Racing Around the Beautiful Bays of Huatulco · 2016. 9. 28. · Elizabeth Anderson Pat Brown Bettina Younge Adam Hodges Wes Hobson Darrin Eismann Contributing Photographers: Timothy

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Last year while reading the lat-est triathlon magazine I cameacross an advertisement for theMexico Half Ironman. The large adshowed Huatulco’s beautifulwhite sandy beaches with crystalblue water, along with a substan-tial professional prize purse. Now Ihave been down to Mexico manytimes before for racing and vaca-tion and have seen the brochures,but rarely did they come close tomy lowest expectations. I was sur-prised and happy to report thatHuatulco Mexico lived up to andbeyond my highest expectations.

So this year when the race directorcalled and invited me back downgain, I jumped at the chance.

Huatulco’s bays (there are nine

of them) are located along the coastof Oaxaca, at the end of theSouthern Sierra Madre Mountains.Because of its geographic location,

the Huatulco Bays’ topography isformed by gorgeous green moun-tains, meandering valleys andslopes and is quite rough anduneven. This makes for some great

recreational activities suchas mountain biking,repelling, white water raft-ing and of course, swim-ming, biking and running.Also due to its geographiclocation, the weather can bedown right hot! When youput the topography and cli-mate together, what youhave is one challenging halfironman.

From a professional’spoint of view, there areclearly not enough half iron-mans with a substantialprize purse out there for usto do. This is the one dis-tance where the Olympicdistance specialist can gohead to head with the longcourse specialist and no oneathlete is really at an advan-tage. You must race hardfrom the gun, but still youmust race your own race atyour own pace, much like inan ironman.

. . . . continued on page 17

Photography by Mario Herrera Glenn

Racing Around the Beautiful Bays of HuatulcoPat Brown places 4th at the Mexico Half Ironman

THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE WINTER 2002

WINTER 2002CONTENTS

Florida’s SuccessAn interview with Tony DeBoom on his second place finish at Ironman Florida by Elizabeth Anderson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

2001 Xterra World ChampionshipsStoltz decimates the field,Hobson retires from pro racingby Kristen McFarland . . . .22Colorado Results . . . . . . . .16

2001: An Xterra OdysseyA look back at the U.S. Tourby Neal Henderson. . . . . . .122002 Xterra Races . . . . . . .16

The Beautiful Baysof HuatulcoPat Brown places fourth atthe Mexico Half Ironmanby Pat Brown. . . . . . . . . . . .2

Strength Training for Multisport Athletesby Neal Henderson . . . . . . .9

Below: Stoltz heads into T2 atthe Xterra Championships

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Intervals Along The WayJoyfully Overcoming Adversityby Kristen McFarland . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Wind Sprints:DeBooms have celebration to benefit

the Wilderness SocietyFernandez defends title at UltramanAwards and Nominations . . . . . . . . .6

On a Mission: The Universityof Colorado Triathlon Teamby Bettina Younge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Clubs Around the State . . . . .5

On the Cover: Tony DeBoom on the bikeat Ironman Florida and, above, givinginterviews after the race.Photography by Timothy Carlson, courtesyof Inside Triathlon magazine.

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Joyfully Overcoming AdversityTriathletes sure are tough. An obvious statement,

you say? Well, of course. Nothing exemplifies thisstatement more, however, than when a triathlete facesa physical challenge that threatens to take them out ofthe game, and end their racing days.

Karen Smyers has arguably had the most success-ful career of any female professional in the sport’s his-tory. She won the ITU World Championship twice(olympic distance), the U.S. Pro Nationals 7 times, andthe ITU Long Distance World Championship. In 1995she was so dominant that she took first at the HawaiiIronman, the Pan Am Games, the ITU World

Championships, and the U.S. ProNationals.

This powerhouse of a womanhas had a few bumps along theway, though, to say the least. In ‘97she had an accident that sliced herhamstring severely. She decided tohave a baby during her rehabilita-tion, but had to have a Caesareansection after 48 hours of labor.Finally back in training for theIronman in ‘98, she was hit by aneighteen-wheeler while on her bikeand broke six ribs and separatedher shoulder.

Her 1999 season was goingwell, she had some great results .Then during an ultrasound check ofher collar bone, a mass was discov-ered around her thyroid gland and

she was told that it could be cancer. This was only amonth before the Hawaii Ironman. She raced anyway,and placed second! Then in her last event of the sea-son, an ITU points race in Mexico, she was involvedwith a crash on the bike and broke her collar bone,DNF’ing for the very first time.

Karen was subsequently diagnosed with cancer,went through radiation and eventually had her thy-roid removed. Despite all of this, she came back towin the pro nationals again this year, and place fifth inHawaii.

One of the most amazing things about her story isthat through all of these many ordeals, she continuedto be so positive. Often considered the friendliest of

the pros, Karen is well known for her accessibility tothe age-groupers, her easy-going attitude, and perpet-ual good nature. And this from someone with plentyto complain about.

Czech triathlete Jan Rehula won the bronze medalin the inaugural Olympic Triathlon in Sydney. Then inJanuary he was out on a training ridewhen his seatpost broke and as hewent down he was impaled inthe back. He lost so muchblood he almost died andspent a week in intensivecare after surgery. Duringhis hospitalization he reg-ularly posted to the newsgroups about hisprogress and thankedeveryone for all of theirnotes and calls of sup-port. Not only has herecovered but he placedfifth at IronmanSwitzerland in Augustand completed theHawaii Ironman with a2:56 marathon.

Here at home,Longmont’s Jason Kaminskiwas almost killed by a hit-and-run driver while on a train-ing ride. Left for dead with a bro-ken skull, ribs, fibula, elbow, jaw, andright arm; punctured lung, torn knee ligaments, andsevere nerve damage to his right arm and hand, hewas discovered later by a school bus driver. Jasonwas barely back to work when he began making plansfor his next Ironman race. The next year he finishedIronman USA in Lake Placid, coming in 514th(11:40:19) out of a field of nearly 1800. He didn’t evenmiss a whole season of racing.

Triathletes have always been a source of inspira-tion, for their dedication anddiscipline as well as for theirathletic accomplishments.When they manage to achieveso much the face of tremendousodds, they become true heroes.

Intervals Along The Way

Photos: Jan Rahula (left) and Karen Smyers(right) cross the finish line at the IronmanWorld Championship, photos by KristenMcFarland

5THE COLORADO TRIATHLETE WINTER 2002

The ColoradoTriathlete

www.coloradotriathlete.com

1906 13th St., Suite 206Boulder,Colorado 80302

303.443.3371888.443.3371

[email protected]

Our Staff:Managing EditorKristen McFarlandAssistant Editor and Website DeveloperAdam HodgesContributing Writers:Neal HendersonElizabeth AndersonPat BrownBettina YoungeAdam HodgesWes Hobson Darrin EismannContributing Photographers:Timothy CarlsonKristen McFarlandMario Herrera GlennChris AcccardoJamie Janover Courtney StapletonLarry Higgins

We welcome and encouragesubmissions of all kinds relatedto triathlon, duathlon, and coach-ing (electronic is preferred).Contact us at the address above.

Copyright 2002. All rightsreserved. No part of this magazinemay be reproduced without thewritten permission of the publish-er. The Colorado Triathlete is a reg-istered trademark of COTRI, LLC.

This publication is dedicatedto the memory of William J. D.Miller.

TRIATHLON CLUBS AROUNDTRIATHLON CLUBS AROUNDTHE STATETHE STATE

Bad Boys and Girls Tri Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 3 . 7 9 6 . 8 5 8 1South Denver Metro Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected] Triathlon Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 3 . 9 3 8 . 2 1 0 9P.O.Box 3691, Boulder, CO 80307. . . . . .www.bouldertriathlonclub.orgColorado State University Triathlon Team

David Runkles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 970.221.0756Dave Scott’s MultiSport Club . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.davescottinc.com 3080 Valmont Road, Suite 242, Boulder, CO 80302 . . . . . .303.786.7184Northern Colorado Triathlon Club. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 9 7 0 . 2 2 5 . 0 2 1 2Ft. Collins, Brian Schwartz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.go.to/triathlonPike’s Peak Region Triathlon Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1 9 . 4 8 1 . 2 3 3 7Dana Duthie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected] 365 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303.449.4800Jimmy Archer / Grant Holicky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.team365.net Tri Altitude Multi-Sport Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 3 . 4 7 1 . 0 5 1 29345 S. Wolfe St., Highlands Ranch, CO 80126Peggy Dursthoff-Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected] of Colorado Triathlon Team . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 3 . 6 4 1 . 7 5 1 6Bettina Young, coach www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/triteamUniversity of Denver Multisport Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dave Ross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]. . . . . . . . www.recreation.du.edu/adultprograms/adult_frameset.htm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.goenm.com/swim/intropage.htmVail Triathlon Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 7 0 . 7 4 8 . 7 5 0 4Dan Timm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ww.vailtriclub.comC/O Aria Spa and Club, 1300 Westhaven Drive, Vail, Co 81657Women’s Triathlon Club of Boulder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303.554.8857Beth Davis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]

If your club is not listed, please contact us!


ww ii nn dd ss pp rr ii nn tt ss .. .. ..Celebration and Benefit

There were quite a few folksaround here that wanted to have alocal celebration to honor TimDeBoom’s victory at the IronmanWorld Championship. TriathleteChuck Kipp contacted NicoleDeBoom and convinced her toorganize one with him. They enlist-ed the help of Mark Sunderland,president of the Boulder TriathlonClub, and sponsors like BellHelmets, Inside Triathlon magazine,Rudy Project, Polar Bottles, andProfile Designs.

Tim’s reaction to the idea was

that it had to be a party for SiriLindley too, for she had won theolympic distance world champi-onship this year and is also fromright here in Boulder. It also had tobe a benefit, and he chose theWilderness Society as the benefac-tor.

A huge array of items weredonated to be auctioned off at asilent auction, from signed equip-ment to a one-on-one training ridewith Siri or Tim. Denver Broncosowner Pat Bowlen donated fourtickets to a Broncos game and aMike Shanahan signed football tothe auction. It turns out Bowlen didthe Hawaii Ironman in the earlyeighties. What do you know?

The event was at the West EndTavern on Pearl Street in Boulder.The place was packed beyondcapacity with triathletes from

beginners to seasoned pros, andfamilies and friends. Other specialattendees included running legendFrank Shorter and current cyclinghot shot Christian Vande Velde.Steve Locke, director of USAT,drove up from Colorado Springsand presented Siri Lindley with theInternational Triathlon Union’shighest annual award, ThePresident’s Cup, and showed off tothe crowd a large photo portrait (byTimothy Carlson) of Tim and Sirithat is now hanging in the newUSAT National Training Center inClermont, Florida and in the USAToffices in Colorado Springs.

There were a few dozen Nickand Willie’s pizzas and a big cakethat was topped with an amazinglyaccurate sugar reproduction ofInside Triathlon’s cover with Timcrossing the finish line last October.The benefit was a big success, rais-ing over $2000 for the WildernessSociety. And from the grins on Timand Siri’s faces all evening, youcould tell that the celebration oftheir victories was a success aswell.

Awards and NominationsThe end of the season brought a

plethora of accolades to ColoradoTriathletes. As one would expect, SiriLindley and Tim DeBoom bothreceived athlete of the year honors intheir distance categories from both ofthe national triathlon magazines, andSiri received Inside Triathlon’s Personof the Year award. They were bothalso nominated for the U.S. OlympicCommittee’s Sportsman andSportswoman of the Year award. Theprestigious worldwide Women’sSports Foundation nominated Siri asone of only ten women for its annualaward. She was in the company ofsuch superstars as Jennifer Capriati,Michelle Kwan, and AnnikaSorenstam.

USAT nominated 3 Coloradoans

for the International OlympicCommittee’s International Year of theVo l u n t e e rAward recog-nizing out-standing vol-unteers ins p o r t .F o u n d i n gW o m e n ’ sCommissionmember andl o n g - t i m ecoach CellesteC a l l a h a nreceived thehonor, as didboth husbandand wife Brad Leonard and SusanFalsey. They have both served USATand its predecessor, Tri Fed USA, for20 years, most recently by creatingUSAT’s multi-faceted website anddatabase systems.

In addition, 10 amateurColorado triathletes and duathleteswon All-American honors fromInside Triathlon.

Fernandez DefendsUltraman Title

Monica Fernandez won her sec-ond women’s title in a row andplaced tenth overall in the gruellingthree day long Ultraman Triathlon onthe Big Island of Hawaii. Monicacompleted the 10K (6.2 miles) swimin 2:59:10, the 261.4 mile bike seg-ment in 14:44:30 and the 52.4 miledouble marathon in 10:12:50, for anoverall timeof 27:56:54.

Falsey in theDanskin Triathlon

Fernandez in Boulder

The DeBooms after the press conference in Kona

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TThhee MMiissssiioonn ooff tthhee CCUUTTrriiaatthhlloonn TTeeaamm 22000022::WWiinn BBaacckk NNaattiioonnaallss!!

by Bettina Younge, Ph.D.University of Colorado

Triathlon Team Head Coach

April 20, 2002: Memphis, Tennessee is the newlocation for Collegiate Nationals, and CU is gettingready to rock the town. While we will missWildflower, it will be a great experience to go tonationals without worrying about missing final examsduring that time. The race in Memphis – hosted by thesame event staff as the Memphis in May Triathlon –will be open only to collegiate athletes. The CollegiateNationals has grown tremendously over the last fewyears, with more than 500 athletes competing last year.The promoter is expecting more than 600 athletes fromacross the U.S. in 2002. Sixty of these athletes will betravelling to Memphis from Boulder. And, after finish-ing second last year, the CU Buffs are aiming to winmore than one national championship title this year.

As in recent years, a number of national champi-onship competitions are at stake: Overall Team,Overall Men’s Team, Overall Women’s Team, andOverall Male and Female Individuals. Determiningthe Overall Male and Female Individuals is simple: thefastest person wins. To determine the best OverallMen’s and Women’s Teams, the times of the fastestthree males and fastest three female finishers of eachschool are added together, and the team with thefastest combined time wins. Similarly, the OverallTeam will be the fastest combined time of the top threemen and too three women.

Since nationals don’t coincide with final examsthis year, the team will have time to use a more afford-able mode of transportation – the bus. We’ll leave onWednesday evening, April 17, for our 16-hour journeyto Memphis. With a scheduled breakfast stop and aquick run to loosen up the legs, we expect to arrive inMemphis on Thursday afternoon in time to set uptents at the campgrounds, put together bikes, and takea test ride. Friday will go by quickly. The team willregister, preview the course, and try out wetsuits in alake swim (a first for many of the competitors).Saturday is the big event: the race will take the athletesthrough the usual Olympic distance – 1.5-km swim,40-km bike, and a 10-km run. The athletes will start inwaves of 60 to 80 competitors and will first brave thecold waters of Patriot Lake. The mostly flat, 40-kmbike – three loops of 8 miles – winds through the citystreets around Shelby Farms. The final leg – the run –


will be one 10-km loop on paved paths. The race willstart with an "elite wave" – each school is allowed todesignate their top athlete (or in our case – one of ourtop athletes!) to race in that wave – which shouldmake for some fast finishes.

What national championships are the Buffs target-ing? It’s no time for modesty. This year, CU has thepotential to sweep all of the categories! In the MaleIndividual category, Chris Valenti, who recently spenttwo weeks training with the national team, will be atough athlete to beat. With an increasingly fasterswim, an outstanding bike, and an even faster run, hewill be accelerating all the way to the finish line. Chrisis our pick for national champion in the men’s compe-tition, and he will be competing in the elite wave.Backing Chris will be Lucas Llado and Keith Jackson,who both placed in the top 30 last year, along with KaiCostanzo, Andy Feeney, Bill Baker, Blake Ottersberg,and Armando Galarrago. We are also excited to seesome of our strong freshman compete in their firstCollegiate National Championships – keep your eyesopen for Justin Caskey, JP Henry, and DavinAnderson. These competitors will combine theirstrengths to put in a strong bid for the win in theMen’s Team competition.

The women’s competition should prove to beequally exciting. Kerrie Wlad, our top finisher fromlast year, has logged an even better training season

than last year and will represent the Buffs in the elitewave. We’ll also have a surprise in store: a "secretweapon" in one of the later waves. Sara Tarkington,who several years ago won Junior Nationals and rep-resented the U.S. in two Junior World Championshipcompetitions, recently returned to triathlons after run-ning with the CU Buffs Cross Country and track teamsfor two years. Other schools will have their work cutout for them trying to beat Kerrie and Sara. The maincompetition will come from Florida’s Sara McLarty, anold nemesis of Tarkington’s. The women’s team willbe rounded out by "old-timers" Amber Rydholm, ErinHuck, and Molly Nickerson – all three have been topteam scorers for CU. Sunny Gilbert and freshmanJaime Sisler, who have shown great potential, are newadditions to the team. Needless to say, the women’steam has the strength and depth to lead the pack thisyear. Combined, the men’s and women’s team will betough to beat for the team championship title.

We would like to thank our sponsors for theirsupport in our quest: Boulder Center of SportsMedicine, Smartwool, Rudy Project, Louis Garneau,Runner’s Choice, Aegis, Mickey C’s Bagels, AtlasSnowshoes, Total Trainer, and Zipp Weaponry.

Bettina Younge, Ph.D. , is also the Junior Elite U.S.National Team Coach, a USCF Elite Coach, and a USATLevel II Coach.


Most people immediatelythink of a big and overly muscledgod or goddess when strengthtraining is mentioned. This isunfortunate because strength train-ing consists of many different typesof exercises including (but not lim-ited to) weight lifting, running andcycling uphill, plyometric exercis-es, and swimming with paddles.Strength is a very important com-ponent of endurance performance,and many multisport athletesspend too much time and energyfocussing on endurance and don’tpay enough attention to buildingand maintaining strength through-out their season. The goal ofstrength training is to increase forceproduction. In a very basic sense,going fast is a product of work andtime. In a race, we try to do a cer-tain amount of work (usually 1-1.5K of swimming, 30K mountainbiking, and 10-11K trail running forXTERRA racing) in the shortestperiod of time. In physics, work issimply force times distance. Sincethe distance of the race is the samefor everyone, performance will bedictated by the average forcesapplied while swimming, cycling,and running. Pretty simple, eh?

Well, that may be an overlysimplified view, but in reality it ispretty close. The fact that improv-ing your force production willincrease your velocity is universal-ly accepted. Whether or not train-ing with weights in a gym willmake you faster is debatable.Strength training can also help you

avoid overuse injuries byincreasing the integrity of yourmusculoskeletal system (bones,tendons, and muscles). Also, astronger athlete will be less like-ly to sustain

serious injuriesin a fall whilerunning or a crash on the bike. Onekey factor to keep in mind is thatyour strength training needs to bespecific to your sport(s). This arti-cle will focus specifically on weightlifting or resistance training, butkeep in mind that other valuabletypes of strength training are partof a well-rounded training pro-gram. Two forms of resistancetraining have become quite popu-lar recently – core training andfunctional training.

Core training focuseson the muscles involvedwith central stability –especially abdominal andback muscles. All proper-ly designed resistancetraining programs shouldinclude several specificcore exercises, but don’tstop there! A strong key isnecessary, but will notprovide all of the strengththat you will need out onthe race course.Functional training usesactivities that mimic actu-al sports movementswhile using some type ofresistance. Use of cablemachines to duplicate theunderwater pull of yourswim stroke, or stayingseated while climbing upa hill in a bigger than nor-mal would be examplesof functional training.Also, plyometric drills

that over exaggerateyour running stride areexcellent functionalstrength training exercis-es.

Since endurance isstill the most important aspect ofyour training, resistance trainingexercise should be considered asupplementary workout. If youspend too much energy on yourstrength workouts, your enduranceworkouts will suffer. You need tofind a balance. For most enduranceathletes, two strength training ses-

sions per week is enough. In thesetwo sessions, you should performexercises that will stress your entirebody - not just your upper body orlower body. Split routines are greatfor body building, but are unneces-sary for endurance athletes. Also, ifyou are adding resistance trainingworkouts to your schedule try toadd them after your enduranceworkout for that day. On the nextpage is a general periodization planfor endurance athletes.

Author Neal Henderson is a professionaltriathlete, NSCA Certified Strength andConditioning Specialist, and is the coordina-tor of Sport Science at the Boulder Center forSports Medicine. He can be reached at [email protected]. This article was adapted and reprinted, withpermission, from an article Neal publishedon the XTERRAplanet.com website.Above: Neal in T1 at the Xterra WorldChampionships. Photo by Kristen McFarland.

By Neal Henderson, MS CSCS

Strength TrainingFor MultisportAthletes


General Periodization Plan

Adaptation:Goal - Prepare your body for specific resistance training workouts (January)Frequency: 2 X / weekSets: 1 - 2 Repetitions: 10-12 reps/set -

not to failureRest Interval: 1:00

Base Phase:Goal – General strength (February/March)Frequency: 2 – 3 X / weekSets: 2 - 3 Repetitions: 6 - 10 reps/setRest Interval: 2:00

Intensity:Goal - Power (April): Include plyometricand medicine ball exercises.

Frequency: 2 X / week Sets: 2 to 3Repetitions: 4-8 reps/set, focus on

form and speed.Rest Interval: 3:00

Peaking:Goal – Muscular endurance (May)Frequency: 2 X / weekSets: 2 Repetitions: 15 – 20Rest Interval: :30

Racing:Goal – Strength Maintenance (June-October)Frequency: 1-2 X / weekSets: 1-2Repetitions: 12-15Rest Interval: :30

Off-Season: Goal – Regeneration (Mental & Physical)No resistance training

Below (right) is a very basic list of exercises. You should perform one exercise from each

category during your workout (11 exercises total). Always use proper form when lifting

weights. If you are not sure how to do an exercise properly, find an NSCA Certified

Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) or other certified personal trainer.

Category Exercises

1. Compound leg Leg PressSingle Leg PressSquat

2. Balance Leg Single Leg SquatLunge - forwardLunge - rear

3. Quadriceps Step-upShort-arc Leg extension (one leg at a time)Partial Squat

4. Hamstrings Single leg curlRomanian Dead LiftCable hamstring curl

5. Calves Standing Heel RaisesSeated Heel RaisesStanding Single Heel Raises

6. Upper Body - Pulling Seated Row Lat Pulldown (to the front, never behind your head)Rear dumbbell flysDumbbell curls

7. Upper Body - Pushing DipsChest Press/Bench PressPushupsTricep Extension

8. Abdominal Resistance CrunchHanging Leg raise (bend knees)

9. Low Back Resisted Back ExtensionRoman Chair Extensions

10. Fitball - Abdominal Praying MantisReverse CrunchPikeBall Crunch

11. Fitball - Back BridgingBridged MarchExtensionsSuperman



In early 2001, the XTERRAAmerican Tour looked to be injeopardy. After a successful tour in2000 with 11 stops, all the XTERRAfaithful were looking forward toanother full season of racing.Unfortunately, contract talks andsponsorship of the series was up inthe air. Team Unlimited, who puton the XTERRA series, pooled theirresources to offer an abridgedschedule of 3 regional champi-onship races, culminating in a firstever XTERRA NationalChampionship, and the famousXTERRA World Championship inMaui. Luckily, the anaemic seriesgot a big boost fromNissan…though a little too late toschedule additional races. With somuch at stake, each race mattered –a lot! A new concept introduced tothe XTERRA Tour in 2001 wasregional amateur qualifier races

aimed at qualifying ath-letes for each of the 3R e g i o n a lChampionships –Richmond, Keystone,and Half Moon Bay.

The first regionalXTERRA Championshipwas held in Richmond,VA on June 24, 2001. In2000, the 96-degree heat,stifling humidity, andchallenge of the coursetook its toll on everyracer. For 2001, my goalwas simple – race strongfrom start to finish. Onthe way to Richmond,the airlines decided tothrow a wrench into myplans for seamless trav-el. As we approachedthe East Coast, the cap-tain came over the radioannouncing that wewere being diverted toan emergency airportbecause Dulles, ouroriginal destination,was having problemswith storms and hadclosed their air trafficc o n t r o ltower. My

travel fiasco resultedin only four hours ofsleep on the floor of NorfolkAirport, followed by a 2-hour cabride to Richmond on Saturdaym o r n i n g .Surprisingly,no one hadtaken mybike from theb a g g a g eclaim whereit sat unat-tended allnight!

T h erace course inRichmond is like no other - a thor-oughly urban affair consisting of ariver swim (complete with anisland crossing by foot), a bikethrough several metro countyparks full of twisted single-track,and a challenging run including a

half-mile rock hopping section. Toeveryone’s surprise, the weather inRichmond was pleasant – sunny,and in the upper 70s to low 80s.The water level in the James Riverwas also agreeable, deep enough toactually swim – unlike the 1999conditions where many racerswalked and waded through muchof the 1K swim. The 2001 Touropener saw many new faces on thetour including Conrad Stoltz, aSouth African Olympian, Frenchduathlon stud Nicolas LeBrun, andSteve Larsen, the 2000 NORBANational Champion and winner ofthe 2000 Half Moon Bay XTERRA.The usual cast of XTERRA regularswere present including KerryClausen, Michael Tobin, Mike Vine,Jimmy Riccetello, and Coloradoathletes Ned Overend, WesHobson, Pat Brown, Jimmy Archer,Scott Schumaker, Grant Holickyand myself. The women in con-tention were Jody Mielke, MelanieMcQuaid, Monique Merrill, andColorado racers Kersten Wuele andfirst-timer Anke Erlank.

The no wetsuit swim went offwithout a hitch, including a mid-way 150-meter run across Belle

I s l a n d .The bikecourse inRichmond

began with a short road section andbridge crossing before hitting thedirt. Early in the bike, racersencountered tight singletrack fullof quick turns, slick roots, shortpower climbs and roller coasterdescents. I felt smooth through thetechnical bike course, and begancatching some of the normallyfaster racers. Halfway through thebike I caught Kiwi Bryan Rhodes,winner of the 2001 IronmanMalaysia. I asked if he was havinga mechanical, but it was just hislegs – they were both flat! Near theend of the bike course, I caught upwith Scott Schumaker for the final 2miles of highway riding into transi-tion. I felt strong entering the runand pushed the pace for the first 2miles, maintaining my top 15 posi-tion. As I moved through the

XTERRA 2001:

An Off-roadTriathlonOdyssey

Xterra WorldChampionships,Maui

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halfway point, I began to slow andlost a few positions. Toward theend of the run course there is a rockhopping section, which I had scout-ed out Saturday afternoon withAnke Erlank – a new racer on theXTERRA circuit with a solidcycling resume as a member of theSaturn Cycling team. I dancedthrough this section, enjoying thefun of running through mud andmuck, and hopping the occasionalrock and log. My fun ended,though, with the final 2K of flatrunning toward the finish. My legsbegan to tie up, and I struggled tokeep my pace. I came to the finishline in 2:17:59 – a time that in 2000would have put me in 8th, but in2001 only good enough for 18thplace. Canadian Mike Vine tookthe overall win with Conrad Stoltzin second and Nicolas LeBrun tak-ing third. Jody Mielke won for thewomen with Wuele close behindand McQuaid taking third placehonors.

The next XTERRA was our"home" race of Keystone on July 29,2001. I had ridden the course sev-eral times in the weeks leading upto the race, and was prepared to leteverything hang out on the course.The 1K swim was in Keystone Lake(or should I say Keystone DuckPond) which never gets above 60degrees. Wetsuits are mandatory,

full-suits are expected, and manycompetitors don a neoprene skull-cap under their race cap to keeptheir noggins warm. As the start-ing gun fired, I got stuck in a fren-zied pack of flailing arms and legs.By the second buoy, a pack of fasterswimmers had already separated,and I was in no man’s land.Breaking water alone, I was tooslow to catch the leaders and soonfell back to 2nd pack. I sat in witha couple of other swimmers for thenext few minutes, but soon felt thehypoxic effects of the 9,000' eleva-tion and dropped further back inthe pack.

By the end of the swim, I wasin 15th place, and determined tohave a strong bike ride. I stumbledinto transition with numb feet,hands, and face and slowly mount-ed my personal non-motorized lift.The bike course in Keystone climbs2,400 feet through twisting single-track and jeep roads to the summitof the Keystone Mountain. I strug-gled throughthe earlymiles onsteep jeeproad, untilwe turnedinto the sin-gletrack. Ifelt strongeras I climbedhigher andhigher. Bythe time Ireached thepeak, I was ready to begin thefamous bomb down Keystone. Thedescent is exhilarating, culminatingwith Wild Thing - an intense andhighly technical descent full oftight switchbacks and huge drop-offs. I flew down the early miles ofthe descent, putting my bike andmyself on the edge of control. Onat least 2 occasions, I had seriousconcern for my safety …though Iwas able to regain control beforeencountering the ground or any of

the trees lining the course. Nearing the notorious Wild

Thing, I caught Mike Pigg – one ofmy heroes and a legendary triath-lete. He was obviously suffering inthe altitude, and his technical rid-ing was not quite up to par for theupcoming section. I passed Mikeand continued to pick my waythrough the switchbacks. Soon, Ientered the toughest section withtwo log drop-offs followed by ahuge boulder. My butt hoveredinches above the rear wheel as Ileaned back and tried to ride thecourse clean. Most competitors getoff their bikes – most for safety, but

some for speed. I decided to takethe challenge and try to ride thecourse…I wasn’t going to win, anddidn’t want to wimp out. I rolledover the first two drop-offs, andheaded into the final big drop. Ihesitated slightly and got kickedout to the right side of my project-ed landing. Luckily, I was able toclip out my right foot and straight-

en myself inone quickdab.

Safely, Iarrived intot r a n s i t i o nm i n u t e slater andbegan the1 0 KK e y s t o n erun. Onceagain, I wasin the top fif-

teen and was running as hard as Icould. Nearing the 5K mark, Iheard the footsteps and laboredbreathing of someone chasing medown. I put up a fight, but could-n’t keep pace with my hunter. As Ieased to the right side of the trail,Mike Pigg ran by – hurting for sure,but still pushing his body as hardas he could. If nothing else, Pigg isone the toughest guys around – onewho doesn’t quit on an off day orwhen he isn’t feeling good.

Someone youcan admire, justlike Ned – whowas hammer-

ing trying to chase down Mike Vineand Nicolas LeBrun. Soon afterPigg dropped me, I took a bad stepand twisted my ankle on a rockstuck in the trail. I walked it off fora couple seconds, and resumed mylimping run to the finish. 19th wasmy final place…still hunting forseries points and a top 15 place!For the pro men, Vine again tookthe win, with LeBrun in second andNed in third. For the women,Erlank held onto a big lead on thebike for her first XTERRA win, withWuele taking second and CameronRandolph in third.

The 2001 version in Half Moon

CH

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AC

CA

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Neal Henderson looks back at the 2001 Xterra Series

XterraKeystone


Bay had a revised bike course – onewith less climbing than the 2000version that saw mountain bike aceSteve Larsen crush a quality field.The swim began in the cold andmurky waters of a protected covein the Pacific Ocean. I had begunmy taper for the 5430 Triathlon,which I would be racing 7 dayslater, and was excited to race at sealevel. I felt a little sluggish though,and struggled through the 1500-Meter wetsuit swim. I arrived intotransition much further behind myusual place, ready to tackle the hillsof Half Moon. The smell of theeucalyptus tree leaves calmed meduring the initial climbing. I soonfound a rhythm and steadilyclimbed through the forest. I evenkept pace with Ned Overend for afew minutes as he passed me on hisway to the front. On the descentsignaling the end of the first lap, Ifelt strong knowing that I hadpicked up a couple places. As Ipushed through the second lap ofthe course, I began to slow slightly.My legs and lungs were fine, but Ijust couldn’t push a hardergear…probably a byproduct of allthe Ironman miles in my legs. I fin-ished the bike in 18th place, prepar-ing for the beautiful run along HalfMoon Bay’s shore and trails abovethe water. The sand of the beachfelt soft as I passed through theearly miles of the run course.Nearing the 3-mile mark, I turnedonto the hard trail and tried to pushthe final 5K. To my surprise, Iheard the quick steps and breath-ing of a female behind me as Ipushed up a short hill. At the top Imoved to the right to allow thewomen’s leader to pass me. AnkeErlank was hammering, and shequickly strode away. Again, I triedto pick up my pace, but the longmiles kept some of zing out of mylegs and I shuffled along unable torespond. At the finish, I was in20th place…once again outside ofthe points! Conrad Stoltz took hisfirst XTERRA victory, with KerryClausen coming in second followedby Nicolas LeBrun. For thewomen, Melanie McQuaid and

Aussie Raeleigh Tennant followedErlank.

In September came the firstXTERRA National Championshipsin Lake Tahoe - a beautiful venuefor a race. The events of September11, 2001 had cast a shadow overeveryone’s feelings, but we wereathletes – proud of America andprepared to crown a new NationalChampion and XTERRA AmericaTour Champion. The water of LakeTahoe was perfectly clear and madefor an excellent start to a great race.Early in the swim, I got nailed inthe face and dropped off the pace ofthe first pack. I fell back to the sec-ond pack, and kept pace with thewomen’s leader, Aussie RaleighTennant. I exited the swim in 19thplace, and began the bike feelingstrong. It had been nearly 3 weekssince the 5430 Triathlon, and mylegs had only on Tuesday of thatweek begun to feel revived. Anytime you lose more than 10 poundsduring a race, it'll take some timebefore your body returns to nor-mal. I was hoping that my legswere back, and the course in Tahoesurely tested them!

The early part of the bikecourse climbed steeply throughbeautiful forest with stunningviews of Lake Tahoe. Luckily, I hadpre-ridden the course with fellowColorado athletes Jimmy Archer,Steve Senier, and Grant Holicky onFriday. Several times we stoppedto enjoy the views. During this pre-ride, one of the most memorablescenes of the 2001 tour revealeditself to me. Approaching a smalllake at the top of the famed Flumetrail, I crested a hill, and with ablazing sunset for a backdrop,watched a lone bald eagle fly offsilently into the distance. I stoodthere for a few minutes, amazed atwhat I had seen. Unfortunately,during the race, I didn’t have achance to enjoy the view. I pushedthe climb and prepared for theloose descent. As I hammeredthrough the beginning of thedescent I made a slight error –almost breaking my foot in theprocess. After hitting a log with my

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right foot I stopped briefly, worriedthat my toes were actually broken.They were numb from the impactbut all them seemed to be pointingthe same direction, so I clippedback in and continued on. Fueledby the adrenaline of my near catas-trophe I passed several racers –including Marc Lees, a world cupstud out of Australia who was giv-ing XTERRA a go. Apparently hedidn’t have much downhill experi-ence, and slowly picked his waydown the course.

Pulling into transition, I care-fully put on my running shoes, try-ing not to irritate my already soretoes. The run began with a verticalscramble up a dusty hill, wheremany competitors were seenpulling on shrubs and tree branch-es to keep themselves from fallingdown! The run course woundthrough the TV show Bonanza’sfamed ranch. We ran up and downthrough familiar sites from theshow, including the livery, stables,and right next to the town center. Itwas a surreal setting for an amaz-ing race. I continued to hobblethrough the run, feeling my toesswelling every step of the way. Inthe end, I was 25th and far behindrace and series winner Stoltz.Behind the South African championwere Americans Kerry Clausen andNed Overend. For the women,Anke Erlank repeated Conrad's featby winning the race and the tourchampionships, followed byRaeleigh Tennant and Jenny Tobin.

The 2001 edition of the XTER-RA ended with the ever-challeng-ing World Championship in Mauiin October. The swim course con-sists of two triangular loops in thewarm Pacific Ocean separated by ashort beach run. I felt great in thewater after lining up behindIronman competitors WendyIngram and Cameron Widoff. Istayed in their draft until the firstbuoy where the masses cametogether. At the end of the secondlap, I still felt relaxed and strongpreparing for the brutal Maui bikecourse. The first couple miles con-sist of rolling paved road before

turning onto a wide dirt roadclimbing the craggy slopes ofHaleakala - a 10,000 foot dormantvolcano! My legs quickly eruptedwith burning sensation of lacticacid as the trail grew steeper.Similar to the previous year,drought had left the course dry -with huge dust bowls of fine redsilt. The descents were treacherouswith loose, sharp lava rock and theever-present danger of kiavethorns…several inches long andstrong enough to penetrate tires. InMaui, if you survive the bike with-out any flats or other mechanicalproblems, you will probably dowell. Such was the case for me,where I didn't feel stellar, but madeit to transition safely…and justbehind XTERRA virgin ChrisMcCormack, who was getting hisfirst taste of off-road racing. If I hadbeen able to run with McCormack Iwould have slipped into the toptwenty. Instead, I pushed throughthe 11K run full of deep sand, densetropical forest, lava rock, and grasstrails to finish in 30th place. ProsConrad Stoltz and Anke Erlankheld their late season form andboth won despite this being theirfirst attempts at the Maui course!For the women, Cheri Touchetteexorcised some demons from her2000 race and finished secondwhile Kersten Wuele toughed it outto a third place finish. For the men,Kerry Clausen ran to a second placefinish while the always entertain-ing Jimmy Riccetello took third.Colorado athletes Ned Overend,Pat Brown, Jimmy Archer, and WesHobson took the evens, coming in4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th place respec-tively. Boulder resident CameronWidoff "fresh" off an 8th place atIronman finished in 26th place totake top honors in the HawaiianAirlines Double for lowest com-bined Ironman and XTERRA time.The official write-up for eachXTERRA race usually concludeswith a phrase like "this was thetoughest course yet". In Maui, thatis the truth…without any doubts!

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Nissan Xterra World Championship

1.5K swim / 30K mountain bike / 11K trail runOverall FemalePlc Name Division Place Swim Bike Run Overall1 Conrad Stoltz #45 Pro :19:44 1:28:49 :40:15 2:28:48 Co. Springs/South Africa4 Ned Overend #4 Pro :22:21 1:32:55 :42:49 2:38:05 Durango, Colorado6 Pat Brown #7 Pro :20:32 1:38:36 :42:24 2:41:32 Boulder, Colorado8 Jimmy Archer #5 Pro :22:34 1:40:51 :41:04 2:44:29 Boulder, Colorado10 Wes Hobson #3 Pro :19:41 1:45:31 :43:05 2:48:17 Boulder, Colorado30 Cameron Widoff #55 Pro :20:00 1:55:59 :42:58 2:58:57 Boulder, Colorado33 Anke Erlank #74 Pro 1 :25:48 1:48:06 :47:05 3:00:59 Louisville/South Africa41 Mike Volk #307 35 - 39 :21:16 1:53:23 :50:51 3:05:30 Telluride, Colorado43 Neal Henderson #30 Pro :21:42 1:54:30 :50:36 3:06:48 Boulder, Colorado 47 Mark Gavach #169 35 - 39 :24:18 1:55:11 :48:26 3:07:55 Boulder, Colorado55 Kerstin Weule #60 Pro 3 :22:53 2:02:40 :47:04 3:12:37 Evergreen, Colorado59 Monique Merrill #81 Pro 4 :25:06 1:58:18 :50:17 3:13:41 Breckenridge, Colorado65 Grant Holicky #23 Pro :21:35 2:02:30 :51:10 3:15:15 Boulder, Colorado69 Josiah Middaugh #23 20 - 24 :24:11 2:03:33 :47:51 3:15:35 Vail, Colorado120 Rob Noyes #247 45 - 49 :26:11 2:13:14 :53:22 3:32:47 Breckenridge, Colorado150 Whit Smith #277 35 - 39 :30:49 1:59:34 1:11:57 3:42:20 Denver, Colorado159 Dave Kaleugher #208 30 - 34 :34:06 2:15:27 :55:33 3:45:06 Evergreen, Colorado173 Jessica Burwell #331 25 - 29 27 :32:55 2:20:43 :55:14 3:48:52 Durango, Colorado187 Richard Wall #310 50 - 54 :35:55 2:15:59 1:01:28 3:53:22 Co. Springs, Colorado199 Kevin Deighan #150 40 - 44 :30:01 2:38:55 :49:03 3:57:59 Vail, Colorado209 Don Nelson #243 30 - 34 :26:27 2:21:36 1:13:50 4:01:53 Denver, Colorado210 Cristina Begy #72 Pro 45 :38:40 2:15:39 1:07:34 4:01:53 Denver, Colorado

Official Overall Results by: JTL Timing Systems - (808) 325-0287

22000022 SSCCHHEEDDUULLEE

January 20 XTERRA Perisher Blue Jindabyne, NSW AustraliaApril 1 XTERRA Victoria Anglesea, VIC AustraliaApril 13 XTERRA Saipan Championship Saipan Northern MarianasApril 20 XTERRA Australia Championship Pentrith, NSW AustraliaJune 22-23 Nissan Xterra East Championship Richmond, VA United StatesJune 29 XTERRA Czech Republic Hluboka nad Vitavou Czech RepublicJuly 20 XTERRA Netherlands Kijkduin/The Hague NetherlandsJuly 27-28 Nissan Xterra Central Championship Keystone, CO United StatesAugust 3 XTERRA Shinshiro Shinshir JapanAug 17-18 Nissan Xterra West Championship Half Moon Bay, CA United StatesAug 24-25 XTERRA Shiobara Hunter Mountain JapanAug 31-Sep 1 XTERRA Great Britain Championship United KingdomSept 14 XTERRA Germany Titsee, Newstadt GermanySept 21-22 Nissan Xterra USA Championship Lake Tahoe, NV United StatesOctober 27 Nissan Xterra World Championship Maui, HI United States

The Xterra swim start at Maui, Hawaii


One way to describe theMexico Half Ironman is to say thatit has the qualities of Wildflower,Lubbock, and Kona combined intoone fantastic course. The 1.2 mileswim took place in the clear warmwaters of the Chahue Bay. The 56mile bike would take competitorsaround a three loop course whichconsists of many vistas overlook-ing the breathtaking nine Bays ofHuatulco. In order to get to thosevistas you must work for it. That’sright, the course had some hills.Each loop consisted of four goodclimbs and when you consideredyou had to do each loop threetimes, you had some tired legs bythe time you hit the run. The 13.1mile run was an out and backcourse, with a substantial hill in themiddle. It was great for the com-petitors to be able to see wheretheir other competition was.

At 7 am athletes from 8 differ-

ent countries plunged into the Bayof Chahue, just one of the ninepristine Bay of Huatulco. KerryClassen went straight to the frontand was joined by Marc Lees (Aus)and Javier Rosas (Mex). The threewould exit the swim with a 1:30lead over fellow American ChrisLieto and I. Canadian Teresa Macelwas the first women to exit thewater followed by WendyIngraham and Beth Zinkand.

Once on the bike Classenwas able to drop Lees and Rosasand kept a 2-minute lead on Lietoand me throughout the 56k hillyand windy bike. Just like in themen’s race, Macel held on to acomfortable 2-minute lead overZinkand and Laurie Hug, and therace was hers to loose coming intoT2.

The 21k run is known for beingslow and very hot. Classen wasable to hold on to his lead and winthe race improving on his fourthplace finish last year. Lees puttogether a great run and passed

both Lieto and I to finish second.Lieto had a breakthrough race tofinish in 3rd. I had an off day andended up 4th while Mexico’s num-ber one ranked triathlete Rosas fin-ished 5th.

At mile six Zinkand made hermove, she caught and passedMacel easily winning her secondMexico Half Ironman. Macelshowed that she is a threat in bothlong and short course triathlons bybravely hanging onto second place.Fellow Canadian Lori Lynn Leachfinished in third followed byAmericans Mary Uhl, Jeanne AnneKrizman and Wendy Ingraham.

The Mexico Half Ironman alsoserved as a qualifier for IronmanCanada, Lake Placid andWisconsin. The race is one of thebest-run races in the world andcourse is one of the toughest. Formore information on next yearsrace go to www.halfironmanmexi-co.com.Pat Brown is a professional triathleteliving in Boulder.

Pat Brown...continued from page 2


Starting out the 2001 seasonwith a strong second-place finishat Ironman California, Boulder’sTony DeBoom was in for a longerrace season than he had planned.After his impressive race in May,he began to focus the rest of theracing and training of the seasontowards one important day:Hawaii. Unfortunately, the racedid not go according to plan andTony was forced to abandon thechallenge of Kona. After facingsuch a disappointment, most ath-letes would call it a season and goon home to put the feet up. Tony,however, was not willing to let theseason slip away without a fight.Just five weeks after Hawaii, Tonyraced Ironman Florida and cameaway with an exceptional secondplace finish, as well as some valu-able insights into his season andhis career.

I caught up with Tony in hisBoulder home where he lives withis wife Eliza, and his three dogsThor, Doc, and Brick.

Tony could you tell us about yourdecision to race Ironman Florida thisyear?

“Florida was not in the gameplan this year…by November ofthis year I had been planning onrelaxing at home. Hawaii kind ofthrew a wrench into those plans. Itwas not the race I had expected tohave. After the DNF there, I decid-ed to take a week and see how Ifelt….see if I felt capable of gearing

up for anotherrace…which Idid. I did a cou-ple of rideswhen I got homeand felt prettygood so I decid-ed to get readyfor Florida.”

If I couldregress for amoment, yourDNF in Hawaiiwas obviouslyindicative of avery difficult racefor you. Wouldyou give someinsight as to whathad happened?

“When you get to a certainlevel racing, finishing Hawaii isnot the goal any more, but I think itshould be. Sometimes I can forgetthat- but it should still be the firstgoal in racing Hawaii. I think thatthis year I was meant to learn afew lessons over in Hawaii before Icould count on doing well overthere. I actually was sure that I hadlearned them all before, but onething that I realised this year is thatyou have to have a kind of peacein your life before you can expectto do well in race. For the threeweeks before the race, I had somepretty stressful situations takingplace, which were really difficultand distracting.

Another really important real-

ization I had was that my wifeEliza and I need to approach theseevents as a team. It used to be thatI would worry only about myselfand what I needed to do to preparefor a race, but now we realize thatit is about how the two of us bestprepare for an event together.”

Can you tell me about yourpreparation for Florida? Obviouslymost of the training previous toFlorida was not, in fact, gearedtowards Florida but rather for Hawaii,but can you give some description ofyou the adjustments or changes youhad to make in the weeks leading up toFlorida?

“In Florida I felt like my race

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went pretty well. I did feel like myfitness had dropped in the fiveweeks between Hawaii andFlorida, though in those five weeksit became apparent that I coulddefinitely taper more for Hawaii. Ithink that I didn’t feel great inHawaii- and once things startedgoing bad in Hawaii , I wasn’table to control my emotions likeyou need to in order to survive,and I think a lot of that had todo with the fact that I was notrested enough. I realised afterFlorida, having done well downthere, that I do benefit frommore of a taper. In the weeksleading up to Florida, I wasn’ttraining a whole lot. I was justtrying to stay sharp but alsorelaxed.

It was a tough thing to do-after putting all your energyand focus into one race such asHawaii, and then turningaround several weeks later andtrying to give it one hundredpercent was difficult. I wentinto the race very relaxed, I didnot have really high expecta-tions.”

So do you think that feelingless pressure helped you to performas well as you did in Florida?

“Well, I had placed lesspressure on myself, yet therewas a lot of pressure from othersources. I felt like I needed toprove that my race in Californiathis year was not a fluke, yet Iwasn’t sure where exactly myfitness was at this time in theseason.”

Can you take us through thedifferent parts of the day, startingwith the atmosphere at the begin-ning of the race?

“The race started extraearly. They had the pros start at6:25, an entire 35 minutes aheadof the age-groupers. It was areally early start. I was so afraidto miss the start, I had to sleep

with the lights on, which reallyannoyed Eliza (laughs). No, but Ihad to get up at like 3:30 to getready and get down there. Wewent down to the beach for therace start and it felt a little weird

because all the age-groupers werenot there. It felt really small.”

How did you feel in the swim?

“The gun went. We started out

First Name Last Name Total OA City Cat CategoryTime Place Place

Tony DeBoom 08:28:02 2 Boulder 2/38 MPRO Kevin J. Konczak 09:25:52 26 Boulder 4/340 M30-34 Kevin Dessart 09:39:23 45 Co Springs 7/340 M30-34 Samuel Turney 09:59:58 109 Boulder 25/340 M30-34 Andrew Halperin 10:15:46 165 Niwot 40/340 M30-34 Scott Glenn 10:18:29 180 Boulder 44/340 M30-34 Rafael Pacheco 10:26:45 217 Westminster 42/329 M35-39 Ric R. Rosenkranz 10:36:23 277 Co Springs 30/38 MPRO Scott A. De Moss 10:41:40 305 Boulder 40/190 M25-29CLYKyle Boschen 10:46:07 332 Denver 81/340 M30-34 Kersten Anderson 10:47:44 343 Boulder 5/62 W25-29 Audra Kammerer 10:53:21 375 Golden 9/81 W30-34 Jason Bortz 11:00:29 427 Edwards 59/190 M25-29 Steve Roberts 11:03:15 442 Boulder 5/36 M55-59 Matthew Owen 11:13:49 501 Monument 119/340 M30-34 Larry Orgill 11:17:39 528 Castle Rock 81/260 M40-44 Rick Hinman 11:27:15 576 Parker 42/142 M45-49 Bill Young 11:31:20 606 Boulder 117/329 M35-39 John Latimer 11:38:22 645 Highl’s Rnch 44/142 M45-49 Thomas C. Flaherty 11:39:19 650 Boulder 106/260 M40-44 Guy Babbitt 11:49:58 716 Co Springs 137/329 M35-39 Scott Whitehouse 11:53:17 736 Denver 143/329 M35-39 Beatrice Van Horne 11:54:00 747 Ft Collins 1/14 W50-54 Peter Harsch 11:57:52 779 Boulder 179/340 M30-34 Steve Lynn 12:07:46 834 Denver 55/142 M45-49 Mary Anne Mills 12:10:38 859 Denver 14/39 W45-49 Lisa Floyd 12:14:41 876 Boulder 28/81 W30-34 Jeffrey Gardner 12:33:45 1003 Golden 220/340 M30-34 Steven Schott 12:35:50 1014 Boulder 222/340 M30-34 Timothy Sells 12:43:13 1058 Lafayette 215/329 M35-39 Nancy Waggoner 12:47:09 1087 Aurora 28/61 W35-39 ChristopherBohannon 12:49:20 1098 Boulder 13/34 M18-24 Clyde Waggoner 12:50:59 1107 Aurora 82/142 M45-49 Steven Dean 12:59:36 1160 Ft Collins 247/340 M30-34 William Welter 13:02:39 1172 Co Springs 91/142 M45-49 Benedictus Kok 13:28:39 1261 Vail 149/190 M25-29 Jason Edwards 14:04:38 1397 Lakewood 267/329 M35-39 Jamie Miller 14:45:56 1513 Lafayette 171/190 M25-29 Kristi Mileski 15:26:27 1597 Denver 71/81 W30-34 Michael Shannon 16:37:51 1705 Lakewood 315/329 M35-39CLYSusan Dickson 16:48:22 1717 Grd Junctio 38/39 W45-49

IIRROONNMMAANN FFLLOORRIIDDAACCOOLLOORRAADDOO RREESSUULLTTSS

22..44 MMIILLEESS//111122 MMIILLEESS//2266..22 MMIILLEESS


pretty easy. It was Spencer Smithand I leading, with Alec Rusevicright with us. On the second lap, itgot a little choppy and those guysgot a bit ahead. My goal on theswim was really to conserve mylegs so I didn’t want to hurt myselfto stay right with them. I let themget a little bit ahead. I think I wasa minute back, but I got out of thewater feeling really comfortableand right where I wanted to be.”

It’s a long day out there. Youknew that a minute on the swim was-n’t going to hurt you.

“Exactly. I felt really goodstarting out on the bike. I waspushing the pace a bit. I heard thatSpencer’s lead had grown to aboutfive minutes. I think that is whereit pretty much stayed for most ofthe bike.”

Any highs or lows out on thebike?

“Not really, I felt a little bit flatactually. I kind of expected thisbecause of such a long taper. I dida bit of experimenting on the bike,with nutrition and position, justtried to fool around a little bit atthis race. Considering how I felt,my bike split wasn’t bad. I knewthat there were a couple of guys

behind me towards the end. I rodevery comfortably into transition,just wanting to conserve for therun, so those guys actually wentout on the run a bit before me.”

There were a few guys includingSpencer Smith, and Oliver Bernhard,who were a bit ahead of you. Comingout of transition, were you feelingokay about where you were? How wereyou feeling over-all?

“I felt lousy the first 10K or so.Oliver, who I knew was one of thebest runners in the sport, grew alead of about 1 minute or so. I real-ly wanted to stay with him and seeif we could maybe catch Spencertogether. After a while, I reallystarted to feel my stride. On one ofthe turn arounds, I realised thatOliver was not gaining on me, buthad actually started to come backto me a bit which really gave mesome more confidence. One of thethings that I have learned inHawaii and that I used at thismoment in Florida, was that if youstart feeling weak at all on the run,you need to eat. That is when youhave to grab anything you can getyour hands on at the aid stations. Ijust tried to eat and drink as muchas possible to replenish everythingI was depleting. I probably atemore during the marathon in

Florida than I ever have in anyother race.”

Did you catch Oliver Berhard?“At about mile 11 or so , I did

catch him. This was very motivat-ing because as I said before, he hasquite a background in running. Iknew that as I went by him, I hadto be as strong as possible, and Iimmediately put about 20 secondson him. Eliza saw me after thatand looked pretty surprised…Shehad seen me limping out of transi-tion looking pretty bad and here Iwas running along in second feel-ing good. Just seeing my wife lookso happy also really motivated mefor the second half. People weregiving me splits on Spencer’s leadwhich I think at one point wasabout 8 minutes, but they weresaying that he was starting to fadeand that his lead was shrinking.At the end of the run, I came inand crossed the finish line feelingsatisfied. I was very pleased withmy marathon, that it was backdown around 2:49. This reallyproved to me that I have what ittakes at the end of these races tochallenge for the win.

In California an 8:27 was greatand I thought that was really fast.Now I realize my expectationshave changed because after Floridathat same time was satisfactory butnot great. I know that I am capableof so much more.”

Any thoughts on which races youmight do next year?

“Well, I actually thought aboutracing New Zealand. My wife andI think it would be fun to go downfor a race. I definitely wouldn’t bepeaking for it, it would just begood to go down and see whereI’m at. I would like to race CamBrown if I had the opportunity.Other than that, the season is real-ly wide open for me.”

So you are thinking long courseagain?The Panama City, Florida course is on the northern Gulf Coast and pass-

es through southern pine forests and over inland canals like this one.

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“I am thinking long-course but I definitely have a differentplan as far as training goes. I realize that I have learned so muchin only one year about long course racing and I know that if Iwant to challenge for the title in Hawaii that I need to continue tofocus on that. I also think that there some talented short courseguys that are stepping up and I really need to keep my speed up.Even if it is just keeping in touch with them on the swim. It willbe important. So I think that I will be doing plenty of short courseraces, all with the intention of working towards my long courseracing.”

There you have it folks. It is evident that Tony’s confidence andexperience will play a large role in his success in the upcoming years.One of the most notable things in speaking with Tony about his career ishis apparent effort for-self improvement and his quest for knowledgewithin his sport. It is so often the opposite: as athletes become more andmore successful, they are less likely to recognize the lessons they arelearning and use them advantageously. Tony, however, seems to be tak-ing full advantage of the challenges he’s faced, using them to strength-en his talents and successes- all of which we will no doubt see more ofin the years to come.

Tony’s pro career highlights includewins at St. Anthony’s (which was the PanAm Games trials) and Mrs. T’s. His topIronman finishes so far are a fourth placein Switzerland, and his second place fin-ishes at Ironman California and IronmanFlorida in 2001.

Below: Tony and his wife, Eliza (fromKona), at midnight at the finish line of theHawaii Ironman last October. Photo byKristen McFarland.

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South Africans DominateThis year’s Xterra World

Championship was won onthe bike leg in both the men’sand the women’s races, asConrad Stoltz and AnkeErlank of South Africaclocked splits over three min-utes faster than their nearestcompetitor.

After a good swim and aquick transition, Stoltz took the lead on thefamous climb up the crusty dry side of the vol-cano. He was at T2 all alone and then proceededto put in the fastest run (40:15 over a rough 11K)to win the race by over eight minutes. Just likelast year, when Kerstin Weule won despite a flat,Anke suffered a flat tire. She had such a com-manding lead, however, that even the time lost chang-ing her tire was not enough to lose her lead.

Stoltz, who has been living and training inColorado Springs, and Anke Erlank, who has relocat-ed to Louisville (outside of Boulder) finished theNissan Xterra Series of 4 races on the mainland in thelead to win the $10,000 series points prize going intothe World Championship race. They both won the last

race of the series, in LakeTahoe, Nevada, at theend of September. Erlankrides for the Saturn-Timex cycling team.

Kerstin Weule fightsthrough injury

Despite being thedefending championfrom last year, KerstinWeule (Evergreen) wasnot at all disappointedwith her third place

result. Battling a back injury since May, Weule almostcancelled her plans to race here at the off-road worldchampionship.

“We just decided Monday to come, because it gotreally, really bad last week. So I’m actually superhappy to be top three. The time was not very good. Itwas terrible, but it doesn’t matter. Top three for meunder the circumstances, is fine.”

The back problems bothered her throughout themorning. However, she managed a strong run. Aftergoing through the second transition in seventh,Kerstin pulled up to third. She is very unsure of whather plans will be for next season if this injury does notheal.

“It could very well have beenmy last race today.”

Monique Merrill, ofBreckenridge, came in a minutebehind Kerstin for fourth.

Overend struggles to 4thTwo time champion Ned

Overend of Durango didn’t feel on

XTERRAWORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KRISTEN MCFARLAND

Photos: this page: top left: Pat Brown (Boulder), top right:Conrad Stoltz (South Africa/Colorado Springs), bottom left:Ned Overend (Durango), bottom right: Jimmy Archer (Boulder);facing page: top: Anke Erlank (South Africa/Louisville), bot-tom: Kerstin Weule (Evergreen)


for the event, but had a good result anyway. After athird at Keystone and a third at Lake Tahoe, heended the series in third in the points race.

“I wasn’t riding strong enough. I was fourth,and I was disappointed in the race. But now thatit’s over I realize that that’s about as good as I wasgoing to do....I did manage to climb up to justbehind second place. I caught the second place guyon the bike. But I really needed to go by him with apretty good lead in order to hold that position onthe run. So I only lost one place in the run.”

Pat Brown climbs up the ranks“Every year I just move up a few places,”said a

happy Pat Brown after finishing 6th. He was verydetermined to continue that trend.

“I rode on a flat for the last two miles of thebike. I was in fifth, and then I got the flat. ThenAndrew Noble, from Australia, caught me and wecame into the transition area together.”

Just one person passed him on the run.Jimmy Archer (Boulder), who had finished the points series in 6th,

one spot ahead of Pat, couldn’t beat him in this race, crossing the line3 minutes behind him for an 8th.

Wes Hobson, who had his best finish here in ‘98 (2nd), was com-peting the last time as a professional and had high hopes for his“goodbye” race. He ran under the arch 10th with new baby Makennain his arms, happy and yet disappointed in his result.

“I know it’s right after today. I came into this race feeling goodand I just got dropped at the beginning of the climb. That shouldn’thappen. I’m usually the one that’s leading the climb.”

At that point he actually felt like quitting, and he has only DNF’eda few times in his long career. Then he noticed that others weren’t real-ly catching him from behind, so he tried to keep his pace thinking,“This is my last race, I gotta finish.”

Entering T2 in 16th place, “I just started picking people off ,” hesaid. “The last quarter mile I passed 2 people on the beach here.”

Widoff wins the “Double”Cam Widoff (Boulder) came in 30th,

and much to his surprise, won the“Double”, a $2500 prize. That is the awardfor the participant who finishes highest inthe Xterra and the Ironman WorldChampionship the preceding weekend onthe Big Island. Cam placed 8th, his secondbest finish there ever. “I came over to sup-port my brother (who was racing)....I havebeen over here for like two or three yearswith him.” He had heard that Steve Larsenand some other top pros from Ironmanwere coming over and he had not plannedon racing competitively. “I didn’t bring any-thing,” he said. Riding on Peter Cain’s bikeand wearing Wendy Ingraham’s helmet heput together the equipment to race. “I had alot of fun.”

After 12 years as a successful profession-al triathlete and nearly twenty years in thesport, Wes Hobson has raced his last prorace. “Finishing tenth today is all the morereason it feels right.”

Despite his frustration with this last race,Wes has won races throughout his career,

and has competedin venues all overthe world. Fromwinning the U.S.Triathlon Seriesback in ‘92, to hiswin at Escape fromAlcatraz in ‘99, hehas been in the topranks of olympicdistance triathlon allthese years.

Wes also has served the sport, as eliteathlete representative for two years on theUSAT Board of Directors.

During the last two years he has begunmaking the transition from active pro tobeing part of the sport as a businessman. Hecollaborated on and co-produced the movieTriathlon: Through the Eyes of the Elite withEndurance Films and has a newly publishedbook, Swim, Bike, Run. He has plans to dosome coaching and perhaps direct sometraining camps.

Besides these various endeavours, heplans to enjoy taking care of his brand newbaby, Makenna (above), and spending moretime with his wife, Jenn.

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Documents

Racing Around the Beautiful Bays of Huatulco · 2016. 9. 28. · Elizabeth Anderson Pat Brown Bettina Younge Adam Hodges Wes Hobson Darrin Eismann Contributing Photographers: Timothy