Weekend Box Dec 15 2013
As Christmas fast approaches, the big news is the marriage of triathlon stars in Colorado, races are slim and represented by a single 70.3 at Canberra, a PR disaster comes to a resolution and Competitor Group shakes up the executive suite.
Mirinda Carfrae and Timothy O’Donnell tie the knot in Colorado
Two-time Ironman World Champion Mirinda Carfrae and 2009 ITU Long Course World Champion Timothy O’Donnell were married Saturday in a joyous ceremony before close friends and family at the Devil’s Thumb Ranch Resort and Spa near Winter Park, Colorado and a short distance from the Continental Divide.
In addition to their parents and siblings and relatives, guests included Carfrae’s coach Siri Lindley, Chris and Sarah Legh and their children, Rachel Joyce, Mary Beth Ellis and Eric Olson, Julie and Michael Dibens, Mary Miller and several other friends from the Boulder area and around the world.
The dynamic duo met at the 2009 edition of the St. Croix 70.3 Triathlon and not long after became a permanent item. When Rinny won her second Kona title this year in a record-smashing time, she leaped into Tim’s arms in one of the most emotional finish line moments in the race’s history.
“I’m not an emotional guy, but I was in tears at the finish one watching her,” said O’Donnell. “We are a team now and for me her win was more exciting than me getting 5th place.”
Sam Appleton, Rebekah Keat dominate Ironman 70.3 Canberra
Australians Sam Appleton and Rebekah Keat posted decisive victories at the Ironman 70.3 Canberra Sunday.
Appleton completed a strong month of racing — which included 2nd places at Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie, the Nepean Triathlon and the Mandurah 70.3 – with an impressive win. Appleton tied with James Hodge with identical race-best 23:16 swim splits, 8 seconds ahead of Michael Fox and a minute ahead of a pack that included Matt Bailey, Joshua Maeder and Matthew Pellow. The top three maintained their advantage throughout the bike, arriving in T2 with a 1:05 advantage over Monty Frankish, Pellow and Matt Bailey.
Appleton then cinched the win with a race-fastest 1:14:36 half marathon, which brought him to the line in 3:54:54 with a 3:51 margin of victory over runner-up Pellow (1:17:13 run) and 4:30 over 3rd place Hodge (1:19:14 run).
Keat started off with a 2nd-best 26:52 swim, 15 seconds back of Lauren Parker and 1:09 ahead of XTERRA star Jacqui Slack, and 2:12 ahead of strong cyclist-runner Madeleine Oldfield.
At the 30 kilometer mark, Keat established a 2:26 lead on Oldfield, who matched Keat’s pace but made up no ground on her swim deficit. By 60k, Keat increased her lead over Oldfield to 4:33. After a race-best 2:28:25 bike split – 4:34 better than Oldfield – Keat began the run with a 6:46 lead and never looked back. Keat’s race-best 1:26:41 run brought her to the finish in 4:25:58 with an 8:33 margin of victory over Oldfield and 11:16 over 3rd-place finisher Kym Jaenke.
The win caps off an up and down 2013 season for Keat, whose best moments also include a 2nd at the Ironman North America Championship at Mt. Tremblant, and new course record 70.3 wins at Austin and Shepparton.
Ironman 70.3 Canberra
Canberra, Australia
December 15, 2013
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Sam Appleton (AUS) 3:54:54
2. Matthew Pellow (AUS) 3:58:45
3. James Hodge (AUS) 3:59:24
4. John Polson (AUS) 4:00:52
5. Michael Fox (AUS) 4:02:18
Women
1. Rebekah Keat (AUS) 4:25:57
2. Madeleine Oldfield (AUS) 4:34:30
3. Kym Jaenke (AUS) 3:37:14
4. Polly Mosley (GBR) 4:40:56
5. Jacqui Slack (GBR) 4:41:54
Competitor Group Inc. shakes up senior management team
Competitor Group Inc. (CGI) named Paul F. Walsh interim Chief Executive Officer and George Gresham interim Chief Financial Officer to replace outgoing CEO Scott Dickey and CFO Steve Gintowt, both of whom served five years as head of the active lifestyle sports media and entertainment company. The CGI release did not specify the reasons for their departure. In March 2012, Dickey, who previously served as CGI President and Chief Operating Officer, was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer.
Current Chairman and now active CEO Paul Walsh noted in a CGI release that Dickey and Gintowt played key roles in the transition when Calera Capital acquired CGI from Falconhead Capital in December 2012. Recently, Bill Pedigo was appointed to CGI’s senior management team as Chief Revenue Officer and will lead the company’s sales and sponsorship division. Previously, Pedigo reported directly to CEO Scott Dickey.
CGI owns and operates 83 events around the world including the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, the TriRock Triathlons Series, the NFL Run Series, the Women’s Running Series, and the REI Muddy Buddy Series — collectively those events had 600,000 professional and amateur participants last year. CGI also owns Velo, Inside Triathlon, Triathlete, Women’s Running and Competitor magazines which have a combined monthly circulation of 700,000.
Specialized owner apologizes to Café Roubaix owner for trademark legal action
Specialized founder and owner Mike Sinyard flew to Cochrane, Alberta Canada late this week to personally apologize to the owner of the Café Roubaix bike shop for his company’s aggressive attempt to take legal action to protect its trademark of the word “Roubaix,” which is a road bike model which Specialized manufactures and sells.
Sinyard told Cycling News on Friday: "I flew up there and I broke some bread with [Café Roubaix owner Dan Richter]. Things are now solved. I definitely feel sorry on how we acted. I guess I would say I feel ashamed of it. It's not what I like and I told him that, face to face.”
Specialized withdrew its action against war veteran Richter, the owner of Café Roubaix, who used the term “Roubaix” as a brand for custom wheels he manufactures in his shop, after Advanced Sports International, which licenses the trademark “Roubaix” to Specialized, informed Specialized officials they did not have the authority to pursue a trademark case intending to stop Richter from using the Roubaix name. ASI, which owns Fuji bicycles which also manufactures and sells a Roubaix model, asserted that they own the worldwide copyright on Roubaix.
Specialized’s action against the small Canadian bike shop ignited a PR disaster which led to thousands of outraged emails and negative comments on cycling websites. ASI’s CEO Pat Cunnane told Bicycle Retailer that while ASI has the authority to object to Mr. Richter’s use of the name, “we believe that Mr. Richter did not intend for consumers to confuse his brick-and-mortar establishment or his wheel line with our Roubaix road bike.” Cunnane added, “We have reached out to Mr. Richter to inform him that he can continue to use the name, and we will need to license his use.”
