Ironman Hawaii

What a wicked day of racing!

The online coverage was awesome. Lots of great interviews, insight, and camera shots.
Having Macca stop by to provide commentary of the race was truly a treat. Great stuff. Today was like Christmas for me.

The racing was incredible. The bikers (Sinballe, Stadler and Lieto to name a few) took it out hard and went for it on the run. They got caught by the runners but at least they laid it out there. Hats off to them. Macca snapped a cable on his bike which would have taken 20 minutes to fix so he unfortunately had to drop out of the race.

As I said, Craig Alexander was going to tear up the run and he sure did. He plunked down a blazing 2:45 marathon and cruised to victory. When he was interviewed this morning (530am) I could tell that he was there to crush the competition. He looked super lean, intense and ready to rock n' roll. Well done Craig!! You are wickedly fast.

Men
1. Craig Alexander 8:17:45
2. Eneko Llanos Burguera 8:20:50
3. Rutger Beke 8:21:23
4. Ronnie Schildknecht 8:24:46
5. Timo Bracht 8:23:04
6. Cameron Brown 8:26:17
7. Patrick Vernay 8:30:23
8. Andy Potts 8:33:50
9. Mathias Hecht 8:34:02
10. Michael Lovato 8:38:47

Now for scary fast. If it were not for a flat tire (which killed 7-10 minutes) we surely would have seen the women's course record be broken today. Chrissy Wellington is a pure phenom. I just hope she keeps on racing and doesn't get bored of demolishing the women's field (and many pro men too). She did set the new women's marathon record in Hawaii by running 2:57.

Women
1. Chrissie Wellington 9:06:23
2. Yvonne Van Vlerken 9:21:20
3. Sandra Wallenhorst 9:22:52
4. Erika Csomor 9:24:49
5. Linsey Corbin 9:28:51
6. Virginia Berasategui 9:29:15
7. Bella Comerford 9:34:08
8. Gina Ferguson 9:36:53
9. Gina Kehr 9:37:06
10. Dede Griesbauer 9:39:53

I got so inspired by the coverage today that after the big players made the bike turnaround in Hawi, I got dressed and headed out on my first "real" outdoor bike ride. I don't remember loving riding so much. It felt great to be outdoors again and enjoying the great weather. Not to mention being on my fave ride---Siena. I did a quick 40 km on a hilly route and my Achilles felt strong. I hammered all the hills and my heart rate went through the roof. It was good to be back. With 2 more days of awesome weather here I'll be sure to head out again.

Brian Bennett, a local massage therapist and acquaintance, had the good fortune to take part in today's race in Hawaii and is still on the course as of this post. In fact, he has raced for 10 hrs and 18 minutes and has 21 miles left to go on the run. He should cruise home easily and finish his first race in Hawaii. Way to go Brian.