Hail to Clearwater champions
Both of them broke race and world records at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. But Michael Raelert was a long shot operating under the radar and Julie Dibens was a long-awaited favorite everyone anticipated. Some thoughts from the winners and reflections of their achievements by the vanquished.
Michael Raelert
Michael Raelert was the other brother in the shadows of elder brother Andreas, who had emerged into the long course spotlight with a fastest run and a runner-up finish at Clearwater last year, won Ironman Arizona and took an impressive third in his debut at Ironman Hawaii this October. This year in the Toyota Cup short course series, Michael took 8th at Life Time Fitness in Minneapolis, 7th at Chicago, 6th at Los Angeles and 14th at Dallas. Only a second place to Sebastian Kienle at Wiesbaden 70.3 gave an indication he might be a threat against a large, stacked field in Clearwater.
But Michael Raelert came into 2009 with a plan and a secret weapon. He was going to abandon his take what comes, race-by-race approach to his sport and submit to the disciplined coaching of his older brother.
"This year I was just training for this event from the first race of the season until now," he said after his win at Clearwater. "Everything I did was focused on this race."
It was not easy to change his mindset. "I never really prepared for one race like this," he said. "So when I would do poorly at many races, I was cranky. Honestly, I thought Clearwater would go like all the other races. Even if you are training, you want to have a good race. But all the other races were bad for me. So when Andreas was coaching me, I never believed him. When I had a bad race I would tell him 'Aw, you are such a bad coach! Blah blah blah!' But he would always tell me: 'Be patient!' The day before this race, I got a message from him: 'You did all the good work and it will go well.'"
Michael beamed when he recalled his record 3:34:04 winning time and sizzling 1:09:05 run. "Today was perfect. This is the greatest feeling ever. I never expected to be World Champion. I was looking for a good result. Top 10 or Top 5, never World Champion."
Two-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander wasn't shocked. "Anyone who has been on the circuit knows that Michael Raelert has the pedigree and the talent. His brother Andreas has been around a long time and is excellent at all distances. Obviously Andreas's 1:10:54 run last year was spectacular, but Michael beat that by 1:48. Michael truly deserved the win. It was a world class performance on a big stage. He did it with veteran guys with much more 70.3 experience chasing him. All the pressure was there. All the media was there. To run 69 after a two hour bike ride, hats off to him! He was a worthy winner for sure."
Michael Raelert recalled the moment in the race when he got a glimmer that he might not have to take a back seat to anyone.
"I was so happy to stay with the front pack on the bike," he recalled. "Sometimes it got kind of hard. And I was a bit lucky – I got dropped and came back again."
Joe Gambles observed Raelert during the bike and thought the German managed his strategy very well. "During the ride, I saw Michael Raelert. He was at the back of the front pack, which is smart."
When the run started, Michael Raelert was humble in his expectations. "I didn’t expect to run this well. But when I got off the bike I saw they don’t run away from me. So I thought 'OK. Maybe I'll stay a bit longer on them.' Then I realized 'Dammit, I can catch them!' I didn’t know what I can do but when I came to Matt Reed, I thought 'He is one of the best athletes in the world.' So when I passed him at 3k for the lead, he was the last one. He did not resist."
Reed offered no immediate resistance, but in his mind the race wasn't over.
"If I felt normal on the run, I might have been challenging Michael," said Reed. "When he passed me, I was doing a 5-minutes per mile pace and he must have been running 4:50 on that mile. I thought he was running too fast and he might blow up because he was going too fast. But he obviously wasn't – he felt very good this day."
Raelert wasn't entirely confident. "At the first turnaround, I had a bit of a gap (4 minutes) but I knew the second 10k you can really blow up. So I was careful. In the last 4 km, I thought it would be mine because I felt all right and I didn’t have cramps. So I was happy I made it."
Reed toasted his rival at the end. "Michael played the game well and deserved to win. I told my wife Kelly that I thought it would take a 1:09 run to win. I was right, but I thought it would be me, but it was Michael."
Julie Dibens
A two-time Olympian for Great Britain and a three-time XTerra World Champion, Julie Dibens also took second to Sarah Haskins in the Life Time Fitness race for the Toyota Cup short course series this year. But Dibens heart has long been yearning for the Foster Grant Ironman 70.3 World Championship title. In 2007 and 2008 she broke to big leads on the bike but finally faded to 4th on the runs. This year she was focused on shoring up her run and leaving no stone unturned in pursuit of this title.
"I really think I can use my bike strength to my advantage in 70.3s, not necessarily on this course," she said. "But I just love the 70.3 distance. It's a real contest of speed and endurance. It's what I'm made for."
Dibens found she was on track for her quest this past summer when she found herself a favored training partner of Chrissie Wellington between the fellow Brit's world best 8:31 at Quelle Challenge Roth and her record-breaking 8:54 win at Hawaii. Wellington gave profuse thanks to Dibens for smashing her countrywoman every day on long bikes at hard core pace. But when Dibens administered a rare whipping of Wellington at the Boulder 5430 long course, Dibens brushed off any significance that media might have attached to it.
As in previous years at Clearwater, Dibens went off the front. But this year it was even earlier than usual. With her 23:48 swim, she was behind only Sarah Groff. With a lightning transition, she took off and left the field behind with her first pedal strokes.
"Unfortunately for me, I didn’t see Julie right away," said runner-up Mary Beth Ellis. "She took off like a bat out of hell so I just tried to stay at the front of the group behind her."
As before, the men's pack, on their way to a rocket-ship paced sub-two hour split, took 35 miles to make up for the 5 minute head start given the women. While trying mightily to stay out of the men's way and not draw any penalty, Dibens stayed with the men for longer than expected. "I told Julie to drop back because she was with all the men and I didn't want her to get a penalty," said 5th place finisher Joe Gambles. "But she is as good as half those men, so they had to do something to pass her."
If it is possible to say about a women's 2:07 split for 56 miles, Dibens stayed conservative (for her) on the bike, keeping in mind her two prior blow ups on the run.
"I know my run has improved a lot, but it's still a bit hit or miss," she said. "I was joking with my friends the other day when I told them "I have about three days a year of good running." I was hoping that today was going to be one of those days."
She admitted she was worried about possibly fading on the run. "Absolutely," she said. "That's why I'm never going to give up until I cross the line. There were different places on the second lap where I thought I'm feeling really good here and this is where I blew up two years ago. OK. You will always have these doubts in the back of your mind. But you have to block them out and focus on what you need to do."
When she did cross the line in 3:59:33, the self-effacing, understated woman broke out in a big smile. "I knew I would have to go sub-p4 hours today to win," said Dibens (She didn't have to). The feeling is unbelievable. It's hard to explain. To really focus for so long on a race and it's a win. It's incredibly satisfying."
Gambles had first hand knowledge of Dibens' work habits. "Mary Miller and I lived with Julie in Boulder and we've seen how hard she trains," said Gambles. "She does so much biking. I've never seen someone train so consistently and so hard. And I'm so happy for her."
Mary Beth Ellis joined a chorus of admirers after the great victory and breaking the 4-hour barrier. "I am not surprised," said Ellis. "She is an amazing athlete and she totally deserved it." Michellie Jones said "Good for her. She is a great athlete and it is nice to see her finally win one." Mirinda Carfrae, the 2007 Clearwater champion, said "Julie is a deserving winner. I am glad she won. So many times girls sat on her wheels then took her on the run. This time she ran well and strong. Julie could win in any conditions, but she would do even better on a hilly course."
So what was more satisfying – beating Chrissie or winning Clearwater?
"This is way better! No disrespect to Chrissie, but we both went into 5430 in totally different shape. We were aiming at different things at the time. I was pretty happy that she and Rinnie (Carfrae) weren't here. But you can only beat who is here on the day. So yeah – I'm delighted."
