Five-time Ultraman women’s champion Shanna Armstrong leads Kathy Winkler; Richard Roll leads Mike Le Roux, Alexandre Ribeiro on Day 1 of Ultraman

In the sport of triathlon there’s no brand like Ironman. Here, iron is wealthier than gold. Funny how much love Ironman doesn’t get from the very entities that ought to love it the most.

The sponsorship tactics for the Musselman Tri could have been lifted straight from Kids as Customers, in which James McNeal classifies juvenile nagging tactics into seven major categories.

Every now and then you’ll have an easier week, and some will be harder. Like this week. You are a bona-fide athlete now, and I’ll be treating you like one.

Three-time champion Alexandre Ribeiro of Brazil should duel with 1997 champion Peter Kotland; 5-time winner Shanna Armstrong faces strong challenge by 2007 runner-up Ann Heaslett.

Our tech running editor revises and extends his remarks on Newton shoes. There’s speed to be had, if you run with proper form.

Jordan Rapp used a course record bike split and a course record overall winning time to take the 2009 Ford Ironman Arizona. Samantha McGlone came back from a slow swim with a sub 5 hour bike split and a superb run to take her first Ironman win, also in record time.

Updates to Jordan Rapp’s Ironman Arizona Charity Challenge including more prizes, an anonymous donor matching $1,000,000 in gifts, and a one week extension to reach a new target goal.

Michael Raelert was a dark horse who shocked the field and Julie Dibens was the favorite everyone saw coming. Some reflections by the winners and hosannas from the conquered after the fourth Ironman 70.3 World Champions were crowned.

We are in the middle of the 2009/2010 cross season and today we are featuring mostly cross bikes / frames we have recently noticed. Enjoy the Giant Composite Cross, Cannondale Cyclocross 6, Scott Addict CX RC, Stevens Carbon Team and the Workerman Peace Wheel.

Silvia Balbach had the second fastest female age group run split and finished as the fourth overall fastest female amateur in Kona this year. A chance encounter prior to the race led to this interview with the speedy German.

A dark horse and a favorite prevailed at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. Photo Gallery by Timothy Carlson

The 70.3 Clearwater course again rewarded the strong with record times; Photo Gallery by Timothy Carlson

Michael Raelert won the 2009 Foster Grant World Championships with a superb performance, a 1:09:06 half marathon and a final time of 3:34:04. In the women’s race, Julie Dibens went sub 4 hours and took the title in 3:59:33.

Relentless northerly winds force Ironman 70.3 World Championship race officials to switch swim from ocean to inland harbor; Reed, Dibens, Bozzone, Bennetts, Zeiger confident on eve of battle in Clearwater

In the first article in a new series on “Thinkers & Tinkers” in the sport, we look at Chris Lieto and his sports nutrition company BASE Performance.

Timothy Carlson sticks his neck out to predict what will happen in the men’s race at at Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida this weekend. Will he be correct with his call?

The fastest age group bike split in Kona belonged to Stefan Werner from Germany. But more importantly, he also was the age group World Champion in M30-34 and the second fastest overall amateur.

Gazing into a crystal ball in an attempt to pick the women’s winner of this highly competitive Ironman 70.3 World Championship at Clearwater is a futile task. But here we go again

In a time when many companies cut budgets and take away perks, the Rev3 group is stepping up to the plate in a different way. They announced $125,000 of additional prize money for the 3 Rev3 events.

When we train for a big event we sometimes forget the world around us. But sometimes the world catches up with us when we least expect it, and that was especially true for 2 athletes who raced in this weekend’s Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach.

WTC requires pros to pay $750 annual fee which will ensure complimentary entries to regular Ironman ($550) and Ironman 70.3 ($300) events in 2010, puts members on list for random drug testing, sets time standards for Ironman qualifying and prize money.

US National Champion Matt Chrabot won his first ITU World Cup with a kamikaze charge on brutally hot and hilly bike course in Huatulco, Mexico. Japan’s Ai Ueda took the title in the women’s race.

Kirill Kotshegarov, 23-year-old Estonian, takes lead with race-best 4:28:03 bike and hangs on to win in 8:24:29; Belgian Sofie Goos combines 2nd-best 4:52:24 bike and 3:11:29 run to win Ironman Florida in 9:08:38.