While individual stories were devoted to the Melbourne Ironman and the New Plymouth World Cup, The Weekend Box roamed near and far for some newsy items. We bring you ruminations on Craig Alexander’s vow that he is done with the Ironman distance, reports on a collegiate race in Arizona and an Olympic distance contest in Brazil, plus an honor bestowed on a deserving Danish long course star.

Craig Alexander calls it quits for the Ironman distance after 5th place at Melbourne

Craig Alexander hinted strongly that his 23rd place finish at Kona last November would be his last try at the Ironman World Championship. Today, after a gutsy 5th place finish at the Asia Pacific Ironman Championship in Melbourne, he emphatically stated that his Ironman racing days were over.

“I wanted to pull off some magic today and go out on top but I couldn’t,” the multiple world champion triathlete told Amanda Lulham of Australia’s Daily Telegraph. “My body is like a rental car that has done a few too many miles,” he said. “I’m driving round with the hand brake on.”

Alexander battled a throat infection before this race and lost touch with the lead pack when he went the wrong way on the swim. Still, he managed a performance that was far from a debacle but not up to his standards. After a swim that left him two minutes adrift of the leaders, he spent the rest of the race chasing – and exhausting himself. He still set the fastest run – 2:43:52 – but that only brought him to 5th place, 4:45 behind winner Dirk Bockel. Last year he finished 3rd at this race, and won it in 2012 with a finish time of 7:57:44 and a brilliant run split of 2:38:45.

Alexander put his decision in perspective for Ian Heppenstall of Ironman.com: “I’m 41 in two and a half months, it’s going to take a long time to recover. It’s hard because I want to win but I am not what I used to be. That marathon hurt me more than any marathon I’ve ever run. I dug as deep as I could, [but] I put myself in a terrible position. I salvaged a top 5, but I’ve never been happy with a top 5.”

Alexander added, “The most important thing for me is my family. I have a wife and three beautiful kids and I need to spend more time with them. The thing is, I am sick of saying no to my kids, ‘No we can’t go to the park because I’m too tired.’”

Alexander, with 3 Ironman World Championship victories and a Kona race record earned in 2011, will continue racing half Ironman events and will pursue an expanded career as a coach. Yesterday, Crowie was more excited about his protégé Paul Matthews, who scored a breakthrough second place finish at this prestigious event.

“I want to see Paul in Kona,” Alexander told Ironman,com. “He has the game to do well there. He’s tough, he’s old school tough, and I think he can do really well. I’m taking him to the next level and that is where he's going.”

Marcus Fernandes and Flavia Fernandes win Trofeu Brasil Triathlon in Santos

Marcus Fernandes and Flavia Fernandes won the pro titles at the Olympic distance Trofeu Brasil de Triathlon Sunday in Santos, Brazil.

Marcus Fernandes opened up a lead with a race-best 18:57 swim that put at least a minute on the field, added to that lead with a race-best 55:19 bike split, and then held off a race-best 33:51 run by runner-up Raphael Menezes Dos Santos to save the win. Fernandes finished in a time of 1:50:09 with a 1 minute 28 seconds margin of victory over Dos Santos and 1:48 over 3rd-place finisher Frederico Monteiro.

Flavia Fernandes started the day with a race-fastest 21:52 swim, added a 4th-fastest 1:05:08 bike split and finished with a 3rd-best 40:07 run to finish in 2:07:07 with a 41 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Vanessa Giannini and 56 seconds over 3rd-place finisher Giselle Bertucci.

Giannini posted the women’s best run of 39:55 and 4th place Bruna Saglietti had the day’s fastest bike split of 1:02:18.

Trofeu Brasil Triathlon
Santos, Brazil
March 23, 2014
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Pro Men

1. Marcus Fernandes (BRA) 1:50:09
2. Raphael Menezes dos Santos (BRA) 1:51:37
3. Frederico Monteiro (BRA) 1:51:57
4. Antonio Manssur Filho (BRA) 1:52:11
5. Luis Ferreira (BRA) 1:52:27

Pro Women

1. Flavia Fernandes (BRA) 2:07:07
2. Vanessa Giannini (BRA) 2:07:48
3. Giselle Bertucci (BRA) 2:08:03
4. Bruna Saglietti Mahn (BRA) 2:08:43
5. Carolina Furriela (BRA) 2:09:46

Rodolphe Von Berg and Lindsey Ryder win collegiate titles at the Havasu Triathlon

Rodolphe Von Berg of the University of Colorado and Lindsey Ryder of Arizona State won the Collegiate titles at the Havasu Triathlon Saturday.

Von Berg opened with a 2nd-best 16:46 swim, took the lead and held it with a 3rd-best 58:03 bike split and closed the deal with a 3rd-fastest 33:15 run split. Von Berg finished in 1:49:04 with a 46 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Steve Mantell of Colorado State and 4:06 over 3rd-place finisher Ryan Petry of Arizona State.

Lindsey Ryder posted a 4th-best 20:58
swim, a race-best 1:06:13 bike split and a 4th-fastest 41:21 run to finish in 2:10:12 with a 2 minutes 30 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Erica Clevenger of Arizona and 3:13 over 3rd-place finisher Molly Supple of Arizona.

Havasu Triathlon
Lake Havasu, Arizona
March 22. 2014
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Collegiate Men

1. Rodolphe Von Berg (Colorado) 1:49:04
2. Steve Mantell (Colorado State) 1:49:50
3. Ryan Petry (Arizona State) 1:53:10
4. Kory Skattum (Colorado) 1:56:13
5. Nick Noone (Colorado) 1:56:28

Collegiate Women

1. Lindsey Ryder (Arizona State) 2:10:12
2. Erica Clevenger (Arizona) 2:12:42
3. Molly Supple (Arizona) 2:13:25
4. Bryn Morales (Colorado) 2:13:42
5. Laura Haley (Arizona) 2:14:14

Michelle Vesterby wins Danish Elite Triathlete of the Year Award

In 2013, Michelle Vesterby finished 3rd at Ironman Arizona in a time of 8:57:23, 8th at Ironman Hawaii, 3rd at Challenge Aarhus, 2nd at Ironman Los Cabos, and 3rd at Abu Dhabi International. For such a fine year, she received the Danish Elite Triathlete of the Year Award from the Danish Triathlon Federation. Vesterby wrote on Facebook: ”I’m so proud to receive this award after all the great Danish results that have been made this year!”

Leanda Cave turns over a new leaf, wins La Paz PATCO Olympic distance

After a frustrating battle with injuries in 2013, 2012 Ironman 70.3 World Champion and 2012 Ironman World Champion Leanda Cave opened her 2014 campaign with a successful return to one of the more modest events on the ITU Olympic distance circuit. Cave won the elite women’s title at the PATCO Triathlon Pan American Cup in La Paz, Baja California, Mexico Saturday over a field heavily represented by aspiring Mexican triathletes.

Cave combined an 8th-fastest 20:26 swim, a 5th-best 1:05:15 bike split and a race-best 36:45 run to finish in 2:04:15 with a 29 seconds margin of victory over Paola Diaz of Mexico and 43 seconds over 3rd-place finisher Andrea B Gutierrez of Mexico. Cave’s participation in this event suggests a two-faceted goal – starting at shorter distances while fully recovering from injuries aggravated by the extensive mileage required by her long course championship focus, and taking a shot at representing Wales in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Cesar Saracho of Mexico won the men’s elite race in 1:52:53, giving him an 8 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Rostyslav Pevtsov of the Ukraine and 17 seconds over 3rd-place finisher John O’Neill of the U.S.

PATCO Triathlon Pan American Cup
La Paz, BC, Mexico
March 22, 2014
S 1.5k / B 40.8k / R 10k

Results

Women

1. Leanda Cave (GBR) 2:04:15
2. Paola Diaz (MEX) 2:04:44
3. Andrea B Gutierrez (MEX) 2:04:58
4. Andrea Diaz (MEX) 2:05:37
5. Anahi Leon (MEX) 2:06:11

Men

1. Cesar Saracho (MEX) 1:52:53
2. Rostyslav Pevtsov (ITU) 1:53:01
3. John O’Neill (USA) 1:53:10
4. Abraham Castellanos (MEX) 1:53:29
5. Alex Libin (USA) 1:53:34