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Karnten Ironman Austria

  • The race favorites face off. Michael Weiss (left) was third here last year. Marino Vanhoenacker won his fifth title in a row and is looking for a sixth on Sunday.

  • Some of the pros competing on Sunday.

  • The defending champions: Marino Vanhoenacker and Eva Dollinger.

  • They're off! The start of the IronGirl run.

  • The octocopter has been taking some great arial shots from around the race site.

  • Eva Dollinger, last year's champion, returns to Klagenfurt in search of a second Ironman title. She's had a tough go at Ironman races so far in 2011 - she was still dealing with a stress fracture when she raced at Ironman South Africa in April, and struggled with stomach issues at Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas in May. She appears to be fit and ready for tomorrow's race, though, and certainly enjoys the home-field advantage.

  • Erika Csomor hasn't competed here in Klagenfurt since she won here in 2004. She's back now, though, and is one of the many Ironman champions who will be on the start line in the morning with a legitimate shot at the title.

  • Italy's Edith Niederfriniger lives just a few hours away from Klagenfurt, so she is very much at home here at Karnten Ironman Austria. She won here in 2007.

  • Austria's Michael Weiss was third here last year. he's clearly the country's hope to unseat the five-time champion, Marino Vanhoenaker here in Klagenfurt. Back problems forced him out of Ford Ironman St. George in May, so he wasn't able to defend his title there. He came back two weeks later with a runner-up finish at Ironman 70.3 St. Polten. Earlier this week, though, he cut his foot, so he'll be competing with a few stitches tomorrow.

  • Marino Vanhoenacker arrives in Klagenfurt as the clear favorite. He's won five times in a row, and followed his win here last year with a third place finish at the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona. (He also won Ironman Malaysia last year.) A broken rib forced him off the course in South Africa, but he arrives in Klagenfurt fit and ready to go. Last year his 7:52 finish was just 98 seconds off the world-best time held by his countryman Luc van Lierde. Vanhoenacker appears to be incredibly relaxed as he heads into tomorrow's race - he says that he and his family all feel very comfortable here in Klagenfurt.

  • Warming up for this morning's IronGirl run - a shot from the Octocopter.

  • Caught getting a shot of the octocopter!

  • Christian Troger (AUT), a handicapped athlete, will be competing here tomorrow.

  • Check out the video of the press conference of the Kärnten IRONMAN Austria

  • Christian Troger's legs are waiting in transition for him.

  • Good morning from sunny Klagenfurt ... sunny but cold Klagenfurt. It's coming up on 6:15 AM here at the race site - we are set up at the finish line, which is quite close to the swim start. The temperature right now is 7 degrees Celsius (45 Fahrenheit) It's supposed to get up to 23 C (74 F) as a high today, and tonight it will cool down to 12 C (54 F). They're not calling for much in the way of wind today (only up to 8 kph, or 5 mph), which bodes really well for fast times.
  • They're getting things rolling at the start line - race announcers Paul Kaye and Claudio Schuetz are getting things fired up over at the Strandbad. I have one change in the field that they're not aware of - Balazs Csoke won't be starting here in Austria this morning as he is leading the race in Korea right now!
  • So langsam kommt hier alles ins Laufen an der Startlinie in Klagenfurt- die Kommentatoren Paul Kaye und Claudio Schuetz sind im Strandbad schon voll im Einsatz. Eine neue Ankündigung, die den Kommentatoren noch nicht bekannt ist: Balazs Csoke ist hier in Klagenfurt nicht am Start, da er zur Zeit das Rennen in Korea anführt!

  • One of the supporters of the over 100 Canadians who will be competing here today. You can read more about them at ironman.com

  • Guten Morgen aus dem sonnigen aber kalten Klagenfurt. Es ist 6:15 Uhr morgens an der Startlinie- und wir haben uns hier im Zielbereich eingerichtet, der nahe am Schwimmstart liegt. Die Temperatur ist 7 Grad Celcius (45 Fahrenheit) und soll tagsüber , bis zu 23 C (74 F) ansteigen, und nachts bis auf 12 C (54 F) abfallen. Geringe Windgeschwindigkeiten (bis 8 km/h oder 5 m/h) lassen auf schnelle Zeiten hoffen.
  • Marino Vanhoenacker is the hands-down favorite here in Klagenfurt, but Austria's own Michael Weiss is hoping to challenge the five-time champion from Belgium. Here's our pro preview we posted on Ironman.com earlier this week: ironman.com

  • I caught up with Adrian Hayes earlier this week. The UK adventurer managed to get to the top of Everest and the north and south poles faster than any of the other 14 men who have also achieved that feat - he did it all in 19 months. He's doing his first Ironman today. Read more at ironman.com

  • Marino Vanhoenacker ist der Top Favorit hier in Klagenfurt, aber der Österreicher Michael Weiss wird alles daran setzen, den fünfmaligen Champion Marino zu schlagen. Das ist der PRO-preview, der in ironman.com veröffentlicht wurde: ironman.com
  • The athletes are now in the water and they have just finished playing the Austrian national anthem. We will be off in just a few minutes.
  • Der Adventure Sportler Adrain Hayes ist heute hier in Klagenfurt am Start. Er hat den Mount Everest, den Nord- und Südpol bestiegen und das alles in nur 19 Monaten, und schneller als alle anderen 14 Extremsportler, die dies gewagt haben. ironman.com
  • Die Athleten sind jetzt im Wasser und die österreichische Nationalhymne wird gespielt. Der Start erfolgt in Kürze.
  • The gun has fired - they are off here at Karnten Ironman Austria.
  • Der Startschuss ist erfolgt!
  • Earlier this morning I saw Michi Weiss heading over to the very right side of the race start. The pros have a start area over there - he was looking as nervous as he was at the press conference this morning - it's a big day when you're the Austrian favorite!
  • Am frühen morgen haben wir Michi Weiss auf der rechten Seite der Startlinie gesehen. Die Pros haben ihren eigenen Startbereich- Michi Weiss hat sehr nervös ausgesehen. Ein grosser Tag für ihn als österreichischer Top Favorit.
  • A group of six athletes have broken away from the rest of the field. We're not sure who is in that group at this point, but will be trying to get some updates.
  • Eine Gruppe von 6 Athleten hat sich vom Feld gelöst. Wir sind uns im Moment nicht sicher, welche Athleten sich in dieser Gruppe befinden, aber wir versuchen, genaue Auskunft von den Kommentatoren zu erhalten.
  • Marino Vanhoenacker is swimming in fourth place as part of the lead group. They are now about 15 m in front of the rest of the swimmers.
  • Die erste Gruppe hat ca. 15 Meter Vorsprung und Marino liegt an 4. Stelle.
  • We believe that Marko Albert might be leading the way right now, with Dominik Berger in second.
  • Startnummer 7, Marco Albert liegt in Führung. Startnummer 11, Dominik Berger an 2. Stelle
  • Vanhoenacker has now moved up to third place, while Michi Weiss is swimming in fifth place, so he's also part of the lead group.
  • Leading the women's race is last year's champion, Eva Dollinger.
  • Marino ist an dritter Position, Michi Weiss an fünfter Position. Erste Dame ist Eva Dollinger.
  • Marko Albert has now moved into the lead of the men's race. Dominik Berger is in second, with Marino Vanhoenacker in third.
  • Marko Albert liegt immer noch in Führung. Dominik Berger an 2. Stelle. Marino Vanhoenacker an dritter Stelle. Es liegen 15-20 Meter Abstand zwischen der Führungsgruppe und dem Verfolgerfeld.
  • The lead group is only 15 to 20 m ahead of the main pack, that no-doubt contains some of the speedy age groupers we're used to seeing race here in Austria.
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