Women to watch at Oceanside 70.3
It will be very, very tough to unseat the two-time defending Rohto Ironman 70.3 California champion Mirinda Carfrae. If we were offering odds for this non-World Championship event, they would be in the prohibitive range of 1-5 for Carfrae. Impossible to beat — except for the occasional intrusion of Lady Bad Luck, which can strike at any moment in sport as we saw with Chrissie Wellington at Kona last year. Still, there is a deeply talented field of women ready to give it a go.
Mirinda Carfrae, 30, Australia
Why make Mirinda such a prohibitive favorite? You can start with her big win at Kona during which she broke 9 hours and shattered the Ironman Hawaii women’s run record with a blazing 2:52 marathon. You can cite her near perfect 2010 70.3 season, which included wins at Oceanside, Vineman, Calgary, Muskoka and the Rev3 half – spoiled only by her second place at St. Anthony's and a 3rd place at the Basque Country Tri Grand Prix . Her foot speed is dominating and daunting – just look at her 1:16:32 half marathon at Vineman, 1:18:15 at Muskoka, and 1:20:15 at Calgary –three seconds slower than men’s winner Kieran Doe. And with all that statistical ammo, you can afford to forget her 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, her 2nd at Ironman Hawaii in 2009 and her 2004 Olympic appearance. Struggling to find a chink in her armor you might cite her second place finish this March at Ironman New Zealand to Sam Warriner. But then you should factor in that she lost by 3 minutes after suffering and changing two flats.
Kelly Williamson, 34, Austin, TX, USA
This rising star from Texas just killed the fields this year at San Juan 70.3 and Rev3 Costa Rica. So she is already at peak fitness. Last year she took 70.3 wins at Steelhead and Branson and placed third at her Ironman debut at Coeur d’Alene.
Linsey Corbin, 30, Missoula, MT, USA
In 2006 she placed first amateur woman at Wildflower. In 2007, she won the Vancouver half and Baja 70.3, took seconds at the Victoria B.C. half and Columbia Triathlon. In 2008, she won the New Balance half Ironman, took 2nd at Pucon 70.3 and Lake Stevens 70.3, placed 3rd at Kansas 70.3, and topped off her fantastic year with a 5th place overall and first American woman at Kona. In 2009, she took 2nd at Ironman Arizona, Pucon 70.3 and Boise 70.3. In 2010, she won Pucon 70.3, Ironman Coeur d’Alene, took 2nds at New Orleans 70.3, Boise 70.3, Ironman Arizona and placed 3rd at Kansas and Calgary 70.3s.
Corbin is Montana tough
Magali Tissyre, 30, Canada
Started so-so in 2011 with a 4th San Juan 70.3 but will heat up. Hit the spotlight in 2009 with her first Ironman 70.3 win with a blazing fast 4:12:29 finish at Boise, took second at Ironman 70.3 Calgary, third at Timberman 70.3 and topped off her year with a 3rd place podium at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater. In 2010, she scored 4th at Wildflower, 3rd at Ironman 70.3 Florida, and won 70.3 races at Mooseman, Buffalo Springs, and the Philippines before repeating her 3rd place at the Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater.
Heather Jackson, 27, San Diego, CA, USA
A native of Exeter, New Hampshire, Jackson was an NCAA ice hockey player at Princeton from 2002-2006. Upon graduation, Jackson spent 2007 through the 2009 school year teaching before devoting herself to a career in triathlon. In 2010, she placed 2nd and scored the fastest bike splits at Ironman 70.3s races in Austin and Steelhead. She took 3rd places at Boise and Timberman 70.3s, and capped off her second pro season with a 5th place at the 2010 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater.
Kate Major, 33, Australia
This former professional squash player has three Ironman Hawaii third place finishes (2004, 2005, 2007) putting her halfway toward Fernanda Keller’s amazing record of six. She also has Ironman wins at Lake Placid (2004) Arizona (2005), Ironman 70.3 wins at California (2007) Rhode Island (2010) and 2nd place 70.3 finishes at Mooseman (2010) and Racine (2010). Most pertinent, she is on her game already in 2011 with a 2nd place finish at San Juan 70.3
Desiree Ficker, 34, Austin, TX, USA
Thought her career peaked with her 2nd place finish at Ironman Hawaii in 2006? Might have to rethink that – or least recognize that there are more great races where that came from. Started slow in 2011 with a 6th at San Juan 70.3. But after her win at Ironman South Africa in 2008, she really let 'er rip in 2009, led by her 10th place finish at the 2009 New York City Marathon in a PR 2:39:00, her win at the Austin Triathlon, 2nd place finish at Rhode Island 70.3, and 3rd places at Eagleman 70.3 and Augusta 70.3.
Dede Griesbauer, 41, Boston, MA, USA
When others are thinking of retiring, Dede Griesbauer just keeps on rolling. Her 2007 season put her among the sport’s best performers with 2nd at California 70.3, 2nd at Ironman Brazil, 3rd at St. Croix, and a New England home town 3rd at Timberman 70.3. In 2008, she took 2nd at Eagleman 70.3, 3rd at Florida 70.3, 4th at Timberman 70.3 and 10th at Ironman Hawaii. In 2009, she started slow with an 8th at Oceanside, then blitzed the rest of the year with a 1st at Ironman Brazil, 3rd at Vineman 70.3, 4th at Timberman 70.3 and 9th at Ironman Hawaii. Last year, she scored 2nd at IM Brazil, 5th at Timberman 70.3 and 6th at Vineman 70.3.
Lesley Paterson, Great Britain
This Scottish-born San Diego resident announced that she won't be racing.
Melanie McQuaid, 37, Canada
McQuaid is a three-time XTERRA World Champion who has three second place finishes at Maui, two overall XTERRA series titles and seven national titles from the U.S. and Canada. In addition to her impeccable off road credentials, McQuaid looks very good on pavement after winning Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens in 2010.
Heather Wurtele, Canada
This tall Canadian with a killer bike has not seen her best days yet but they are getting closer. In 2010, she won Ironman St. George in 9:35 – and had the fastest bike split by 17 minutes. She also took 2nd at Ironman Canada, 2nd at Calgary 70.3, 2nd at the Vancouver half and 5th at Ironman Arizona. In 2009, she was 2nd at Lake Stevens 70.3, 5th at Wildflower, 3rd at Ironman Coeur d’Alene, but an off-form 11th at Oceanside 70.3. Wurtele’s success has remained remarkably consistent since 2008, when she won Ironman Coeur d’Alene, took 3rd at IM Canada and Boise 70.3, and placed 5th at Wildflower.
Hillary Biscay, 32, Tucson, AZ, USA
This Iron glutton with some 40-plus finishes at the distance has carved out an excellent career with a superior swim and bike and a lot of hard, hard work on the run. Her resumed is topped by a win at Ironman Wisconsin in 2008. But beyond that shining moment, she has five 2nd place Iron-distance finishes, 15 Iron-distance podiums and a 2nd place finish at the 2010 edition of Ultraman, which may have finally quenched her thirst for longer and longer distance tests.
Mackenzie Madison, 25, Eugene, OR, USA
This Iowa State grad is fast carving out a long course triathlon career with a 2nd at Lake Stevens 70.3 and a 6th at Wildflower in 2009 and a 3rd at Ironman Canada last year. Her Ironman PR is 9:24:11 and her 70.3 best is 4:42:03.
Tamara Kozulina, 35, Ukraine
This Ukrainian star’s best performances go back a decade and continue to the present. He best was a win at the 2004 ITU long course worlds and 3rd at Ironman New Zealand that same year. She also scored a 2nd at Ironman Austria in 2002, 2nd at IM Austria 2002, and a 2nd at 2009 Ironman Florida. She also posted a win at Strongman Japan last year.
