Easter weekend found very few triathlons around the globe, triathlete participating in pre-marathon action in Boston, some tragic abuse of cyclists by four-wheel drivers, and interesting tri-related photos and notes.
McNeice and Martin win Challenge Taiwan as Granger finishes 50th Iron-distance race
Kiwis ruled at Challenge Taiwan as Dylan McNeice defended his title and German-born New Zealander Britta Martin dominated the women’s field for her second long-distance victory. But in some ways the star of the day was Australian veteran Belinda Granger, who bid adieu to long course racing with a 3rd place finish in her 50th Iron-distance finish which has included 15 victories.
The two races had radically different margins of victory. The men’s race was the nail-biter as McNeice took a huge lead with his race-best 46:11 swim which gave him a 3:28 lead on Eric Watson of Australia, 6:15 on top contender Fredrik Croneborg of Sweden, 8 minutes on Nick Baldwin of the Seychelles, and over 9 minutes on Aussie Jason Shortis and German Till Schramm.
McNeice upped his lead to 8:27 over Guy Crawford by the halfway point of the bike leg, while the slow swimmers-great runners slowly ate into McNeice’s margin with strong bike legs. By T2, McNeice’s 4th-best 4:29:02 bike leg added 2 minutes 31 seconds to his advantage on Croneborg but surrendered some time to Shortis (4:26:56), Schramm (4:27:01) and Baldwin (4:27:32).
Starting the run, Shortis aggressively went after McNeice, moving into second position and cutting his 7:23 deficit at T2 in half. But Croneborg’s acclimatization to Taiwan’s tropical heat, earned by training in Asia, eventually paid off as the Swede unleashed a race-fastest 2:56:09 marathon that had McNeice hanging on for dear life in the final kilometers. At the finish, McNeice’s 3:03:40 marathon brought him to the finish in 8:23:44 with a 38 seconds margin of victory over Croneborg and 1:48 over Shortis, who closed with a second-best 2:57:39 run that brought him the final spot on the podium.
Hillary Biscay led the women’s swim in 53:23, which gave her a minute lead on Australian Kate Bevilaqua and 4:59 on Martin, who was 5th fastest. By the end of the bike, Martin (race-best 4:54:37 split) and Bevilaqua came to T2 together with Jessica Fleming (1:02:28 swim and 4:57:36 bike) and Belinda Granger (55:29 swim and 5:04:46 bike leg) 3rd and 4th, 7 minutes down.
On the run, Martin locked up the race with a dominating 3:04:16 marathon which brought her to the finish in 9:02:23 with a whopping 29 minutes 2 seconds margin of victory over Fleming (3:26:30 run) and 42:43 over 3rd-place finisher Granger (3:40:11 run).
Martin was emotional at the finish as she dedicated her race to her father, who died last week. It was also her mother’s birthday.
Granger worked hard for her podium, as she had to overcome a disappointing swim and a mechanical issue on the bike to wrap up her long course career in style at age 43. Granger, a member of the Australia Ironman Hall of Fame, summed up her feelings with two Tweets: “@Challenge_Family thanks guys… was amazing… hurt so much but loved every step of it.” And, “Happy…content. Definitely a nice way to end my iron distance days. #50 done and dusted - landing on the podium was icing on the cake.”
Challenge Taiwan
Taitung, Taiwan
April 19, 2014
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Dylan McNeice (NZL) 8:23:44
2. Frederik Croneborg (SWE) 8:24:22
3. Jason Shortis (AUS) 8:25:32
4. Till Schramm (GER) 8:33:24
5. Nick Baldwin (SEY) 8:38:56
Women
1. Britta Martin (NZL) 9:02:23
2. Jessica Fleming (AUS) 9:31:26
3. Belinda Granger (AUS) 9:45:06
4. Jo Kocik (AUS) 9:59:34 * F30-34
5. Kathrin Walther (GER) 10:13:16
More four-wheel vehicle incidents on cyclists
This week there was news of two shocking incidents of criminal actions of four wheel vehicles mowing down cyclists.
Australia
The Warmambool Standard reported that Kimberley Davis of Port Fairy, Australia pleaded guilty this week to dangerous driving and was fined $4,500 in an Australian court. The 21-year-old slammed into a bicyclist while texting last year, putting dents in her car. The victim suffered a spinal fracture and was hospitalized for three months. But Davis had no sympathy for the cyclist. “I just don’t care because I’ve already been through a lot of bullshit and my car is, like, pretty expensive and not I have to fix it,” she told police two days after the September 20, 2013 collision. “I’m kind of pissed off that the cyclist has hit the side of my car. I don’t agree that people texting and driving could hit a cyclist. I wasn’t on my phone when I hit the cyclist.” Police said she used her phone 44 times and received 22 text messages from seven different phones before running down the cyclist. Police reported that Davis received a text message at 7:18 PM on September 20 and 51 seconds later made a call to emergency responders to report the hit. Davis wrote on Facebook that she expected to get her license back in May, but the judge suspended her license for another nine months. The wife of the injured cyclist said she was disappointed with the sentence and said doctors told her husband that he could have been a paraplegic.
Texas, USA
Two men were arrested in Edinburg, Texas after they allegedly struck and killed a bicyclist Thursday morning at 4:30 AM with their pickup truck. Edward Arguelles, 38, who was active in the Rio Grande Valley cycling community, was riding southbound on U.S. 281 near Trenton Road when struck by the truck. The men were caught while trying to dispose of Arguelle’s body in a canal away from the scene of the collision. Investigators said the truck had severe damage to the front end and matched the description in a hit-and-run provided by another cyclist who saw the incident and claimed that driver and the passenger in the truck put Arguelles in the bed of their truck and fled the scene.
Boston pre-Marathon matters
Much of the world converged on the city to honor those killed in the 2013 Boston Marathon terrorist bombing and to stand in unity with the survivors and the spirit of Boston Strong. On Saturday, some triathletes took part with 8,600 other runners in the Boston BAA 5k road race which was won by Olympic silver medalist Dejen Gebrmeskel of Ethiopia in a race-record time of 13:26, an eye blink ahead of 2011 and 2012 Boston 5k winner Ben True of the U.S., who also happens to be the boyfriend of star U.S. Olympic triathlete Sarah Groff. ITU elite triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker, who won this race in 2009 in a time of 14:28, finished 20th in a time of 15:12. Most worthy of honor was Ironman athlete and coach Nicole Gross, who suffered severe leg injuries, shrapnel wounds and a nearly severed Achilles tendon in the bomb blast near the finish line last April. Gross and her husband Michael, who was also injured in the blast, were waiting for Nicole’s mother Carol to finish the marathon. Gross finished the 5k Saturday in a time of 56:49, 837th of 844 women in her division. On Monday, triathlon hall of famer Karen Smyers will be running in the famed marathon.
Boston BAA 5k
Boston, Massachusetts
April 19, 2014
Results
Elite men
1. Dejen Gebremeskel (ETH) 13:26
2. Ben True (USA) 13:26
3. Stephen Sambu (KEN) 13:27
20. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 15:12
Elite Women
1. Molly Huddle (USA) 15:12
2. Mamitu Daska (ETH) 15:14
3. Sentayehu Eijigu (ETH) 15:16
8,599. Nicole Gross (USA) 56:49
Eric Limkemann and his wife celebrate birth of daughter Sidney Erin
Strong swimmer-triathlete Eric Limkemann and his wife celebrated the birth of their daughter
on April 18. Sidney Arin Limkemann arrived weighing 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 23 inches long. On April 19, Eric Limkemann tweeted: “OK, enough babying Sidney. We’re already 12 hours behind our training plan for 2032! #olympics…”
Tyler Butterfield creates art out of pancakes for wife Nikki’s birthday
In addition to his talents as a triathlete and cyclist, 2014 Abu Dhabi men’s winner Tyler Butterfield created an artful birthday message tribute to his wife Nikki made from pancakes at their Boulder, Colorado home.
Viktor Zyemtsev celebrates Ironman 70.3 Florida victory with a handsome turtle
Zyemtsev, who won Ironman 70.3 Florida last week, posted this startling photo on his Facebook page recently. We sincerely hope that Zyemtsev did not overly disturb this magnificent animal and returned it to its natural habitat posthaste. We believe that the fleet-footed Ukrainian did not see the turtle as a mascot representing his athletic trump card. Word also has it that he got engaged this weekend.
Kevin McDowell and Zsofia Kovacs win Brasilia World University Championships
Kevin McDowell of the U.S. and Zsofia Kovacs of Hungary won the elite men’s and women’s titles at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) 12th World University Triathlon Championships in Brazil Sunday.
McDowell, who was 3rd at the Sarasota PATCO Sprint Triathlon earlier this year, started slow and finished fast to win the Brasilia FISU World University Triathlon Men’s Championship by 22 seconds over runner-up Tomas Renc of the Czech Republic and 55 seconds over U.S. teammate Chris Braden, who secured the final spot on the podium.
McDowell swam a 22nd-fastest 20:06 split which put him 26 seconds behind top swimmer Marcus Vincius of Brazil and 8 second behind fellow U.S. competitor Braden. McDowell then upped his position with a 3rd-best 1:06:14 bike split which left him tied for 4th at T2, 1:06 behind Braden who posted the day’s best bike split of 1:05:14, 1:05 behind Vinicius (1:05:35 bike split), and 4 seconds ahead of Renc (1:06:25 split ).
Everything shook out on the run as McDowell sealed the victory with a race-fastest 37:18 10k split which was 18 seconds better than runner-up Renc and 2:01better than 3rd-place finisher Braden. The win was McDowell’s best-ever international finish.
Zsofia Kovacs of Hungary combined a 7th-best 21:30 swim, a 3rd-fastest 1:13:41 bike split and a 2nd-quickest 40:52 run to finish in 2:16:04 with a 27 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Heather Sellars of Great Britain and 1:58 over 3rd-place Kaitlin Donner of the U.S.
Kovacs came out of the swim 39 seconds behind Summer Cook of the USA and 27 seconds behind Donner. After the bike leg, Kovacs and Donner started the run one second behind T2 leader Barbora Hlavacova of the Czech Republic and 4 seconds ahead of Sellars.
On the run, Cook made up ground lost with her 1:17:37 bike leg with a race-best 40:15 run which advanced her to 5th place overall. Kovacs nailed the win with a next-best 40:52 run. Sellars saved 2nd with her 3rd-fastest 41:15 run split and Donner secured the final spot on the podium with a 42:51 run.
In addition, the U.S. men and women swept the team titles. With the top 3 individual finishers in each race counting toward the team points, the U.S. men’s squad won with 13 points, topping the Czech Republic (22 points) and Japan (43 points). The U.S. women’s squad won with a total of 17 points, topping Great Britain (28 points) and Japan (40 points).
Brasilia FISU World University Triathlon Championships
Brasilia, Brazil
April 20, 2014
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Kevin McDowell (USA) 2:03:38
2. Tomas Renc (CZE) 2:04:00
3. Chris Braden (USA) 2:04:33
4. Wesley Matos (BRA) 2:05:24
5. Nathan Barry (AUS) 2:06:22
9. Brandon Nied (USA) 2:12:29
11. Ryan Bice (USA) 2:15:43
Women
1. Zsofia Kovacs (HUN) 2:16:04
2. Heather Sellars (GBR) 2:16:31
3. Kaitlin Donner (USA) 2:18:02
4. Petra Kurikova (CZE) 2:18:39
5. Summer Cook (USA) 2:18:44
9. Michelle Mehnert (USA) 2:21:37
10. Erin Dolan (USA) 2:21:50
Michigan man dies after swimming in Florida sprint triathlon
A Michigan man died Saturday morning after experiencing distress while participating in the swim portion of The Escape From Ft. DeSoto sprint triathlon in Pinellas County, Florida. The Pinellas County Sheriffs Office said that Donald Bautel, 64, of Alpena, Michigan appeared to be drowning about 8 AM. Fellow competitors pulled Bautel from the water, took him to shore, began performing CPR and called 911. Paramedics arrived at 8:16 AM and took Bautel to a local hospital where he later died.
Pinellas County Sheriffs deputies said the death appears to be accidental and possibly health related.
Race director Fred Ryzmek issued this statement: “The entire multisport community is mourning the loss of Donald Bautel, 64, of Alpena, Michigan. Mr. Bautel was a participant in the 2014 Mazda Escape From Ft. DeSoto Triathlon. Out of respect for the Bautel family and his fellow triathletes who are mourning his loss, we will have no further comments at this time.”
The Tampa Bay area Escape From Ft. DeSoto sprint triathlon was scheduled to be a half mile swim, 10 mile bike leg and a 3.4 mile run. Due to winds in the Gulf of Mexico, which created strong choppy surface conditions, organizers moved the swim to a more protected lagoon and shortened the swim to a few hundred yards. Mr. Bautel was in the men’s over-50 wave which included an estimated 100 competitors. The announced water temperature was 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
