Despite not going very fast during a 5 hour ride on January 2nd, Chrissie Wellington crashed quite hard and fractured her arm, wrist, hand and a couple of fingers. She checked in with slowtwitch.
by Herbert Krabel, January 7, 2010
The life of a professional sports photographer appears absolutely thrilling and exciting and we spent time with Rich Cruse to find out what it is really like to be in the middle of the action at various historical triathlon events.
In August age grouper Wim Van De Wielle lost his wife Kristel in a terrible hit and run accident and his life was turned upside down. A few months later Van De Wielle won his age group at Ford Ironman Florida and finished 13th overall.
Headed for greatness after five Ironman distance wins in her first two years as a professional, the part time Christchurch Symphony violinist endured some rough times in 2009.
Silvia Balbach had the second fastest female age group run split and finished as the fourth overall fastest female amateur in Kona this year. A chance encounter prior to the race led to this interview with the speedy German.
The fastest age group bike split in Kona belonged to Stefan Werner from Germany. But more importantly, he also was the age group World Champion in M30-34 and the second fastest overall amateur.
The Frazz comic strip has given many of us a laugh as the stories seem to take pages out of our lives. Jef Mallett from Lansing, Michigan is the man behind Frazz and he recently published Trizophrenia – Inside the Minds Of a Triathlete.
At the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships, Max “Rocco” Renko won the 18-24 age group and posted the 3rd fastest age group time overall. This young Austrian athlete is not only very fast, he also has quite a few things to say.
With the Maui 2009 XTERRA World Championships coming up this weekend, many eyes will be on Conrad Stoltz, Nicolas Lebrun and last year’s winner Ruben Luzafa. One dark horse on not so many lists is Richard Ussher.
Christian Mueller was the fastest overall age grouper in Kona this year with a 1:00:21 swim, a 4:47:09 bike and a 3:08:11 run for a 9:01:32 total time. That was good enough for 32nd place overall and thus a great bib number for 2010.
Age grouper Kathleen Calkins broke the overall female age group record in Kona, Hawaii with her 9:46:27 finish at the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships. With that great time she also managed to be the 12th overall female.
Missoula, Montana triathlete Brendan Halpin turned a few heads at the 2009 Avia Wildflower Triathlon as the fastest overall age grouper, and we can certainly expect to see more of him next season. Slowtwitch had a few words with him.
Defending Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander is the odds on favorite to repeat. As perhaps the man with the most professional approach, he’s not keying off anyone else in the field, but ready for anything.
