to reel in a bit of Thompson's lead. Colting and Ambrose are together. At mile-34 we have it as follows:
Thompson
MVH @:45
Bayliss @1:00
Colting @1:20
Ambrose @1:20
9:20 AM: Course officials are saying Ashley Carusone has been struck by a car on the course -- apparently not seriously, but perhaps badly enough to cause her to have to exit the race. That would be a shame, it's always bad when cyclists and cars occupy the same space, but especially so considering the wonderful race she was having.
9:26 AM: Slowtwitcher Johnnyo asks about the sportsmanship on the bike course. There are 8 marshalls for a 13-mile loop, and for pros the 10-meter rule is in effect. For AGers, it's the normal USAT rule. This would be anathema to WTC, which runs its races on the basis of one set of rules for all athletes on the day. But the pros are fond of the ITU long course rules, specifically 10m, and that's what's in effect today. You can see the effect of a strictly-enforced large zone. There's a lot of fluidity among the lead male riders.
9:27 AM: MVH continues his charge! This Belgian does not waffle. At least when it comes to his effort on the bike. He's now only :10 behind David Thompson, and we have MVH riding that last lap in 29:25, very close to the scorching lap Thompson rode one lap ago. Here are the men halfway through the ride:
Thompson
MVH @:10
Ambrose
Colting
Bayliss, all at 1:40
Nathan Korteum @3:35
Ted Aas @3:45
9:33 AM: Women at 34mi, Leanda Cave has taken another chunk of time out of her competitors.
Cave
Kraft @3:00
Holloway @3:30
Macel @5:30
Biscay @6:30
9:37 AM: Also through among the men are Chris McDonald, Petr Vabrousek, and Manuel Barreiro.
9:38 AM: Cave has come through, and she's starting to pick off the pro men. She may be inside the top-10 overall.
9:39 AM: BIGZACH sighting! Slowtwitcher Zack Ruble is 12:10 on the lead, having a fine race, and not far from Vabrousek.
9:40 AM: Karen Holloway has caught Nina Kraft, they are riding together @3:15 from Cave.
9:41 AM: Smokin' Joe Bonness trails the lead man by about 16min, halfway through the bike ride.
9:43 AM: Macel and Biscay round out the women's top-5.
9:45 AM: Bella Comerford is still riding strong, and is in sixth. We'll try to get exact splits for the top-6 women over the next several minutes.
9:46 AM: We're 45 miles into this 80mi ride, and things continue to change in the men's race. MVH has caught Thompson, and they ride together. Ambrose has since split from the pack of 3 in which he was riding, and is along @2:38. Colting leads Bayless, but just, @3:00. Colting's friend and countryman Ted Aas is next, @4:24, and Nathan Korteum, who is doing well but not having the ride he had at Clearwater, is next @4:50.
9:53 AM: Jordan Rapp was apparently DQ'd. It happened early. It may be that he missed a buoy, or didn't have his helmet strapped in transition, something like that. It seems highly unlikely that a DQ happened on the bike. We're trying to get more info.
9:55 AM: We're entering lap-5 of 6 laps, and MVH and Thompson continue to share the lead.
9:58 AM: Paul Ambrose has slipped a bit, now 3:32 down. Colting continues to ride steady, but is still giving ground to the two leaders. He's @3:44. Bayliss' hard early pace is taking a toll, he's fallen off this group and is not 4:04 down. Catching some of the earlier leaders is Ted Aas, who is just :50 behind Bayliss. Then, 5:49 off the pace is Nathan Kortuem.
10:04 AM: Leanda Cave continues to lead the women's race, just 13 minutes behind the first man. Cave has committed to the entire 4-race Triathlon One-O-One series. Cave was a darling of the ITU circuit, but will probably not enjoy that status, eschewing the ITU's newly chosen distance of double-Olympic in favor of this distance, which was previously the ITU's long course distance, and is favored by almost all the long course athletes who traditionally patronize ITU Long Course Worlds.
10:05 AM: Behind Cave are Biscay and Kraft, who continue to ride together and continue to be about 3:00 down. This argues for Holloway emerging as perhaps the strongest rider into this second half of the course. Macel is @6:20, Biscay @8:00.
10:10 AM: The weather is perfect today, at least for the bike course. No clouds, no wind, not much heat. But this is just the sort of day that might turn brutal on the run, as the lack of clouds spells heat, and the lack of breeze means... heat. Slowtwitcher HH asks for some sort of commentary on the scenery. Do I see cows he wants to know. I do not see any cows. But then I'm indoor working at a computer.
10:14 AM: Joe Bonness is now 2nd woman. Go Joe!
10:16 AM: Cave leads, and the gap to Kraft and Holloway is 3:06, very close to what it has been for several miles.
10:17 AM: Thompson has dispatched MVH! After the hard charge by the Belgian, Thompson has opened his own can o' ass whup and has a whopping 1:40 gap! Ambrose and Colting are now 4:00 down. Aas is ahead of Bayliss.
10:20 AM: Monty reports no cows. But he does see a lot of trees, and at the moment he's standing in the middle of a culturally cool old-style downtown district, through which the course travels.
10:21 AM: Four laps into the 6-lap course, Cave leads by 3:06 over Kraft and Holloway. She's 7:06 ahead of Macel, 8:10 up on Biscay, and about 9:30 ahead of Comerford.
10:24 AM: The Jordan Rapp story. He took a wrong turn. There is zero drafting on this course, Monty reports, and in Rapp's case it appears he was just all alone when he made a wrong turn and reentered the lap cutting 5k off its total circuit. When we spotted him in front, or a lap behind -- we did not know which -- it was as a result of the wrong turn placing him in front of the leaders.
10:28 AM: With a lap to go, Thompson continues to ride alone in front. MVH is now 1:47 down. Did he make a tactical error in riding up to Thompson? We'll see what happens on this last lap.
10:31 AM: The race is blowing apart. Colting has come through alone, and Ambrose is nowhere in sight. Even Colting appears to be suffering a bit, based simply on time gaps. He's 6:47 down on Thompson, and 5:00 back of MVH.
10:31 AM: Ted Aas is charging hard, coming through next only 1:18 behind his countryman Colting! Kortuem is just :15 behind Aas, and Bayliss trails Kortuem by :19 more. No Ambrose. He either got a penalty, a flat, or pulled the plug.
10:37 AM: Cave, with a lap and a half to go in the bike ride, is still leading but, as opposed to David Thompson, is not crushing the competition. Karen Holloway remains just 3:10 back. But, finally Holloway has dispatched Kraft, who is a further :32 back. Macel and Biscay are 8 and 9min back respectively.
10:38 AM: Not a drop of wind, says Monty, and one assumes not a drop -- or dropping -- of cow either. Next through with a lap to go are Chris McDonald, then Barreiro and Vabrousek together.
10:38 AM: Our own BIGZACH just came through, one lap to go, 3:40 beind Vabrousek.
10:44 AM: Thompson continues to stretch it out. With about 5 miles left to go in the bike ride, he's extended his lead over MVH to 3min.
10:45 AM: Bonness appears to have executed his plan. He's now first woman, so to speak, about a half-minute up on Leanda Cave. Bonness is also now possibly in the top-10 overall, or close to it.
10:49 AM: Leanda Cave has inched her lead to 3:16 over Karen Holloway. The latter is now :54 ahead of Nina Kraft. These are the women who are now on the final lap of the bike course.
10:49 AM: David Thompson is about to dismount his bike, after 80 hard miles of riding -- harder yet for those behind him. We're awaiting a split to second place and thereafter.
10:58 AM: MVH has given up 4:10 to Thompson going into the run. That's another minute over 5 miles. Either MVH has hit the wall, or Thompson decided to dot the 'i' on his bike leg. And Thompson can run. In his first professional win at the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon his third fastest run of the day -- a 34:28 -- was actually his second run of the day. The race became a rain-altered duathlon.
11:02 AM: Paul Ambrose enters transition next, 4:34 behind MVH. Then Swedish 6-hour specialist Jonas Colting enters the run, and remember he was exactly 5min back of MVH just 5 miles ago, and ahead of Ambrose by upwards of a minute. So, either Colting and Ambrose had significant turns in their fortunes, or our spotter dislexyfied on us.
11:02 AM: So, to recap, Thompson leads. MVH is 4:10 back, and then Ambrose another 4:34 back. As the men enter the run, further in arrears, it's Colting, Aas, and Korteum, all within about 15sec of each other.
11:12 AM: Paul Ambrose, in third place and within 600 seconds of the lead, is a bright spot on the Aussie horizon. He's only 23 years old.
11:15 AM: More Ambrose: Is his posse watching live? I reckon it's the middle of the night back home.
11:19 AM: Out on the run course we missed Thompson. Just flat-out missed him. Rookie error on our part. As for the rest, MVR is in second and is up on Ambrose, who's in 3rd. Then it's Nate Kortuem @5:30, then Colting and his buddy Aas @6min exactly. Stephen Bayliss is 6:30 back.
11:26 AM: Leanda Cave is out on the run. We'll see if we can get some splits back to her chasers.
11:29 AM: Holloway is 2:50 back entering the run. We don't know if she made that up on the ride, or in transition. She is not the runner Cave is. But bonking is bonking, and when you bonk you're not the runner you... are. So there's always a chance.
11:32 AM: We have a split from Thompson to MVH, and at 3mi into the run the gap is a whopping 7:06!. Colting has dropped due to the heat. Meanwhile, near the end of the top-10 we have McDonald, Barreiro, and Vabrousek, and about 2:30 behind him is BIGZACH, aka Zach Ruble, who's "knocking on money's door," according to Monty.
11:35 AM: Colting, "Burned up in the heat," according to Monty.
11:40 AM: Leanda Cave, is stretching out her lead. Holloway is exactly 5min down, 5k into the run. Kraft is 6:15 down, but Monty says she looks the best of the three. Cave is a former ITU World Champion at the Olympic distance. But she gets no support from the British federation (BTA), and is bitter about that, reminiscent of Michellie Jones and the Aussie federation.
11:44 AM: Thompson continues to stretch the elastic. At 10k into the run it's 8:15 he has over MVH. Remember, this is no marathon. At 10k you're a third of the way through. Though anything can happen, it's looking good for bikers to take this race, and that's atypical of ultras.
11:47 AM: Back to Cave. She's coached by Chris Hauth in the Bay Area where she's been headquartered, and co-coached by Hauth's partner Torsten Abel.
11:49 AM: The men's race is tightening --- not at the front, but everywhere else. MVH's lead over 3rd is now 2:45, and 4th is just :10 back of that. Third and fourth are Kortuem and Bayliss, but the latter is running very quickly and will soon take over 3rd. Just :30 back of Bayliss is Ambrose, with Ted Aas 1:20 further in arrears.
11:52 AM: It's a bit of a cooker out there, not appropriate for cold-weather-philes, like Colting. One assumes David Thompson has tropics physiology as he continues to keep the pedal to the floor. There are three laps to this run, making it good for spectators and for our spotters as well. We ought to be getting a second-lap split in just under 15min, we'll try to get a split somewhere out on the course prior to that.
11:58 AM: We have a 15k split. We were talking about cold-weather-philes? Perhaps add MVH to that list. He's now 9:45 down on Thompson. Here's how the race shapes up:
Thompson
MVH @9:45
Bayliss @10:50
Kortuem @11:00
12:02 PM: Fifth and sixth are Ambrose and Aas, at 12:15 and 13:40 respectively.
12:03 PM: Bayliss is now closer to MVH than Kortuem is to him. The pass is imminent.
12:03 PM: As of this moment, Cave leads, but Kraft has gotten into 2nd. The gap is 6:50. Holloway is in third, 9:15 down. While the Scot's name has not been heard by this reporter in a while, one suspects a Comerford sighting in short order.
12:15 PM: At exactly 10k the race stands as follows:
Leanda Cave
Nina Kraft @7:10
Karen Holloway @9:45
12:18 PM: The men are at 20k, that is, they are preparing to lap the women. David Thompson came through at 5:04:00, and appears to be on pace for about a 5:40 finish time. He's, "downing salt tablets like they're Gummy Bears," sez Monty, and I'm reminded of a recent thread on that subject on our forum.
12:20 PM: I believe it was Jonnyo, who said he took 40 salt tablets during his IMAZ race, and finished in a fabulous 8:50. It's hard to argue with success.
12:27 PM: Men at 20k:
David Thompson 5:04:00
Bayliss @10:10
Kortuem @11:10
Ambrose @12:20
So where is MVH? He may have abbreviated his race, as I abbreviated his name.
12:30 PM: We've found MVH. He's 14:15 down, and hanging onto 5th, so, still a good money spot. Ted Aas is next, exactly 2min behind MVH, but not really looking appreciably better than the man in front of him. It's hot. The Bradenton Shuffle. They are not seeing any cows. But they might be seeing Elvis.
12:41 PM: The men's leader, David Thompson, is not far from closing out his biggest race and biggest win. As one reflects on the time he'll post, about five and three-quarters hours, it's apparent why the pros like this distance. It takes about the same time as the MOPer needs to complete a half, and puts about that much stress on a professional athlete's body. The women take a bit longer to do their race, perhaps 6:15. This is the kind of race an ultra athlete can compete in as often as monthly. Contrast that to an Ironman, where two a year is a lot, and a half-IM, where sprinters typically suck up the prize money. For a lot of pros, this is the distance around which to build a season.
12:49 PM: Leanda Cave went through 20k in 5:37:00. She looks good. Meanwhile, a lot of people who normally run through aid stations are walking through them, like Bella Comerford, who I'd have thought was a lock for the top-3.
12:55 PM: David Thompson has just breezed to the biggest win of his career, by far. One guesses he'll give the fledgling race good word of mouth. Nina Kraft has just passed 20k in the same time. She's right at 8min behind Cave.
1:01 PM: Thompson's winning time was 5:45:40. That's quick for a 3k/130k/30k course. Of course it was flat, but still, that's a fast time.
1:02 PM: Holloway at 20k came through at 5:51:13 of elapsed race time. Hillary Biscay is just :32 behind her. It's great to be a great runner. It sucks to be a good runner amongst otherwise great ones.
1:04 PM: More on Ashley Carusone's crash. She suffered a broken jaw, but is out of the hospital with a wired jaw, and strolling around the finish area. The person who ran the intersection -- whose car she T-boned -- is described by several people we've spoken to as an elderly, deaf male who was stopped at the intersection but proceeded nonetheless. Hence my view that a controlled intersection is anything but.
1:07 PM: Stephen Bayliss, of Great Britain, crosses in second place with an elapsed time of 5:54:40. Nice race, Stephen.
1:09 PM: Nathan Kortuem, third in 5:56:59.
1:10 PM: Joe Bonness, meanwhile, has enjoyed the bike leg more than the run leg. He went from 5th woman to 1st woman back to 5th woman. I'm reminded of Republican presidential almost-candidate Fred Thompson's quote: "I chased a lot of women. And a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me." But, can Fred do all that inside of 7 hours? Joe Bonness for president!
1:11 PM: At 5:59:50, Aussie Paul Ambrose ducks under the 6hr barrier for 4th. How many sub-24 year olds have gone sub-6 for this distance? Not many. Good race, Paul!
1:18 PM: At 7k to go Hillary Biscay has done what has seemed the inevitable, and passed Karen Holloway for third. It appears Bella Comerford has somehow struggled her way into 5th.
1:20 PM: In a show of courage, MVH crossed in 5th, in 6:03:30. At 6:06:15 was new, official, Swedish Doode Ted Aas, with a very good race.
1:21 PM: It is not entirely outside the realm of possibility that Zack Ruble -- BIGZACH -- may come next. There's one more place in the money. But he'd have to have climbed over Barreiro and Vabrousek to do so. The latter is typically a very steady runner.
1:29 PM: David Thompson snippets: "It was a great race.... I don't ride with a computer or a watch... Attacked the last lap and a half, rode in a 53x12 the whole way, excluding turns... Because of all the U-turns on the run, I ran defensively the whole way... Biggest win I've ever had... Yes, I'm going to Clear Lake."
1:30 PM: BIGZACH comes in a very good 9th, just behind Czech star Petr Vabrousek. Floridian Manuel Barreira would've been 7th, and last money, though we did not catch his finish (we were interviewing Thompson at the time -- David, not Fred the woman chaser).
1:34 PM: Leanda Cave arrives in 6:23:35, like Thompson an easy, breezy victory.
1:37 PM: Okay, we've got the male finishers wrong. We think it went like this:
1. David Thompson
2. Stephen Bayliss
3. Nathan Kortuem
4. Paul Ambrose
5. Marino Vanhoenacker
6. Chris McDonald
7. Ted Aas
8. Petr Vabrousek
9. Zack Ruble
But we think Manuel Barreira ought to be in there somewhere, barring a meltdown. We'll try to get confirmation on the top-10.
1:44 PM: Leanda Cave, sez Monty, loved the race, kept her heart rate at 150 and 155 beats per minute most of the way -- she has a high of about 180. Monty reiterated the bit of heartburn prodding her forward over both the BTA's lack of support for its former world champion, and also for a drafting penalty at Oceanside 70.3 some weeks ago, given while she was 25m behind the rider in front. It appears she was intent on demonstrating in this race a lack of any need for her to draft.
1:49 PM: Nina Kraft crossed the line a few minutes ago in 2nd place. She was pretty fresh, so Monty interviewed her right afterward. He reports from Nina: Loved the race, very hot, had to push it the whole way, loved the turnaround concept, because you know where you stand the whole time.
1:51 PM: Hillary Biscay crossed in third. So, unofficially, we have it as:
1. Leanda Cave (GBR) 6:23:35
2. Nina Kraft (GER) 6:31:40
3. Hillary Biscay (USA) 6:38:35
1:54 PM: More Nina: She's not doing Clear Lake, and is doing Ironman Brazil instead. But that might be her last Ironman. "I'm getting told old to do Ironman," she said, adding, "This distance is more interesting."
1:55 PM: Karen Holloway comes across in 4th, in 6:42:15.
1:59 PM: While we're talking about results, let's do some bookkeeping. St. Croix, contested today just a puddle jump away, went like this:
1. Craig Alexander 4:04:52
2. Richie Cunningham 4:08:56
3. Chris Mccormick 4:09:51
4. Marcus Ornellas 4:10:00
5. Frederik Van Lierde 4:11:14
1. Julie Dibens 4:29:11
2. Catriona Morrison 4:33:09
3. Samantha Mcglone 4:39:52
4. Abi Bailey 4:45:30
5. Desiree Ficker 4:46:43
2:01 PM: Bella Comerford toughs it out to finish up in 5th, in 6:49:46.
2:03 PM: It appears toughs-it-out was an understatement. Comerford collapsed in a heap at the finish, and it's taking several people to carry her off to wherever it is they carry them here.
2:09PM: Okay, this race is largely over, as regards the sort of coverage we do. As noted early this morning, however, there were two things on which we intended to report: the pro event as a competition, and then the quality of the race itself. We'll get to the latter question in a minute.
2:10PM: Lori-Lynn Leach was the next woman, 6th we think, in 6:56:35. Just behind was Joe Bonness, in 6:56:45.
2:12PM: As to the event. The look is big, the food yesterday and today great. Add 1500 people and you definitely have a big event. There were ambitious and bold attempts at new technologies, like a big jumbotron that posted the names of those crossing a line after each lap. But, like Ironmanlive's early attempts at its online coverage, the jumbotron didn't work very well. There are certainly kinks to work out of the system.
Likewise, there were course issues. There was one aid station for each lap on the bike. That's one station for every 13 miles. While that would work at a race like Wildflower, it worked less well here, because of the heat and humidity. Also, there were traffic issues revolving around the road closures, with impatient drivers shooting across the road, and a few near misses with cyclists -- in addition to the one direct hit. In one sense, it was a blessing in disguise this race wasn't much bigger. I would say that Bradenton and its surrounding communities either must come to love and embrace this race, and grant it a bike course, or there cannot be a Triathlon One-O-One in Bradenton next year.
But these are individual course issues, not anything that speaks to an endemic organizational problem. Yes, race organizers should've passed on Bradenton altogether as some -- ahem -- counseled them. Lesson learned (we trust).
2:17PM: Joe Bonness: "I put the pedal to the metal on the bike, probably I went out too hard. I generally don't get through all the pro women... All the races in Florida feel the same, regardless of distance, they're flat, hot, hard."
2:22PM: Lori-Lynn Leach: "It felt like an Ironman. You just go that extra bit of pace, you get to the Ironman feel quicker. But then it's done quicker. Yes, there were some impatient drivers out there. But I thought the police did a remarkably good job."
2:23PM: More women finishers: Gabriela Loskotova in 7:10:05, and Sylvie Dansereau in 7:11:55.
2:27PM: Back to the race: Clear Lake is more the model for a race like this. These events should not be in cities, nor on flat roads, and that means Bradenton and Clearwater. You can certainly put races in these venues, but their not optimized for it. Best is a smallish, moderately hilly and scenic vacation community, out in the country, with some sleeping rooms and restaurants, but lots of open rural roads. Clear Lake is like that, and I suspect the next Triathlon One-O-One is going to have that Penticton or Couer d'Alene feel. It's no accident that events are in those two towns, plus Lake Placid. These towns fit the model. Bradenton does not fit the model. It's probably a good triathlon town, but more well-suited for a sprint.
2:31PM: So that's the negative, and assuming the bills get paid and the results get out, there was plenty of good. In particular, the distance was quite right for a lot of the athletes, especially the pro athletes, which find this, simply put, the shortest distance at which an ultra athlete can and will still win. This allows the long courser a season of races at which he can compete, instead of one or two races at which he's competitive, along with a bunch of others where he'll get his arse handed to him. Also a big plus, among athletes polled, was the hub-and-spoke concept in the run, with several out-and-backs, so you can see the race and know how you're doing.
2:45PM: Of course I look through these things from the prism of one who's seen a lot of races rise and fall. Before I did the Hawaiian Ironman perhaps 100 people in total had the right to call themselves finishers, which is another way of saying that the Ironman collected a grand total of fewer finishers in its first three years than this race did in its first edition. It takes time for things to grow, and to get things right. When building the brand, it's more about personal resolve than bank, or contacts, or sponsors. Against that backdrop, I'm looking forward to Clear Lake, barely more than a month from now.
2:48PM: And that's where you'll see us next, at Clear Lake, California, where there will be cows adjacent to the course, and we will report on that fact. That's five weeks from now, on June 10th. In the interim, let us repair to the Slowtwitch forum, where we can dissect the good, the bad, and the irrelevant, as only our beloved forum can do. Goodbye from Bradenton, Florida, Clear Lake here we come.
VISIT THE FORUM TO DISCUSS THE RACE
