IM World Championships on now in Kona. Early in the run Craig Alexander -- 2x winner, and the best runner in professional IM racing -- is about to catch Chris Lieto, who is the best cyclist in the sport, proving once again that this is a runner's sport. The big surprise is that Chrissie Wellington does not appear to be in the hunt; she's ~25' down on leader Julie Dibens. In her past appearances, Wellington has simply dominated the women's field, with three championship wins and god-knows-how-many race wins. But she's a runner, too, so it's not over.
This is so much cooler than football.
As predicted, Craig Alexander won, and in record time. And that at 38 years old. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteWellington, as of this comment, is in first by a few minutes. Her only serious competition appears to be Miranda Carfrae, who won last year (when Wellington had to skip due to illness).
Wow, what a race. Carfrae was ~4' slower off the bicycle than was Wellington. From there they ran separated by between 2:30' and 5' the whole way. Wellington finished with a women's run-split record and Carfrae broke it two and a half minutes later.
ReplyDeleteWomen's IM racing may have a rivalry of the level of Dave Scott-Mark Allen in the 1980s. Scott was the original dominant competitor, with six wins. Mark Allen came along a few years later and also got six wins before he was done. There is some great youtube video of Scott-Allen racing in the late 1980s -- I think 1989 is the best known. And it's interesting that Dave Scott now coaches Chrissie Wellington.