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21-year old Canadian Paula Findlay sprinted away from Olympians Nicola Spirig, Helen Jenkins and Andrea Hewitt to win round 5 of the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series in London's Hyde Park on Saturday. The competitors racing in London only had a week of recovery since the last WCS event in Hamburg, Germany but will now have three weeks before heading to Kitzbühel, Austria for the penultimate stage of the Series on August 14-15.



All images are © Eric Wynn of ericwynn.org

The 13th annual crusade against Euros wearing Speedos in Kona town during Ironman was led by Dr. Frankensteins of the run - Paul Huddle and Roch Frey

What more is to be said about this abomination? No captions necessary.

Related galleries
Kona 2010 - a Wednesday gallery
Kona 2010 - a Tuesday afternoon gallery
Kona 2010 - a Tuesday morning gallery

All images are © Timothy Carlson / slowtwitch.com

Bevan Docherty and Lisa Norden grabbed the wins at the 2010 Kaiser Permanente LA Triathlon and slowtwitch.com has a gallery courtesy of Eric Wynn.

All images are © Eric Wynn of EricWynn.org

The 2010 Lifetime Fitness Triathon is in the books and Matty Reed and Sarah Haskins became repeat winners. Both athletes walked away with a $20,000 check and also helped their cause in the Race To The Toyota Cup. Reed currently leads the men's category, while Haskins is now third among the women behind Mary Beth Ellis.

Photographer Eric Wynn captured images at the Pro race, the expo and the age group event.


All images are © Eric Wynn of ericwynn.org

When a party attracts the likes of Rasmus Henning and wife Anita, Dirk Bockel and his wife, Martin Jensen, Scott Neyedli, Bryan Rhodes, Mathias Hecht and Nicole Hofer, Dan Hugo, Sebastian Kienle plus industry movers and shakers and opinionated Slowtwitch Forum contributors, they must be doing something right. A good time was had by all attendees.

Related galleries
Kona 2010 - the underpants run
Kona 2010 - a Wednesday gallery
Kona 2010 - a Tuesday afternoon gallery
Kona 2010 - a Tuesday morning gallery

All images are © Timothy Carlson / slowtwitch.com

Two-time defending champion Andy Potts led from start to finish on his way to win the 2010 Ironman 70.3 Timberman. Chrissie Wellington also never trailed in this triathlon and took the title for the third time in as many attempts, just as Andy Potts had done. Plus the 3-time Ironman World Champion finished 10th overall.

All images are © Eric Wynn of EricWynn.org

In this gallery from the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary we mostly have U23 athletes, but a few age groupers made it too.

Related gallery
2010 male Elite World Championship gallery

All images are © Herbert Krabel

Steamy hot and humid air, 83-degrees plus temps in the tea dark Black Warrior River, and the inspiring statues of legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coaches like Bear Bryant and Wallace Wade lent an atmosphere of athletic greatness to the USA Triathlon Age Group nationals in Tuscaloosa on September 25.

Kaleb Vanort and Mandy McLane won overall at the USAT age group nationals at the Olympic distance in Tuscaloosa, and 1,312 others pushed hard in the heat.

All photographs © Timothy Carlson

The water in the Black Warrior River was 83 degrees – and that was the coolest part of a sizzling, jungle steamy day third day of autumn in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. When the tumult and the shouting were over on September 25, Aussie interloper Brendan Sexton won the men’s overall, Jarrod Shoemaker had to be satisfied with second place overall and his first USA Triathlon Elite men’s crown, and Laura Bennett thought that her second USAT Elite Women’s crown was just the right landmark on her way to the 2012 London Olympics.

Titles come and go, but likely no one will forget the heat that left many great athletes on the verge of unconsciousness and several needing ice baths to reduce dangerously high core temperatures.

All photographs © Timothy Carlson

This weekend USA Triathlon celebrated the second class of its Hall of Fame at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. A fine time was had by all as the incomparable 8-time Ironman Hawaii champion Paula Newby-Fraser and former ITU World Number One Barb Lindquist, plus pioneer USTS race organizers Carl Thomas and Jim Curl and legendary Ironman Hawaii race director Valerie Silk were inducted. While Silk, who was universally regarded as the gracious angel who took over guardianship of the Ironman from John and Judy Collins, is caring for her ailing parents in Florida and could not make it, Ironman announcer Mike Reilly gave Silk a stirring tribute. Notables included Mark Allen, who was in town to give a seminar to USA Triathlon members about Ironman training, Paul Huddle, there to cheer on wife Newby-Fraser, emcee Barry Siff, Competitor publisher Bob Babbitt, there to introduce Newby-Fraser, and Loren Lindquist, Lindquist’s coach, husband and co-parent of two rambunctious 3-year-old twins.

All photos © Timothy Carlson

Approximately 100 of these 384 sprint competitors on Sunday were doubling their fun after finishing the Olympic distance race Saturday. Others were relative newcomers, in the process of working their way up to Olympic distance some day.

But what everybody got after the burning heat and soggy humidity of Saturday’s Olympic distance race was a grateful change in the weather to a cool, wet morning. And, thankfully, the brief lightning storm came after the swim and quit before the race had to be delayed or canceled.

When it was over, 25-year-old Patrick Parish of Circle Pines, Minnesota broke the 1-hour barrier and 17-year-old Katie June of Roswell Georgia finished in 1:06:44 to take took home top overall honors.

All photographs © by Timothy Carlson

Former USA Triathlon Presidents Rick Margiotta, the godfather of this Texas triathlon tradition, and Brad Davison, Margiotta's consiglieri, started the whole ball rolling in 1991. This Olympic distance classic is based in Lance Armstrong's back yard and takes over the streets of Texas's state capitol on Memorial Day for a sold out invasion by 3,000 age group triathletes. The race starts in Lady Bird Lake, named for the environmental pioneering wife of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Right out of transition, bikes cross the Congress Street Bridge, famed for the thousands of bats who take to the skies from its superstructure at dusk. It rolls up Congress Street to Austin's famed state capitol, winds through the city and along Town Lake, then winds up with a two lap run that ends at the foot of Austin's Convention and Performing Arts Center.

A year after an ITU race served as the centerpiece of the festivities, the Cap Tex Tri reverted to its age group roots. The elite wave was won by new pro Nathan White and Austin native Sienna Snyder. The key charity was the Wounded Warriors Project, and several wounded veterans joined the 3,000 age groupers celebrating Memorial Day with a joyous swim, bike and run on a sizzling hot Texas Monday.

All photos © Timothy Carlson

Copenhagen, the home of Sweyn Forkbeard, fabled storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, current ruler Queen Margrethe II and triathlon heroes Torbjorn Sindballe (retired) and Rasmus Henning (Ironman Hawaii contender), is one of Europe's most historic, charming and vibrantly modern cities. Sunday it will be the site of Challenge Copenhagen, one of the rarest of Ironman-distance venues, a triathlon racing past royal palaces, ancient cathedrals, and great examples of daring modern architecture, weaving past one of Europe's most fascinating mix of canals, cafes and elegant parks.

Once his plane landed, Slowtwitch correspondent Timothy Carlson hit the streets with his cameras and 24 hours later produced this photo gallery. The shame, he says, was the limit of 20 pictures. So what about the street artists, the children balancing on wooden wheels in the Tivoli, the pan flute player in the city square, the stirring Museum of the Danish World War 2 resistance, the ancient Portal of Helligansdskirken, the 5-foot-tall woman posing next to the 8-and-a-half foot tall statue of the world's tallest man outside the Guinness Museum? Not to forget the famous Little Mermaid statue currently on loan to a world exposition in China?

You'll have to travel to magical Copenhagen yourself one day.

All images © Timothy Carlson

The 2007 ITU World Champion Daniel Unger just returned from a 3.5 week training camp in South Africa and will spend the next two weeks in Southern Germany where he resides with his wife Tina and their 7 month old son Toni. The temperature change from the relatively warm conditions in Potchefstroom, South Africa to the snowy cold conditions in Swabia is quite drastic, but Unger enjoys being at home. After the training camp his workouts are a bit more mellow but he still has plenty on his schedule.

On Friday night is the opening of his new shop Daniel Unger Sports and although he is not completely involved in the daily activities there, he still has plenty to do. Plus meeting with sponsors, dealing with pesky media and more importantly spending time with family all has to be balanced with training and getting ready for the season. Slowtwitch followed Unger over a 24 hour period to see what the life of a World Champion in Germany is like.

All images are © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com

Related galleries

A day with Greg Bennett
A Timothy O'Donnell gallery

When it started, the Boulder 5430 Long Course was a red-headed stepchild to the classic, sold out Boulder Peak triathlon. The first year they tried a full Iron-distance race and entries were scarce. The first time organizers tried a half-Iron distance event, there were 250 entries. But with small but very elite fields and a gorgeous course, race directors Barry and Jodee Siff nursed the long course to an artistic and business success, culminated with a sold out field of 1,400, four World Champions in the elite field (Chrissie Wellington - Ironman, Joanna Zeiger Ironman 70.3, Julie Dibens - Xterra and Leon Griffin – 2006 ITU Duathlon short course), and two blazing fast course records (Tim O’Donnell’s 3:45:51 and Julie Dibens’ 4:10:58.) All on a mild, sunny day in triathlon’s Rocky Mountain Mecca. With the sale of their Boulder races to the World Triathlon Corporation, Barry and Jodee bid a sweet, well-done adieu to one of the sport’s great races.

August 15, 2010 -- There wasn't any doubt that Joe Gambles would be back on top of the podium soon, the only point of discussion along those lines was mostly when. The question has been answered now as he successfully defended his Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens title. For Melanie McQuaid racing this event was her 5th attempt on that distance and it proved to be the charm as the fast Canadian XTERRA Pro came away with the women's crown.




All images are courtesy and copyright Randy Sadler

Timothy O'Donnell and Catriona Morrison came away with great wins at the 2009 Ironman 70.3 St. Croix. Photographer Ramon Serrano captured great images of the event.


All images are ©Ramser1photo.com

We spent a day with German rising talent Sebastian Kienle while he was in the Freiburg area for a training block with his coach Lubos Bilek. Kienle actually lives in Karlsruhe, Germany, about 2.5 hours away from this scenic University town, but he spends quite a bit of time in Kirchzarten, just a few miles outside of Freiburg.

Kienle has caught the attention of industry insiders with some of his strong performances. In 2009 he won the Ironman 70.3 Wiesbaden race and held off 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert to get that done, and like a few other Germans he is well known for his cycling prowess. Most recently he cranked out a 4:14:42 bike split and a second place behind Rasmus Henning at the 2010 Challenge Roth triathlon. Next for the German will be the XTERRA World Championships in Maui, Hawaii, but prior to that race expect to see him in Kona for some scouting, training and cheering.

Slowtwitch followed the lanky German a whole day in Freiburg, and also added a couple pictures we snapped during his sighting at Eurobike.

All images are © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com

Related galleries
24 hours with Daniel Unger
A day with Greg Bennett
A Timothy O'Donnell gallery

Greg Bennett and wife Laura Bennett were riding high in 2007 when he scored a perfect 5-for5 wins in the Life Time Fitness Olympic distance series and won $500,000 in prize money and bonuses. That same year, Laura won $200,000 at the inaugural Hy-Vee triathlon and also took home a sponsor’s Hummer. Being intelligent, family-oriented types, they didn’t blow all their prize money on fancy clothes and buying drinks for all the swells in all the usual watering holes. Instead, they built a beautiful house in Boulder’s gorgeous Wonderland Lake area and went about their business.

In Laura’s case, that meant making her first Olympic team and making creative training choices to sidestep a malfunctioning leg and take home a top American 4th place at Beijing. In Greg’s case, that meant overcoming an early season slip to take his third straight Life Time Fitness series crown and beginning to build their coaching business, starting with a strong 8th place finish at Ironman Hawaii for budding Swiss star Matthias Hecht under Bennett’s direction.

In 2009, Laura has spent the better part of the year getting her pre-Beijing injuries in line. Greg himself was out of action with leg troubles until July when he opened up with a cautious third place at Minneapolis and took a strong win at New York in the second round of the Life Time Series. But Greg’s year took a turn for the worse when he got hit by a daydreaming driver just a mile from home after an exhilarating 55-mile training ride up Boulder’s mountains.

A busted nose, cut and bruises on his leg and a badly twisted shoulder put Bennett back on a long road to recovery. Five weeks after the hit, Bennett was able to swim and bike and run again, aided by an intense regimen of recovery.

Photo gallery by Timothy Carlson

Matt Reed took the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis against some stellar competition and after a very tough finish sprint. The women's race was won by Sarah Haskins, who did not have to sprint at the end as she had a comfortable 2 minute lead at the end.

Eric Wynn was up and close in Minneapolis to take images of the athletes and their surroundings.

All images are © Eric Wynn

www.erycwynn.org

The crew at Screen Specialty Shop has created bike industry decals for almost 30 years now. Under the guidance of owner Gary Prange and his wife Deb, SSSink also has also supplied decals for baseball bats, lacrosse sticks, hockey sticks, bows and arrows and various other sporting goods.

The company started in Wisconsin, but moved to West Jefferson, NC more than 20 years ago. Screen Specialty Shop is now located in a log cabin in a very beautiful setting next to the New River and close to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Eastern Continental Divide.

As many bike brands moved manufacturing to overseas, Screen Specialty Shop has gotten smaller, but many new smaller Handmade North American brands have given Prange a fresh new group of clients. But SSSink sells to the industry only and does not sell decals to the public.

We stopped by today to see what exactly happens behind the walls of the log cabin.



All images are © Herbert Krabel

Just two years ago USA Triathlon asked US Naval Academy grad Timothy O’Donnell to serve in the domestique role to help out first tier triathletes gain points and strategic advantage in World Cup events leading to the Beijing Olympics. But in 2009, O’Donnell took his athletic fate into his own hands and found his greatness at the Ironman 70.3 distance, taking wins at St. Croix, Calgary, and Boulder 5430 long course. At the end of the year, he won the ITU long course World Championship in Perth and took his place with the elite of his sport. Recently, O’Donnell decided to make Boulder his permanent home and was in the process of closing on a home while ramping up his training for the 2010 season.

All photographs © Timothy Carlson

Slowtwitcher John McGovern joined Clas Bjorling, Jonas Colting, Bjorn Andersson and a few other folks at the 2009 Tour of Sweden training camp. They encountered long days in the saddle, stunning vistas, all kinds of weather, a variety of food, reindeer, drunks and more. New friendships were born, extraordinary fitness was gained and quite a bit of weight was lost. Plus there are endless stories, some of them were told by John McGovern on the Slowtwitch home page, but others will forever be kept secret. But you can enjoy these impressions of the 2009 Tour of Sweden training camp.

Links to John McGovern's daily updates.

ToS day 1
ToS day 2
ToS day 3
ToS day 4
ToS day 5
ToS day 6
ToS day 7
ToS day 8
ToS day 9
ToS day 10
ToS day 11
ToS day 12
ToS day 13
ToS day 14

At the recent Wheat Ridge Cyclery event, Craig Alexander sat down with Barry Siff, former owner of the 5430 triathlon series. Siff took questions from the audience, and discussed them with Alexander in an interview-style session. Questions came up about the rivalry with Chris McCormack, but Alexander was hesitant to speak out against his countryman, but instead said that "the great thing about our sport is that you do the talking with your legs. I don't really say much verbally; I think the results speak for themselves. I've started Ironman Hawaii three times, and finished with two [first-place finishes] and one second."

Later, discussion turned to bike fit. Alexander has been noted for using a far more upright position than some of his competitors, and a member of the audience asked whether he thought he might make gains by exploring more aggressive positioning options. "Look," Alexander answered, "if you're racing twenty-five miles, it's a good idea to look at an aggressive bike position. But if you're out there for 56 miles or 112 miles, you need to be able to run afterwards. You need to have a comfortable position. I have a position that doesn't make my back sore, that doesn't make my hamstrings sore, and for me it's a good position."

Wheat Ridge Cyclery was a veritable Interbike on Thursday night, featuring two Specialized Shiv frames ready for sale, and a Trek Speed Concept prototype that has yet to be released. The shop also displayed an F.I.S.T. certified fitter and a large variety of high-end road and triathlon equipment. One notable bike was a new 6-series Trek Madone, outfitted with Shimano Di2, Bontrager Aeolus 6.5 wheels, and a large sticker that read "Demo Bike." The Speed Concept on hand belonged to Trek/K-Swiss triathlete Julie Dibens, whose custom-painted prototype has carried its rider to a so-far perfect season.


All images are © Nick Salazar of salazarphotography.com