Congrat’s to Jim Lewis who crossed the line in Kona – You’re an Ironman!

Looks like it was one of the more brutal days on the Big Island.  I saw one post that indicated that temps on the lava fields hit 135 degrees F!  That’ll melt your Michelins.  Nice job Jim!

Minuteman to toe the line (or the beach) at Kona

On Saturday, October 8th, Minuteman tri-guy Jim Lewis will be competing in the Ironman World Championships.  Jim’s been training like a madman all summer (easier to do when you don’t have a full-time job)  and is ready to rock and roll.  Follow Jim on Ironmanlive.com on Saturday as he swim’s 2.4 miles in Kailua Bay, Bikes 12 miles throught the lava fields, and runs a marathon in the scorching heat and humidity the island is so famous for (better you than me, man).

Winter Multisport Clinics Announced

VS.

Winter is here, and multisport never sleeps.  You could commit time and energy to doing endless flip turns, or put on the layers of clothes for your long run, or spend another couple of hours watching lousy movies on the trainer.  Or, you can strap on a pair (of skis) and have some fun in the great outdoors.

A series of clinics will be held at the Weston Ski Track in Weston, MA providing instruction for those who would like to participate in Winter Tris and Dus.

Channel Multisport is the outfit providing the events (and races), with MRC providing support.  This is the link to the info on the website: http://www.wintermultisport.com/MAWTTS.html

The dates for the three clinics are:

Thursday January 14, 2010 – Clinic (Run) & Race 1
Thursday January 28, 2010 – Clinic (Bike) & Race 2
Thursday February 11, 2010 – Clinic (XC Ski) & Race 3

It cost each person $25 for the whole series, non-USAT members need to buy 1 licence for the whole series ($10) and then the WST trail fee (unless you have a season pass).

And volunteers are needed.  If you cannot take part in the clinic, come sip cocoa and watch others get their “nasty bits” frost-nipped.

MRC Clearwater Revival

Two MRC’ers made the journey south to Florida to engage in the high speed race where being able to use the draft is key to victory: Talladega 500 Clearwater 70.3 World Championships.  With some reports that people did not appear to be paying close attention to the 7 meter rule and a lack of marshals on the course, times were blazing on the bike.  Fastest split of the day was a dazzling a 1:58:57 (28.25 mph). Couldn’t tell you if the owner of said bike split was drafting, but seems that a flourish of Tour de France time trial level speeds over twice the distance might indicate something is amiss.  Fabian Cancellara knocked off the 2009 TdF stage one (hilly) 9.63 mile TT in 19:32 (29.5 mph).    Alberto Contrador won the final 25.2 mile  TT in Annecy in 40:30 (31.2 mph).  28.25 over 56 miles ain’t too bad in comparison.

Our intrepid competitors Crystal Anthony and Kyle Bowers achieved impressive results.

	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
Crystal Anthony	35:20	2:12:54	1:28:03	4:21:21
Kyle Bowers	30:51	2:22:26	1:32:36	4:31:58

Crystal’s performance was good for 4th in her age group, only finishing about 1 minute outside of third. Very impressive considering that she spotted her competition 6+ minutes in the swim.  Crystal also has been competing in the women’s elite cyclocross race New England race circuit with Team Minuteman Road Club.  Kyle finished 76th in his age group, just a scant 28 minutes outside of first place.  Kyle has had a long season which included Ironman Lake Placid.

Below is a tutorial that might help improve those bike times and make things more competitive for next year.  Congrats to Crystal and Kyle!

Patti and Hans, You are Ironmen!

They got allota heaaaht!

Patti Dalconzo and Hans Thamhain completed the Ironman World Championships on October 10th!  Held in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, the course is the fabled home of Ironman racing.  The weather conditions could be described as nothing less than brutal. With high wind and heat, the race became a survival test for everyone including the Pros.

Patti steadily moved through the field for the Age Group race, finally finishing in 15th position, with only 19 seconds separating 13th – 15th.  She had them in her sites, but ran out of real estate.  Patti’s final splits were:

Swim 1:18:42
Bike 6:22:15
Run 4:08:08
Final 11:56:43 (1112th/15th)

Hans continues to astound an amaze.  Rumors have it that shortly after the race, government agents in black suits and with ear pieces took Hans to a government facility in Area 51 to begin a battery of medical tests.  Hans is clearly from another planet.  Hans finished 11th in his age group.  Only one more year till Hans ages up; then those guys in the 75-79 age group better look out!  His final splits were:

Swim 1:52:56      Bike: 7:24:49      Run: 5:58:25      Final: 15:27:41  (1566th/11th)

Congrats to Pattie and Hans, as well as to the Friends of MRC (FOMRC) who competed.  Go eat some pizza, and a Mai Tai, and chill out (literally getting that core temperature back down).

You can watch the suffer-fest from the comfort of your own trainer on December 19, 2009 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm EST.  Starting figuring out your qualifying strategy for 2010.

2009 Ironman World Championships

It’s that time of year again, where the best of the best go head to head with one another and the storied Ironman WC course.  Clear skies, stiff winds, and high temperatures will challenge the competitors throughout the day, with everyone seeking to reach their personal goals and the 17 hour cut-off.

Pattie Dalconzo (#814) and Hans Thamhain (#230) of the Minuteman Road Club will be there.  You can track their progress at www.ironmanlive.com.  You can watch the race live at www.universalsports.com.

Perennial Kona Qualifier Hans Thamhain takes age group at FIRMman

In what was reported to be a challenging day on many fronts, Kona qualifier Hans Thamhain won the 70-74 age group in his final tune-up before heading off to the Ironman World Championships.  Despite rough surf and bumpy roads, three MRC’ers competed in the Rhode Island-based  1/2 Iron-distance race.  As Lynn Scornavacca described it, “The swim was in a rough ocean, very challenging to get past the breakers. One wave crashed on us so hard it was a goggle yard sale!”

Rather than collect goggles, the team made its way through the course, en route to impressive results.

Michael Bingham(6:16:00, 255th overall, 9th Males 55-59)
Hans Thamhain (6:20:01, 259th overall, 1st  Males 70-74)
Lynn Scornavacca (6:35:48, 282nd overall, 2nd Females 50-54)

Crystal Anthony Wins the Pumpkinman Half-Iron Distance Race

Crystal Anthony won the Women’s Elite Division by over 5 minutes on Sunday, September 13 in South Berwick, ME.  She also put together the fastest bike split (2:25, 23.2 mph average) and run split (1:29:55, 6:51/mile) en route to the win, which also put her 14th place overall out of all competitors. This puts an impressive bookend to a fantastic multisport season which included second place overall in the amateur US National Duathlon Championships.

Other MRC competitors included Greg Crist (4:31:46, 18th overall, 1st 45-49), Gil Sharon (4:41:04, 27th overall, 5th 35-39), William Bruce (4:51:39, 43rd overall, 9th 30-34), Neal Dunn (4:55:17, 52nd overall, 12th 30-34),  Mike Zackin (5:03:25, 69th overall, 3rd 50-54), and Jim Lewis (5:45:28, 160th, 5th 50-54).  Jim suffered a puncture and a strongly glued tubular which set him back about 1/2 hour.  He then went home and lit a votive candle to Our Lady of Perpetual Inflation.

Congrats to everyone who competed.

MRC Member Crystal Anthony takes Second at 2009 National Duathlon Championships

Crystal Anthony placed second at the 2009 National Duathlon Championships (10k run, 38k bike, 5k run) held in Richmond, VA back in April.  She narrowly missed first by 8 seconds, and took first place in her age group by over 1 minute.  Congrats to Crystal!

Crystal Anthony 29 37:47 1:08:54   17:25 2:06:16

MRC Member Stephen Wright repeats as NE Junior Champion

From nejuniortriathlon.com

“The FireMan Triathlon in Kennebunk, Maine, provided the final test in the 2009 USAT Northeast Junior Development Series and the 42-athlete strong junior field proved up to the challenge.  In one the best performances on record, junior athletes claimed 4 of the top 10 spots overall in the women’s division and 6 of the top 10 spots in the men’s division.  The junior men captured the top 5 spots overall, no less, with Jake Shoemaker the overall race winner.  Abby Levene finished second overall among the women.

Defending Series champion Steve Wright held off a strong challenge from newcomer Grant Rice to claim his second series title.  With wins at Cohasett and Kennebunk, Shoemaker moved up into the third spot.  Tim Stieskal and Austin Novis rounded out the top five.”

At the same race, Jim Koch took first place in the 30-34 age group.