Lavelle, Anderson shred through harsh winds to win 2007 Wildflower Long Course titles
By T.J. Murphy

May 6, 2007 — This weekend, nearly 8000 triathletes set up camp at Lake San Antonio for the 25th running of the one of triathlon’s most popular events, the Wildflower Triathlon Festival at Lake San Antonio in central California. In Tri California’s feature event held on Saturday, May 5, California’s Becky Lavelle employed an overpowering bike ride to break free from a string of frustrating past finishes on the half-Ironman length long course race and Sweden’s Bjorn Anderson surprised himself and the triathlon world by holding off Australian Chris Legh on the 13.1-mile run leg to win his first Wildflower crown.

The 32-year-old Lavelle finished second in both the 2002 and 2003 long-course competitions and then was sidelined for three straight years by injury and illness. Although 2006 champ Samantha McGlone opted to go to St. Croix rather than defend her title at Lake San Antonio, Lavelle would face the challenge of fending off Australians Kate Major and Mirinda Carfrae and American Alexis Waddel.

Lavelle burned through a choppy 1.2-mile swim in 25:29 to establish a two-minute gap on the women she would later worry about on the run. The 56-mile bike leg was cursed with relentless cross- and headwinds, a factor that Lavelle used to her advantage as she padded her advantage by out-biking her competitors by four minutes and more, splitting 2:37:13 as compared to Waddel’s 2:41 and Major and Carfrae’s 2:42.

“I had no idea what kind of lead I had until halfway through the run,” Lavelle said. The dark memories of 2002 and 2003 — where she lead both races until being overtaken on the draining trails that crawl up and down through the hills between the lake and Long Valley — surely motivated the woman that has been dubbed the queen of Tri California events. But her 1:30:49 run did the job, winning the final Tri California title that has long eluded her with a final time of 4:35:19. Carfrae finished second in 4:38:14, Major third in 4:42:26 and Waddel fourth in 4:42:52.
Also taking thorough advantage of the wind-whipped bike leg was powerhouse Anderson, fresh off a stint of desert training in Southern California. Anderson wasn’t able to shake many competitors during the swim, as he exited with the likes of Colorado’s Brian Fleischmann, California’s Brian Lavelle (Becky’s husband) and New Zealand’s Bryan Rhodes, all in the 24-minute range. On the bike, however, Anderson locked himself deeply into the aero position on his Cervelo and ripped free of the field on the undulating bike ride, where drafting not only didn’t take place during the pro race, it was largely impossible. The 28-year-old Swede biked 2:15:05, miraculously fast considering the tough conditions (the bike-course record was set by one-time pro cyclist Steve Larsen in 2001 with a time of 2:14:06). His chief competitor, Aussie Chris Legh, managed a 2:19:46 and was five minutes behind Anderson at T2.

“Based on historical events, I would have been confident if Bjorn had 10 minutes on me,” Leigh quipped after the race, a comment reflecting the facts about Anderson’s past run splits and DNFs. “But he was tough out there today,” Legh said. “I took the lead at mile nine and figured I had it. But he attacked twice, and I was completely empty. I couldn’t match him.”

“I thought for sure Chris had the win,” Anderson said. “I can’t say I really attacked — I just ran as hard as I could.”

Anderson finished off the victory with a 1:26:04 run and 4:07:53 win. Legh was second, in 4:08:21, and Benjamin Hoffman, from Durango, Colo., took third in 4:13:32.

Race notes
American Greg Remaly, 27, was in the top three of the men’s competition through the bike ride but dropped from the race due to severe back spasms, according the event’s medical director, and was flown from the race course directly to an area hospital.

The elite competition within the Long Course event chased a $40,000 prize purse, with the winners cashing in checks for $5000.

The bike course-leading splits that helped earn Lavelle and Anderson victories also earned the champions extra cash, as Kuota served up $418.23 to each, a monetary amount symbolizing Normann Stadler’s 4:18:23 bike Hawaii Ironman bike-course record.
Wildflower Long Course Triathlon
Lake San Antonio, Calif.
May 5, 2007
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run

Men
1. Bjorn Anderson (SWE) 4:07:53
2. Chris Legh (AUS) 4:08:21
3. Benjamin Hoffman (USA) 4:13:32

Women
1. Becky Lavelle (USA) 4:35:19
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:38:14
3. Kate Major (AUS) 4:42:26

For complete results, visit www.tricalifornia.com.

Lars Finanger - Associate Publisher

LAKE SAN ANTONIO RESORT, California -   Under sunny and cooler than usual skies, two new champions were crowned at the Wildflower half-Ironman on Saturday.   Both winners, Bjorn Andersson and Becky Lavelle, used killer bike splits en route to their first victories at the North American classic.  

Noticeably absent from this year’s campground classic were last year’s winners and course-record setters, Terrenzo Bozzone and back-to-back women’s champion Samantha McGlone.   Bozzone, who is chasing a Beijing Olympic berth for New Zealand, was denied the chance to race in half-Ironman races by his national selection committee in the lead-up to their national selection races. McGlone, who will tackle Ford Ironman Hawaii this year, opted for the more tropical St. Croix Ironman 70.3 on Sunday.

Andersson took full advantage of the absence of Bozzone and other perennial favorites including Simon Lessing, Chris McCormack, and Craig Walton, to ride away from 2006 runner-up Chris Legh.   The Swede, whose name means “Bear” in his native Swedish tongue, broke the 56-mile bike course record set in 2003 by former professional cyclist and Ironman Lake Placid winner Steve Larsen, riding a blistering 2:15:05 split to better the old mark by 33-seconds.  

American Olympic hopeful, Brian Fleischmann led out of the water followed by a small pack of men including New Zealand’s Bryan Rhodes and Brian Lavelle (husband of Wildflower regular Becky Lavelle) in just over 24-minutes for the 1.2-mile swim in Lake San Antonio.   Andersson trailed the lead group by one half-minute with Legh over one-minute behind.  

Andersson wasted little time in playing his ace-in-the-hole when he took the lead in the opening miles of the arduous bike course.   After a disappointing DNF at Ironman South Africa the Swede perfectly adapted to the challenging Wildflower conditions while spending the last three weeks training in Valyermo, California at the home of long-time friend, and triathlon innovator, Dan Empfield.   Legh, a threat on the bike himself posted an impressive sub-2:20 bike but was left in Andersson’s wake.  

It is not unusual to see Andersson arrive into T2 with an advantage on his competition, but it always remains to be seen which of his bipolar run-styles will surface over the final leg.   According to Jason Goldberg, Andersson’s coach and owner of FIT Multisports, Andersson spent the early spring months cycling in preparation for the Tour of Belize, in which he won two stages and wore the race leader’s yellow jersey, and more recently training with long, hilly runs in order to minimize his time losses.  

“He scorched the bike at South Africa, but he had no run fitness,” said Goldberg.   “With his long and hilly runs he can maintain consistency and hold off a great runner like Chris (Legh) and lose only four minutes and not five, which should usually be enough for him to win,” explained his coach.  

His training time spent at the Slowtwitch.com founder’s house paid off and Andersson held off a fast-charging Legh to capture his first Wildflower crown in a slower than usual winning time of 4:07:53.   Legh ran out of room and hit the chute in 4:08:21 and recent University of Montana grad and Durango, Colorado resident, Ben Hoffman rounded out the podium just over five-minutes behind Legh.  

With the absence of McGlone, the women’s race would also crown a new champion, with California resident Lavelle erasing her earlier loss at the Ford Ironman 70.3 Oceanside   to claim her first Wildflower win.

The speedy Lavelle led from wire-to-wire, exiting the water nearly two-minutes ahead of former University of Minnesota swimmer Amy Marsh.   Another half-minute behind Marsh included Monterey’s Alexis Waddel and Australian Mirinda Carfrae, who opted not to defend her 2006 St. Croix 70.3 victory.  

Lavelle scorched through the country canyons and recorded a bike split nearly four minutes faster than her female competitors.   By the time the Minnesota native reached T2, her insurmountable lead made it a race for second place.   Lavelle coasted through the famed campgrounds, made up of 60% trail and 40% paved roads, and hit the tape in 4:35:19, nearly three minutes ahead of the long-course convert Carfrae.   Carfrae used the fastest women’s run of the day to finish runner-up in 4:38:14, and Kate Major outpaced Waddel by a mere 26-seconds to take third.  

The age-group race on Saturday saw more than 2,000 finishers over the half-Ironman distance and another 750-plus in the mountain-bike sprint. Sunday’s Olympic-distance race, which included the popular collegiate race, saw 2,600 finishers.   The overall male age-group honor went to Ordinda, California’s Nicholas Thompson, who bested Colorado’s Tim Hola in 4:15:57, good for 7th overall.   The female age-group victory went to Haley Cooper from Spokane, Washington in 5:02:20.

For more on the triathlon’s Woodstock weekend, go to: www.tricalifornia.com.

 RESULTS

Men
1. Bjorn Andersson (SWE) 4:07:53
2. Chris Legh (AUS) 4:08:21
3. Ben Hoffman (USA) 4:13:32
4. Joe Gambles (AUS) 4:14:45
5. Timothy Marr (USA) 4:15:02
Women
1.   Becky Lavelle (USA) 4:35:19
2.   Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:38:14
3.   Kate Major (AUS) 4:42:26
4.   Alexis Waddel (USA) 4:42:52
5.   Erin Ford (USA) 4:46:47

Thanks to ‘DownTown’ Wes Brown for the photos

Lake San Antonio, Monterey County, CA.  Coast to coast in 6 days for 2 of the biggest triathlons in the sport has been an invigorating experience.  First, it was off to St. Petersburg, Florida for the big East coast kick off to the 2007 triathlon season.  4,000 plus athletes enjoyed a wonderful day in the Florida sun.  For me, the mild 80’s with high humidity felt hot but luckily I was done competing by 9am to avoid most of the days heat.
 
Because I was racing 6 days later in my first Half Ironman, Hortense and I left that same day to get back quickly and prepare for the next race.  I felt really good after the race, I think the travel took more out of me than the race almost.  After taking Monday off, I thought I would sharpen my biking skills with a 48 mile group ride with about 15 miles in a hard charging paceline.  I felt tremendous, but I was getting some leg burn the last couple miles of the paceline.  Just 4 days later I would be racing with 8,000 other athletes at Wildflower’s Triathlon.
 
Using Thursday as a travel day, I flew down to San Jose and then drove down 101 another 2.5 hours to arrive at our hotel in time to watch the Golden State Warriors upset the Dallas Mavericks.  I love rooting for the underdog.  Friday was a prep day that turned into a lot of driving for me.  After heading out on a ride with the Boise Aeros it was time to make the 45 minute drive up to Lake San Antonio to pick up the race packets.  We got there a little before 1:00 and my packet wasn’t available until 2.  Then, I found out that I had a mandatory pro meeting at 5:00.  Ugggh.  I really wanted to get back to the hotel room for some R n’ R.  So, we drove back to the hotel and I enjoyed an hour of down time with my feet up, before turning around and driving myself all the way back for the meeting.
 
For all the work I put forth to get to the meeting, I should have just bagged it….shhhh, don’t tell Terry Davis.  The most eventful thing at the pro meeting was a raffle where they gave away about 30 – 40 items to the 70 or so pros.  I won nothing, and after the 15 minute meeting with about 10 minutes of raffling, I drove back to have dinner and make final preparations, but most importantly…to put my feet up.

I love West coast races because here, I gain an hour, so getting up early for a race is no big deal.  After some oatmeal and yogurt and the usual bathroom trips, I was ready to race.  The morning was beautiful; I never really took notice of the windy conditions, but did notice the clear blue skies and the mild weather.  At 8:30 I had my F2R wetsuit on and was the first athlete in the water.  I swam for the next 25 minutes doing some pseudo 50 and 25’s to get warmed up well.  The water temp was awesome, nice and cool.

The pro swim start was smooth and I stayed in the lead group the whole way.  Coming down the final stretch, it seemed the leaders were just a few seconds up and I contemplated going hard to try and get the swim prime.  However, I never picked up my pace and finished steady in 6th place, not knowing what to expect in my first 70.3 race I wanted to stay conservative.  My transition went well and I was the third man to start biking.  I was a bit lost the first few miles of the bike as it was not up the same way as the Olympic distance course which I had done in 2004 and assumed was the same.  Nope, it was a beat up rode and a steady climb.  I could tell that my legs were not as fresh as they were 6 days ago at St Anthony’s; I thought to myself, “Maybe I shouldn’t have done that Tuesday night group ride”.  Ah well, it didn’t pay off at Wildflower, but it will down the road for other races….

By the time we made it up the hill and out onto the highway (about mile 6) I was biking with the lead group; and the 10 of us were all within 40 to 50 seconds.  That’s when Bjorn Anderson biked powerfully to the front and steadily pulled away from everyone.  That’s also when we all began cursing the wind.  We were riding right into it and it took a measured effort to stay straight and keep a good speed.  Miles 15 thru 20 were exasperating for me.  I was thinking these Half’s are not my thing.  I was suffering already and all I could think about was the miles and miles of biking I had left with hills and wind, not too mention my first half marathon after all that.  I couldn’t fathom finishing with an even moderately good pace.  DNF’ing crept into my mind. 

I tried to keep positive and focus on the task at hand, making small achievements and small goals along my journey.  I lost significant time cresting one of the hills when my small chain ring did not quickly jump to the big chain ring.  That’s when I started to lose sight of the lead group and the gearing problem was to be an unfortunate theme the rest of the race.

Then the bomb dropped, one of the motorcycles pulled up next to me, around mile 25 and pointed to the side of the road, wanting me to pull over.  He announced that I was not staggering and that I would have to serve a 2 minute stand down penalty that would start as soon as both of my feet were on the ground.  I quickly, got my feet out of the pedals and onto the ground so that my count down could begin.  I protested, nicely, that the guy in front of me was at least 70 meters in front of me.  He said, “It doesn’t matter, as long as you can see him you must stagger.”  Ah well, OK…seemed pretty lame to me, a warning would have been nice as I clearly wasn’t gaining an advantage in the strong winds of the day.  He was on the right side of the road; I was closer to the right side of the road, partly because it was scary hugging the center line in those windy conditions with trucks hauling boats whipping by on the other side.  I felt like I was standing there with my pants down as 6 or 7 riders zipped by me.

After 2 minutes of subdued eternity, I was off on my way.  With one guy again about 70 meters up on me.  It was nice 10 or 15 minutes later when he had ridden out of sight to be able to ride in the prime real estate of the pavement of my choice.  My race had changed since the penalty.  The urgency and race mentality gave way to finishing a strong race.  After struggling up Nasty Grade and turning back into the wind my mentality changed to survival mode.  The last 10 miles were tough and the aches and pains in my lower back and legs were being amplified.  I was still having problem switching gears cresting hills and that’s when I dropped my chain.  I tried to fix it while riding but it just wouldn’t catch.  I stopped for a second time, while 2 more riders whipped by me and out of sight before getting my momentum up again. 

Finally, it was time to test my mettle with my first half marathon.  I was all alone for the first 6 miles of the run.  I had ran at a comfortable pace earring on the side of caution wanting to first and foremost finish the race in a healthy state…i.e. no med tent.  I pillaged every aid station, usually grabbing 2 waters and a Gatorade while also having one of the Cal Poly volunteers splash me.  Thank You volunteers for all your help and encouragement, you guys are awesome!  I was first passed just past the 6 mile marker and then 3 more guys passed me by the finish.  With so many steep hills and the wind still howling, it was not surprising that the last hill almost broke me.  It was from mile 10 to 12, a long steady climb into the wind and on the pavement.  I was slowing considerably and fantasizing about getting to the 12 mile marker.  Upon finally reaching it, I had an ear to ear smile because I knew, for sure, that I was going to finish in one piece.  After mile 12 it was all down hill to the finish and a very satisfactory 1st Half Ironman.

2007 WILDFLOWER RESULTS 

May 1, 2007 — Press Release: The 24th annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon kicked off another milestone year with a record number of more than 4,000 amateur and professional athletes from 46 states and 15 countries. The first wave of the Olympic-distance race began when the professional male competitors entered the calm 77-degree waters of the Tampa Bay at 7 a.m.

Once completing the 1.5K (0.9-mile) swim, athletes transitioned into the 40K (24.8-mile) bike portion throughout downtown St. Petersburg and final 10K (6.2-mile) run. Spectators lined both sides of the finish line to cheer on athletes at the end of their almost 32-mile competition.

After a third place finish in the 2006 St. Anthony’s Triathlon, Matt Reed of Boulder, Colo., maintained his lead in this year’s race to become the professional male champion with a finish time of 1:46:10—breaking the previous record set by Rasmus Henning of Denmark (1:46:14) in 2006.

“This is a nice way to come back,” said Reed, 32, a native of New Zealand. “I planned to ride hard, have a big lead and hold it. The course was fast all the way around. Once in front, it was out-of-sight, out-of-mind.”

The record breaking triathlon continued when the top two female professional athletes— Michelle Dillon and Sarah Haskins—broke a 14-year record set by Donna Peters (1:59:00) with a 1:57:45 and 1:57:49 finish, respectively.

Surprised by her record win, Dillon, 34, said it was a difficult race. “I was 40 seconds down on my run. It was a matter of pushing myself.” Dillon is an Olympian from Great Britain. Haskins, 26, also finished second in last year’s St. Anthony’s Triathlon. “I had a big lead, but I’m happy with second place and my bike and swim.”

Australians Greg Bennett, 35, and Craig Alexander, 34, rounded out the top three professional male. Bennett had a finish time of 1:46:30 and Alexander had a finish time of 1:48:07. Bennett was the 2005 St. Anthony’s pro male winner. Julie Diebens completed the race in under two hours to place third with a time of 1:59:06.

As one of the nation’s premier multi-sport events, St. Anthony’s Triathlon, sponsored and produced by St. Anthony’s Health Care, is known for attracting high-caliber, world-class athletes to its scenic course along the waterfront of downtown St. Petersburg.

By Timothy Carlson
Photo Credit: Timothy Carlson
 
The strong pro men’s field charges into the water at the ‘07 St. Anthony’s Triathlon
 
St. Petersburg, Florida - On a mild sunny day with smooth water and a windless bike, America’s Matt Reed and Great Britain’s Michelle Dillon set course records in winning the 24th annual Olympic distance non-drafting classic St. Anthony’s Triathlon.

But while defending Escape From Alcatraz champion Reed used a killer bike split to tame a talented field that included former ITU number one Greg Bennett, Ironman 70.3 world champion Craig Alexander and Ironman star Chris McCormack, 2005 ITU Duathlon World Champion Dillon used a slashing come-from-behind run to take a nail bitingly close duel with rising American star Sarah Haskins.

Reed’s third-best 17:29 swim and monster 53:54 bike split gave the 6-foot 5-inch, New Zealand born U.S. star a 2:33 to 2:47 advantage on his six closest pursuers. Reed’s fourth-best 33:06 closing 10km run was just enough to hold off Bennett’s sizzling, race-best 30:58 run by 20 seconds at the finish.

Reed’s 1:46:10 finishing time just nipped the course record set by Denmark’s Rasmus Henning last year, and gave the tall Kiwi native a comfortable 1:57 margin over third place Alexander and 2:41 over fourth place Chris McCormack.

“This win means a lot to my confidence,” said Reed, who took home a $10,000 check and great sense of relief that a late season 2006 slump due to a three-month siege of the cytomegalo virus was over. “I needed a win and now I can focus on the American races and making the 2008 Olympic team.”

By contrast, Dillon emerged from the calm, 76-degree waters of Tampa Bay 2 minutes 8 seconds behind eventual runner-up Haskins and 1 minute 22 seconds behind eventual third place finisher and fellow Great Briton Julie Dibens. After a strong, second-best bike of 1:00:18, Dillon started the run 1:25 behind Dibens, 1 minute behind Haskins and 59 seconds behind defending St. Anthony’s champion Becky Lavelle.

Then the 34-year-old Dillon turned on her proven running jets, using a race-best 35:28 run to blast past an off-form Lavelle, rising American Margaret Shapiro, an ailing, off-form Lavelle and the stubborn excellence of Dibens to tuck in behind Haskins with a mile to go.
 
What followed was the highlight of the day, an old fashioned game of surges and counter surges that was decided by a fifth-gear sprint for the final 100 yards.

At the end, Dillon prevailed, hitting the line in 1:57:45 with an overmatched Haskins an exhausted but honorable 4 seconds back.

The Women
 
Photo Credit: Timothy Carlson
 
Haskins and Dillon in the midst of their epic run battle.
 

Super swimmer Sara McLarty led the swim with a 17:31, with Haskins out in 18:05, Dibens in 18:51, Lavelle in 18:55 and the ever-dangerous half-Ironman stars Mirinda Carfrae (19:26) and Samantha McGlone (20:15) starting the bike with duathlon star Dillon (20:13).

While McLarty, training through this race, quickly fell off her best form, Dibens (1:00:15 best bike split) and Dillon (1:00:18), Haskins (1:01:26), Margaret Shapiro 1:00:29) and Lavelle (1:01:30) charged while McGlone (1:01:55) and Carfrae (1:02:24) arrived in T2 with the second wave.

With Lavelle off last year’ winning form thanks to a lingering bronchitis that struck her while training in Australia last month for the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup, Dillon sliced from fourth at T2 to erasing Haskins’ 1:25 lead with one mile to go running along the elegant St. Petersburg residential waterfront.

“I know Michelle’s a very good runner and has a good sprint, so I tried to surge earlier,” said Haskins. “When I saw how close she had come by the run turnaround with 3 miles left, I thought ‘Oh, she’s flying!’‘”

Dillon said she was just able to see a tiny head far ahead at the beginning of the run. “I thought she was catchable,” said the hunter. “So I dug deep.”

When Dillon arrived at Haskins’ heels, she ticked in behind to rest and take the measure of her rival. “It had taken me so long to catch her, I thought I’d take a bit of a breather,” said Dillon. “I thought ‘I’m going to sit on her and wait to out sprint her at the end. But it wasn’t as simple as that.”

Dillon recalls: “A half mile out, I tried to break, but I was really fatiguing and she surged back. So I thought: ‘OK. Let her come back to me I’ll give it one more try at the end.”

Dillon edged ahead with 200 yards to go, but Haskins had a little more in the tank and evened the gap.

“I knew she had been sitting on me to kick at the end, but I wasn’t going to make it easy for her,” said Haskins. “Then, at 100 yards to go, she surged again and I just didn’t have any more.”

Dillon too was at the end of her rope. “I worked so hard to catch up, I was pretty much at my limits and out of speed at the end,” said Dillon, who also took home a $10,000 winner’s check. “Thankfully, today it was enough.’

Dillon, who has won three prestigious ITU World Cups in addition to her 2005 ITU Duathlon world title and a bronze medal at the 2002 ITU Triathlon World Championship, has decided to forgo a promising turn to the 70.3 distance. “I took second at the Monaco Ironman 70.3 last year, but I had so many back problems I decided it wasn’t worth it to go long and I’m sticking with the Olympic distance.”

Dibens, a two-time Olympic triathlete for Great Britain, is coming off a win at Xterra Guam and a second at XTerra Saipan and is planning to hit the ITU World Cup circuit to compete for a third Olympic berth.

The Men
Photo Credit: Timothy Carlson
 
Matty Reed absolutely blazed the bike in order to secure his eventual win.
 
After Pittsburgh’s Erick Limkemann took the swim prime from Brian Fleischmann and Matty Reed emerged a few seconds back, the real race began.

“I ran hard to get ahead in the transition because my plan was to get ahead at the start,” said Reed. “Out of sight, out of mind.”

Fleischmann, who was feeling good after an Australian training stint, tried to stay with Reed but found it impossible.
“When Matty’s on, he’s golden,” said Fleischmann. “So when he got going, there was no stopping him.”

When they heard Reed’s increasing margin, the chase pack which consisted of Craig Alexander, Chris McCormack, Greg Bennett, Fleischmann and Richie Cunningham (and Kevin Everett) wondered aloud what was happening.

“I don’t know how he got three minutes on us,” said Alexander. “I was in the groove with Greg Bennett and Macca and I’m thinking Matty must have ridden like Superman.”

“I did think that was the question - how did he get there,” said Bennett. “The thing is, Matty is a real strong rider and he did nothing wrong to get there. But when we saw how close the leader’s vehicle was, I thought it was too close. I do think the races need to make sure that car is way out in front. If I had my preference, the lead car would be a quarter mile in front.”

From this observer’s viewpoint, the lead car varied from 50 to 200 yards ahead of Reed most of the time.

. “The thing is, we’ve all been there,” said Bennett. “When I won New York last year, I had a lead car that was way too close. The way I look at it, it’s not Matt’s responsibility. He was very strong today and next time I’ll just have to beat him to the front.”

While one Hall of Fame observer noted that “it was impossible to put three minutes on men like Chris McCormack, Craig Alexander and Greg Bennett on a flat course without some help from the lead vehicle,’ some mitigating factors might contradict that theory.

Number one, 11th place finisher Andrew Starykowicz rode just 68 seconds slower than Reed on the bike.

Number two, none of the chase pack was at top form. Bennett had to stop to remove from tape from his disc wheel that got caught in his brakes; Alexander was still a bit tight coming off his first Ironman a month prior. And McCormack, focusing on Ironman training, was lacking any sprint speed whatsoever.
 
Photo Credit: Timothy Carlson
 
Greg Bennett used an equally impressive run to nearly reel in Reed.
 

For his part, Reed was indignant with in his typical understated dignity. “It does help to key off the lead car, but I never felt a draft off it,” said Reed.  “Besides, when I saw them after the bike turnaround, it looked to me like there was a pack of 12 enjoying a draft. Half of them had fresh legs for the run because they were sitting in the pack.”

In fact, USA Triathlon pro rules prevailed, which meant that the pros had to abide by the so-called stagger rule, which meant that riders could ride nearly side by side as long as they kept more than 10 meters distance behind the rider directly in front. This means that a group of rider may appear to observers to be riding in a pack - albeit a group which is constantly shifting to avoid tracking in the path of the riders in front. For his part, McCormack said that situation provided no advantage.

“It’s a funny rule,” said Macca. “It’s not very effective and it doesn’t seem to work. Plus we are weaving around so much to avoid a penalty I think I rode 41 kilometers today!”

The field was thinned somewhat when top US star Hunter Kemper withdrew with a lingering injury, Andy Potts stayed home for the birth of a child, and defending champion Rasmus Henning was recovering from a long term injury.

The Amateurs

Greg Roualt, 27, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, demolished a good field with a near amateur overall record time of 1:52:57, 2 minutes 36 seconds ahead of runner-up Curt Wood of Chaska Minnesota and 3 minutes 30 seconds ahead of third place Eric Bell of Knoxville, Tennessee.

By contrast, Lotte Branigan of Vero Beach, Florida passed 43-year-old, perennial age group star Linda Robb of Juno Beach, Florida, with just a mile left on the run to seal a 10-second margin of victory in 2:03:15.

24th annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon
St. Petersburg, Florida
April 29, 2007
S 1.5 k/ B 40k/ R 10k

Results

Pro Men

1. Matt Reed (Boulder, Co) 1:46:10 * course record
2 Greg Bennett (Aus) 1:46:30
3. Craig Alexander (Aus) 1:48:07
4. Chris McCormack (Aus) 1:48:51
5. Brian Fleischmann (Colorado Springs, Co) 1:49:28
6. Richie Cunningham (Aus) 1:49:39
7. Sean Bechtel (Can) 1:49:47
8. David Thompson (St. Paul Mn) 1:51:01
9. Eric Limkemann (Pittsburgh Pa) 1:51:40
10. Marcus Ornellas (Bra) 1:52:01
11. Andrew Starykowicz (Long Grove, IL) 1:53:09
12. Kevin Everett (Boise, ID) 1:53:46
22. Jimmy Archer (Boulder Co) 1:59:35

Pro women

1. Michelle Dillon (Gbr) 1:57:45 * course record
2. Sarah Haskins (Colorado Springs CO) 1:57:49
3. Julie Dibens (Gbr) 1:59:06
4. Mirinda Carfrae (Aus) 2:00:18
5. Samantha McGlone (Can) 2:00:26
6. Becky Lavelle (Los Gatos Ca) 2:00:32
7. Margaret Shapiro (Herndon Va) 2:01:02
8. Justine Whipple (Annapolis Md) 2:02:56
9. Dede Griesbauer (Boston Va) 2:04:49
10. Magdalena Stoickova (Slovakia) 2:06:27
11. Sara McLarty (DeLand Fl) 2:06:42
 

April 28, 2007 — Press Release: At a press conference held today in Dallas, Life Time Fitness Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bahram Akradi, along with Texas officials, event partners, and special guests, announced the expansion of the internationally renowned Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series to Dallas.    
To be held Sunday, October 14, 2007, the Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon Dallas event will serve as the championship race for the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series. Launched in 2006, the groundbreaking Series uniquely combines four of the most prominent Olympic distance triathlon events in the world: the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis, the Nautica New York City Triathlon, the Accenture Chicago Triathlon and the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon.    

“With the introduction of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in 2002, we set out to raise the bar of quality and awareness in the sport of triathlon, while providing the professional athletes who participate in this sport with a much-deserved, dramatic increase in prize purse opportunity,” said Akradi. “Taking our commitment one step further in 2006, we created the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series – a revolutionary effort designed to further heighten awareness of this healthy-way-of-life sport. In adding our new championship event in Dallas, I am excited to take our vision to a new level. We now offer five high-caliber events that cater to professionals and amateurs alike, and deliver a combined prize purse of nearly $1.5 million.”             
Extending its sponsorship of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. also has chosen to sponsor the new Dallas event and serve as presenting sponsor of the New York triathlon. “Our goal is to make the Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon, as the championship event of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series, a premiere venue for amateur and professional athletes,” said Steve Jett, National Advertising Manager, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. “Toyota is proud to support this world-class event as it aims to escalate the quality and competition of the sport, while giving back to the multi-sport community as a whole.”             
Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon Dallas features a stunning urban course, beginning at Joe Pool Lake in Cedar Hill State Park with a 1.5k swim, continuing through the communities of Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Dallas with a 40k bike, and concluding with the 10k run, which starts and ends at Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas.

New Point System Introduced for Series Professional Division
New to the Series in 2007 is a point system for the Female and Male Professional Divisions. Based upon professional athlete starts and finishes at each of the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series events, points will be awarded and used to determine the top three female and male athletes who will be eligible for the Series Bonus. In order to be eligible for the Series Bonus, athletes must start each of the Series races and earn a minimum of 39,000 points.     
 

Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series Bonus
Series bonuses will be awarded to the top three finishers in both the women’s and men’s professional divisions
should the same female or male pro finish first at all series events, a series super bonus of $300,000 will be awarded. 

2007 Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series Event Timeline
Life Time Fitness Triathlon (Minneapolis) – July 14
Nautica New York City Triathlon – July 22
Accenture Chicago Triathlon – August 26
Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon – September 9
Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon (Dallas) – October 14

About the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series
In groundbreaking fashion, the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series launched in 2006 and created the first-ever connection among the four most prominent Olympic-distance triathlon events in the United States. The Life Time Fitness Triathlon (ltftriathlon.com), held in Minneapolis, is produced by Life Time Fitness, Inc. The Accenture Chicago Triathlon (chicagotriathlon.com) is produced by Creative & Production Resources, Inc (CAPRI Events). The Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon (LATriathlon.com) is produced by Pacific Sports LLC. The Nautica New York City Triathlon (nyctri.com) is produced by Korff Enterprises. For more information, visit the respective event Web sites.  In 2007, the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series was expanded to include a new Championship event, the Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon Dallas.  Overall, the Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series offers nearly $1.5 million in prize purse.