Just one more sleep for the athletes before their big day here in Lubbock. Here is the schedule for tomorrow:
Sunday, June 26
4:30am Parking Starts
5:00am Transition Opens
6:25am 1st Wave Starts Pro Male
6:27am 2nd Wave Starts Pro Female
6:28am 3rd Wave HANDCYCLE
6:31am-6:40am 4th-10th Waves Starts AgeGroupers
6:00pm BUFFALO SPRINGS LAKE IRONMAN 70.3
AWARDS CEREMONY DINNER STARTS at Holiday Inn Plaza
Good morning from Lubbock. We are just about 15 minutes from the race start and the excitement is building.
In addition to the professional and age-group race, Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake will serve as the world qualifier for handcyclists wishing to compete in the Ford Ironman World Championship for the past 14 years. Handcyclists will continue to have the opportunity to qualify for the race, which takes place each October in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. They will also continue to have the opportunity to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas.
Looking at the numbers, t is an international event here in Texas with 12 countries represented. We also have athletes from every state!
And the professional men are on their way!
The professional women just started their day.
Between now and 6:48 the age-group athletes will start the swim in waves spaced three minutes apart.
It is a beautiful morning at the lake here but the it promises to warm up. The water is calm and their is a light wind.
Our youngest female competitor today is 18-year old Tess Van Kan of Mayfield Hts, OH. The youngest male athlete is Dilon Hollinger from Clayton, CA, who is also 18.
The top ten pro men are out of the water:
1 4 James Cotter Austin TX USA
2 19 Gavin Anderson Louisville CO USA
3 5 Andres Castillo Bogota BO COLUM
4 15 Brent Poulsen Fort Worth TX USA
5 30 Joe McDaniel Colorado Spring CO USA
6 12 Brandon Marsh Austin TX USA
7 23 Raynard Shay Tissink Beverly Grove, EA S.AFR
8 9 Josh Rix Boulder CO USA
9 1045 James Bowstead Auckland NZL
10 8 Dan Hugo Boulder CO USA
Just a bit over a minute separated the top 10 men with Michale Lovato just a few seconds back in 11th.
The first eight pro women are in T1.
1 29:17 42 Kelly Williams Austin TX USA
2 30:09 0:52 36 Margaret Shapiro Herndon VA USA
3 30:34 1:18 35 Jackie Arendt Madison WI USA
4 31:05 1:48 38 Donna Phelan Encinitas CA USA
5 31:14 1:57 26 Jessica Meyers Tulsa OK USA
6 31:16 2:00 1046 Angela Naeth Boulder CO USA
7 31:42 2:26 34 Madeleine Oldfield Boulder CO USA
8 31:47 2:31 32 Amanda Lovato
Kelly Williamson has been on fire this year and today looks to be no different, coming out of the water almost a full minute ahead of Margaret Shapiro.
James Cotter and Gavin Anderson came out of the water at exactly the same time.
Some of the age-group athletes from the first waves have finished the swim.
Our two oldest competitors here today, 81-year old Lew Hollander and and 80-year old Sister Madonna Buder are still making their way through the swim.
The men are through mile 15 on the bike and the look of the field has changed. Most notably, Michael Lovato has worked his way from 11th to third with Cotter dropping down to 7th.
1 1:07:29 23 Raynard Shay Tissink Beverly Grove, EA S.AFR
2 1:08:21 0:52 1045 James Bowstead Auckland NZL
3 1:08:36 1:07 1 Michael Lovato
4 1:08:38 1:09 30 Joe McDaniel Colorado Spring CO USA
5 1:08:56 1:27 19 Gavin Anderson Louisville CO USA
6 1:09:24 1:55 9 Josh Rix Boulder CO USA
7 1:09:25 1:56 4 James Cotter Austin TX USA
8 1:09:29 2:00 5 Andres Castillo Bogota BO COLUM
9 1:09:42 2:13 6 Josiah Middaugh Vail CO USA
10 1:09:54 2:25 1047 Peter Clode
Raynard Tissink is having a phenomenal ride here today. He was seventh out of the water and is leading the race at the first turn.
Through mile 15, Williamson is still out front in the women's race.
1 1:14:14 42 Kelly Williams Austin TX USA
2 1:14:52 0:39 26 Jessica Meyers Tulsa OK USA
3 1:16:08 1:54 32 Amanda Lovato
4 1:17:12 2:59 36 Margaret Shapiro Herndon VA USA
5 1:17:59 3:46 34 Madeleine Oldfield Boulder CO USA
6 1:18:47 4:34 38 Donna Phelan Encinitas CA USA
7 1:19:05 4:52 31 Jessica Jacobs El Paso TX USA
8 1:19:09 4:56 33 Heather Leiggi Bryn Mawr PA USA
9 1:19:10 4:57 35 Jackie Arendt Madison WI USA
10 1:19:25 5:12 44 Whitney Garcia Boulder CO USA
The biggest shift here is seeing Jackie Arendt drop to ninth while Amanda Lovato has climbed to third.
I spoke to Michael and Amanda last week and they were fired up to be racing today. Admittedly, it has been a slow start to 2011 but they are looking forward to building into the rest of the season.
Men's HC standings through the swim:
1 36:56 1202 Geoffrey Kennedy Rio Grande P. USA
2 40:07 3:11 256 Andre Kajlich Seattle WA USA
3 40:51 3:55 535 Scot Hollanbe Decatur GA USA
4 45:41 8:45 1201 Jason Fowler Kingston MA USA
5 47:08 10:12 303 Marc Aten Moor Park LA USA
Some Age Group Swim Results:
Tuggle, Lesley 1/--/-- 65/W65-69 00:41:53
2 Woodworth, Cheryl 2/--/-- 68/W65-69 00:45:14
1 Best-Wiss, Lynnda 1/--/-- 60/W60-64 00:32:28
2 Chow, Ruth 2/--/-- 60/W60-64 00:42:04
3 Lowrie, Mary Lou 3/--/-- 60/W60-64 00:42:59
1 Ewers Jr, Benjamin 1/--/-- 65/M65-69 00:33:41
2 Hola, Ken 2/--/-- 68/M65-69 00:35:09
3 Huhn, Jerry 3/--/-- 66/M65-69 00:37:23
1 Smith, Steve 1/--/-- 64/M60-64 00:28:14
2 Sanchez, Miguel 2/--/-- 62/M60-64 00:29:17
3 Dwyer, Michael 3/--/-- 62/M60-64 00:29:59
1 Smith, Lauren 1/--/-- 49/W45-49 00:25:48
2 Kincade, Kirsten 2/--/-- 46/W45-49 00:31:05
3 Duffy, Grace 3/--/-- 45/W45-49 00:32:27
1 Hinton, Joey 1/--/-- 46/M45-49 00:25:07
2 Jones, Scott 2/--/-- 46/M45-49 00:25:08
3 Borges, Sergio 3/--/-- 47/M45-49 00:25:16
The men our through mile 36 and Kiwi James Bowstead is gaining on Tissink.
1 1:49:33 23 Raynard Shay Tissink Beverly Grove, EA S.AFR
2 1:50:08 0:35 1045 James Bowstead Auckland NZL
3 1:51:19 1:47 1 Michael Lovato
4 1:51:37 2:05 6 Josiah Middaugh Vail CO USA
5 1:52:39 3:06 19 Gavin Anderson Louisville CO USA
6 1:53:01 3:29 30 Joe McDaniel Colorado Spring CO USA
7 1:53:17 3:45 1047 Peter Clode
8 1:54:18 4:46 5 Andres Castillo Bogota BO COLUM
9 1:54:27 4:55 4 James Cotter Austin TX USA
10 1:54:36 5:04 9 Josh Rix Boulder CO USA
Nine of the pro women have made it through mile 36:
1 2:03:38 42 Kelly Williams Austin TX USA
2 2:03:56 0:19 26 Jessica Meyers Tulsa OK USA
3 2:05:43 2:05 36 Margaret Shapiro Herndon VA USA
4 2:06:11 2:34 32 Amanda Lovato
5 2:07:53 4:15 31 Jessica Jacobs El Paso TX USA
6 2:08:05 4:28 33 Heather Leiggi Bryn Mawr PA USA
7 2:08:47 5:10 44 Whitney Garcia Boulder CO USA
8 2:08:53 5:15 34 Madeleine Oldfield Boulder CO USA
9 2:10:47 7:10 38 Donna Phelan Encinitas CA USA
Looks like Meyers is still nipping into Kelly's lead.
The wind is blowing out here this morning at about 20mph. The forecast calls for it to calm down later today.
Tissink and Bowstead are on the run. Tissink has a :59 second lead leaving T2.
Michael Lovato is on the run 2:28 behind the leaders
Josiah Middaugh, Joe McDaniel and Gavin Anderson are out of T2
