Races
-
Update By Doe Boy
Posted on February 21st, 2010 No commentsWe are now only two weeks away from IM NZ and I can say that all the work is almost complete and is about time to rest up and let the excitement build towards race day.
Training has gone well for the last 6 weeks and the body has responded to the work load, the head is in the right place and I look forward to getting out there come march 5th to put together a strong and complete race to get my 2010 season under way.
To every one who is racing I hope the training has gone well and you enjoy the taper, and to all the supporters coming down to cheer us on I thank you in advance and look forward to seeing you all on the course.Safe training
Doe boyCheers,
Kieran Doe
www.doeboy.co.nz -
Alexander and Steffen win Ironman 70.3 Geelong 2010
Posted on February 7th, 2010 No comments
Craig Alexander launched his campaign for a third consecutive Ironman World Championship in perfect style, successfully defending his title at today’s Ironman 70.Geelong. The Australian beat a stellar field which included his countryman and 2008 race champion Leon Griffin, and Australia’s youngest ever Ironman champion Tim Berkel (NSW), who finished second and third respectively.In the women’s race, Switzerland’s Caroline Steffen took her inaugural Ironman 70.3 victory. Last year’s winner Sam Warriner (New Zealand) narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth behind Australia’s Carrie Lester and Lisa Marangon.
1,500 athletes took part in today’s event, held at picturesque Eastern Beach in Geelong, Victoria. They were treated to ideal race conditions, with a light breeze and the sun breaking through just as the starter’s gun fired.
The professional field had the benefit of a five minute head start over the rest of the age group and team competitors. As expected, Clayton Fettell established an early lead, emerging from the 1.9km swim in an astonishing 21:54, over two minutes clear of the chase group which included Alexander, Paul Ambrose, Michael Murphy and Jan Rehula. Griffin, Berkel, Peter Schokman and Matty White were a further 10-15 seconds behind.
An accomplished swimmer and water polo player, 23-year-old Fettell has been working hard to develop his bike/run combination since winning last year’s Gold Coast Half Ironman. Last month he finished 14th overall in the national time trial cycling championships, and it was clear that his tactic going in to the 90.1km bike leg would be to throw out the challenge to “catch me if you can.”
By the end of the first lap, he had already extended his lead by a further minute. Meanwhile, the original chase group had been joined by a secondary group which included notoriously strong cyclists Jason Shortis and Ollie Whistler.
Fettell later said that he was “riding scared,” however he is clearly well motivated by fear, as he had developed a buffer of almost five minutes by the time he entered the bike/run transition. He ran out strongly, however it was clear that the race was by no means over, with a group including Alexander, Griffin, Berkel, White and Schokman in hot pursuit.
By the end of the first lap, Fettell’s lead had been whittled down to just two minutes, and at the 11km mark, he was finally passed by Alexander, and then Griffin. Berkel kept a steady but solid pace to gradually run through the field to claim third position.
In his post-race interview, a typically humble Alexander said, “I’m really happy with that. That was a solid hit-out, especially considering all the travel. I’ve done a strong block of training these last five or six weeks.”
He noted that there is a huge amount of talent coming up through the ranks, offering particular praise to Leon Griffin. “Griff’s on the same sort of upswing as me. He had a great race. I think he’s very under-rated. He finished ninth in Clearwater last year, which is the world championship for this distance. He received a four minute penalty and lot of guys felt he was hardly done by. He’s a great athlete.”
Griffin returned the compliment, saying “Today was always going to come down to a running race. Craig showed why he’s the world champion, he ran away with ease.”
Next stop for Alexander is likely to be Ironman 70.3 Singapore at the end of March, before he and his family head to the US where he will continue his preparation for the Ford Ironman World Championship with a number of the major Ironman 70.3 and Olympic Distance races.
Steffen dominates the women’s race
The women’s race unfolded very differently. In the early stages, it appeared that the match-race between defending champion Warriner and her Swiss rival Caroline Steffen would develop as predicted, with Warriner leading her competitors out of the swim.However, Steffen quickly stamped her authority on the bike course, saying later that the slightly undulating terrain suits her perfectly. By the end of the first lap she had taken the lead from Warriner, with Lisa Marangon in third position.
From there, Steffen took control of the race, eventually winning by exactly five minutes over Marangon and a fast-finishing Carrie Lester. Warriner finished a disappointing fourth.
An ecstatic Steffen said “It feels awesome to win! It’s my first win in a 70.3 race. I had an awesome day, I felt so strong. I did my own race, and never looked back.”
Steffen’s win today qualifies her for the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3, where she finished fourth last year.
TOP FIVE RESULTS – PROFESSIONAL MEN & WOMEN
Position Overall
1. Craig Alexander (NSW) 3:53:15
2. Leon Griffin (VIC) 3:54:35
3. Tim Berkel (NSW) 3:56:10
4. Peter Schokman (NSW) 3:56:25
5. Clayton Fettell (NSW) 3:56:391. Caroline Steffen (SWI) 4:14:32
2. Carrie Lester (QLD) 4:19:32
3. Lisa Marangon (NSW) 4:19:49
4. Samantha Warriner (NZ) 4:23:01
5. Nicole Ward (NSW) 4:30:29Source: Ironman.com
-
Wellington Sets a New Standard
Posted on October 11th, 2009 No comments
She might not have quite led from start to finish here today at the Ford Ironman World Championship, but almost from the gun the race here in Kailua-Kona was had a predictable conclusion as Chrissie Wellington broke Paula Newby-Fraser’s course record.Wellington trailed after her 54-minute swim, but was still in eighth place in the women’s race thanks to her 54:31 swim split. The swim was led by South Africa’s Lucie Zelenkova, but the race lead was truly on loan from Wellington – it wouldn’t take long before the defending champ would take the lead.
Wellington simply rode away from a field that included the best the world had to offer. By the time she was finished the bike ride she had a lead of over 11 minutes on her closest competitor and almost a half hour on some of the women expected to compete with her for the win, including athletes like Leanda Cave, Mirinda Carfrae and Rebekah Keat.
The run finally provided some interesting racing … but not for the win. The two burning questions during the run were simple: would Wellington break Newby-Fraser’s course record and who would come second.
In the end the runner-up position would go to Carfrae, who set a new run course record to pass seven women during the marathon to post an impressive first Ironman. Virginia Berasategui would hang on for third, while Tereza Macel would hang in for fourth. Fifth across the line was Keat, but she would eventually be disqualified, which put Canadian Samantha McGlone in the official fifth spot.
Coming into this race it was thought that Wellington could run away with the race – which she did. It was thought that she would also break the course record – which she did, also, but Newby-Fraser took satisfaction in the fact that Wellington had to suffer through some tough miles during the marathon to do that.
If there was any doubt that Chrissie Wellington has redefined Ironman since she blazed onto the scene here in Kona in 2007, that was all erased today as she truly put herself in the record books with another incredible performance.
1 08:54:02 101 Wellington, Chrissie Feltwell NOR GBR 54:31 4:52:07 3:03:06
2 09:13:59 131 Carfrae, Mirinda Brisbane QLD AUS 58:45 5:14:18 2:56:51
3 09:15:28 106 Berasategui, Virginia Bilbao BIZ ESP 58:52 5:01:42 3:10:43
4 09:23:43 127 Macel, Tereza Toronto ON CAN 53:29 5:04:17 3:21:12
5 09:30:28 126 McGlone, Samantha Tucson AZ USA 58:47 5:16:17 3:11:27
6 09:32:27 146 Joyce, Rachel London MID GBR 53:31 5:10:03 3:23:43
7 09:34:45 113 Lawn, Joanna Auckland AUK NZL 57:16 5:19:10 3:13:35
8 09:38:28 103 Wallenhorst, Sandra Hannover NIE GER 1:03:07 5:20:43 3:09:24
9 09:40:59 110 Griesbauer, Dede Boston MA USA 55:05 5:10:22 3:30:53
10 09:42:41 125 Stewart, Tyler Novato CA USA 1:08:31 5:06:20 3:22:59
11 09:44:27 105 Corbin, Linsey Missoula MT USA 1:03:05 5:19:12 3:17:37
12 09:47:00 129 Deckers, Tine Wijgmaal VLA BEL 1:02:55 5:08:44 3:31:05
13 09:50:13 154 Tajsich, Sonja Sinzing GER 1:12:06 5:14:35 3:17:54
14 09:51:59 112 Snow, Caitlin Brockton MA USA 58:50 5:32:52 3:14:41
15 09:55:48 137 Niederfriniger, Edith Merano BZ ITA 59:46 5:24:21 3:26:36Source: Ironman.com
-
Another win for Alexander
Posted on October 11th, 2009 No comments
There are only four men who have ever managed to repeat as Ford Ironman World Championship. The fourth joined the exclusive group today – Craig Alexander managed to do what has been so difficult for others today with a convincing win today, beating a truly world-class field in the process as he ran his way to his second successive win here at the Ford Ironman World Championship.Alexander was the first to acknowledge, though, that his impressive achievement was one of the hardest things he’s ever done. To win this race he had to overcome Chris Lieto’s 12-minute lead off the bike, which he did thanks to a 2:48 marathon.
The day began with two early breakaway swim leaders, American’s John Flanagan and Andy Potts. Those two were eventually joined on the bike by a huge group – at times the main group of men’s leaders included almost 20 men.Lieto broke away from the rest of the field during the bike ride today, content to ride with the leaders through the early stages of the ride. When he did make his move, though, the American flew away from the field, using the descent from Hawi to open a gap that he extended along the typically challenging last 40 miles of the bike ride along the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway.
By the end of the ride, Lieto was well clear of the rest of the field, although it looked like 2007 Ford Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack, who had overcome an unusually disappointing swim to surge into third place overall off the bike might be the man set to pose the biggest challenge to the American as he came off the bike behind two Germans, Maik Twelsiek and 2005 Kona champion Faris Al-Sultan.
Early in the run it looked like McCormack would be the man to move to the front, but it was Alexander, who found himself a running partner in the form of Andreas Raelert, who would steadily move towards the front of the race. By the time they were in the Energy Lab, Lieto’s lead was down to four minutes. That’s when Alexander decided it was time to go – he easily pulled away from Raelert and started to chase Lieto. The lead dropped by almost a minute per mile until Alexander took the lead for good shortly after exiting the Energy Lab. Lieto gallantly tried to go with the Australian defending champ, but simply couldn’t match Alexander’s incredible pace as he ran towards his second straight title.
Lieto hung tough for second, an impressive race for the American. With Raelert following up his second place finish in Clearwater and win at Ford Ironman Arizona last November with a third place finish here today. McCormack managed a 2:55 marathon, despite having to stop and walk for parts of the marathon and claimed fourth ahead of Denmark’s Rasmus Henning, who’s incredible fifth place finish came despite a broken hand that was operated on just a few weeks ago.
In the end, though, there was no one who could stop Craig Alexander’s incredible drive to the finish line and impressive step into Ironman history. Today he added his name to those of the greats in our sport – Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Tim DeBoom – by winning the Ford Ironman World Championship two years in a row.
1 08:20:21 1 Alexander, Craig Cronulla NSW AUS 50:57 4:37:33 2:48:05
2 08:22:56 24 Lieto, Chris Danville CA USA 51:07 4:25:11 3:02:35
3 08:24:32 54 Raelert, Andreas Drage NS GER 51:00 4:38:01 2:51:05
4 08:25:20 15 McCormack, Chris Burraneer NSW AUS 52:51 4:32:45 2:55:59
5 08:28:17 32 Henning, Rasmus Birkerod DNK 51:06 4:37:07 2:55:33
6 08:28:52 28 Bracht, Timo Eberbach GER 54:30 4:33:49 2:56:27
7 08:29:55 79 Bockel, Dirk Munsbach LUX 50:50 4:37:29 2:57:42
8 08:30:15 161 Jacobs, Pete Sydney NSW AUS 50:03 4:38:41 2:57:14
9 08:30:30 7 Potts, Andy Colorado Spr CO USA 47:45 4:46:07 2:52:15
10 08:31:44 11 Al-Sultan, Faris Al-Ain ABU UAE 50:53 4:33:40 3:03:11
11 08:34:45 30 Bozzone, Terenzo Auckland NZL 50:55 4:37:25 3:02:47
12 08:35:10 14 Twelsiek, Maik Lemgo NRW GER 52:54 4:28:34 3:09:27
13 08:37:29 8 Hecht, Mathias Willisau LUZ SWI 50:54 4:37:32 3:04:47
14 08:37:55 2 Llanos, Eneko Vitoria-Gast ARA ESP 51:06 4:37:17 3:05:03
15 08:38:38 25 McKenzie, Luke Tweed Heads NSW AUS 50:51 4:37:29 3:06:19Source: Ironman.com
-
Ironmanlife: Ambassador Alexander
Posted on September 27th, 2009 No commentsKevin Mackinnon catches up with the defending Ford Ironman World Champion
Make no mistake, Craig Alexander is one of the most competitive guys you will ever meet. He loves to win races, and he does that more often than he doesn’t. What makes Alexander such a great champion, though, is that he realizes that what he did last year – win the Ford Ironman World Championship – was a feat that came with a lot of responsibility, and he’s happy to bear that responsibility in order to try and make our sport even better.Like Chrissie Wellington, I’m quite happy to call Craig Alexander one of the best ambassadors our sport has ever seen. I’ve yet to find someone who doesn’t think Crowie (his nickname) is a class act and great guy. Heck, even Chris McCormack doesn’t try and trash talk with the guy before a race. (“Crowie just laughs and tells me to shut up,” Macca says.) Which is why, when I asked him if he’d rather be remembered as an Ironman world champion or as one of the greatest ambassadors our sport has ever seen, Alexander jumped on the latter.
“That’s more important,” he says. “In hindsight, I’ve looked back at so many of the greatest athletes our sport has ever seen and once they retire, especially in Australia, they’re not utilized to promote the sport and they disappear. I’d like to be remembered as a good athlete and as a good guy. It’s important to promote yourself and your family well and represent yourself well and to be remembered for that.”
That doesn’t mean the guy isn’t burning to win another world championship in Kona. Alexander says he never tires of hearing the words “defending Ford Ironman World Champion.” He shouldn’t – his was a long, well-deserved journey.
It’s easy to think that since the guy has been so successful over the last few years that it’s always been easy, but in reality it hasn’t. Alexander watched as his training partner McCormack won world titles and dominated triathlon racing before he started to win races. One of the things that makes him such a great athlete is the fact that he didn’t sit around complaining because other people were winning and he wasn’t. He did something about it.
Even two days before he won the Foster Grant Ironman 70.3 World title in Clearwater in 2006 he was still a relative unknown in many Ironman circles. (OK, I plead guilty – I was winging that interview at the press conference!) Crowie was all-too-aware that most of the triathlon world didn’t know much about him, but he had already figured out how he could change that.
“Coming into Clearwater, I’d never raced Kona,” he says. “My mission was to try and make a name for myself. As I’ve got older I’ve figured out that you can waste energy winging about it, or you can turn it around and use it to your advantage. At the end of the day we’re in sport – everyone loves a winner. You can finish third and complain that everyone is interviewing the winner, or you can figure out how you can be the winner.”All those years of watching Macca do those post-race interviews? They just served as fuel for Alexander as he trained harder and harder to become arguably the world’s best distance triathlete. Now that he’s got that Kona title and all the fame that goes along with it, he’s pretty determined to do it again, but doesn’t seem to be putting a huge amount of pressure on himself.
“It’s not important for me to go there and win,” he says, “But it’s very important that I put out a performance that I can be proud of. If you look at the great athletes in our sport over any distance, they’ve been consistent. The best athletes, when they’ve gone there, they’ve put out a good effort every time. They might not have won, but they’ve been in the mix.”
Part of Alexander’s impressive outlook and perspective comes from the incredible family support he has. He’s been married to Neri for a decade, there are two daughters who will smile and laugh with him whether he wins or not (OK, the oldest, Lucy, pretty much has only ever seen him win, so she probably thinks that’s just the norm) – the bottom line is this guy doesn’t need to win races to feel good about himself.
“I think having a family adds a lot of perspective to your life,” Alexander says. “Triathlon has been my life for a long time. It’s been my job but also my passion. I guess it can consume you … it’s all me, me, me. As you move on in life you see that you can have other things and still race well. As you get older and more mature it’s easy to focus on the race when it’s time to focus on the race. My life will be complete with or without triathlon. The fact that I get to do something I love for a living is the cream.”
“Getting a family, it intensifies your focus even more,” he continues. “I draw a lot of inspiration from the fact that the family has sacrificed a lot and that they’re there watching. At the end of the day we go home as a family and life goes on.”
So, does that mean Craig Alexander won’t arrive at the start line in just under two weeks fiercely determined to win? Ha! Ask Richie Cunningham what it was like to run 3:20/ km at the Muskoka 70.3 race … and not keep up with Crowie.
“I think I’m fit,” Alexander said on the finish line in Muskoka to Cunningham and myself. That was, without a doubt, the biggest understatement of 2009.
Which is what makes Craig Alexander such a great champion. He wants to win, but he’s also very attuned to the fact that there’s much more to being great than simply winning races.
“We all need each other – the sport’s healthy with the amateur ranks are healthy, when the pro ranks are healthy, when the races are filling up, when there’s lots of participation and corporation and community support of the races. If you can help in some way being the world champion, it’s important to do it. It’s more important to do that than just win races. A lot of people have won races.”
For all the wins, what I’ll always remember Craig Alexander for is the fact the he’s such a great guy – who happens to be very fast, too.
Source: Ironman.com