Sandra Wohlenhorst world's fastest women's Ironman time ever at Ironman Austria didn't last long (link to post), maybe a few hours as a new World Best Time was set in her home country at the Quelle Challenge Roth triathlon race.

On a record-setting day in Roth, defending champion Yvonne Van Vlerken of the Netherlands took out a dramatic win that smashed triathlon legend Paula Newby-Fraser’s world record of 8:50:53 set here in 1994 with a scintillating 8:45:48. The new record is a minute thirty faster than the record set earlier by Wohlenhorst at Ironman Austria with a time of 8:47:25.

And proving that the bar has been lifted to new heights in women’s triathlon, the second place woman - Hungary’s Erika Csomor - also came in under Newby-Fraser’s time, in 8:47:05. Third went to New Zealand’s Gina Ferguson, in only her second year of Ironman racing, in 8:57:18.

Heat-loving New Caledonian Patrick Vernay, the two-time Ironman Australia champion, wasn’t sure he’d be able to go well in the rain at the seventh Quelle Challenge Roth on Sunday, but when he got to the run he did what he does best - fly. His 2:47 marathon carried him to the finish first in 8:09:34, three minutes clear of Aussie Pete Jacobs in second and Denmark’s Torbjørn Sindballe in third.
 
2008 Quelle Challenge Roth Results:

The 10th Anniversary of Ironman Austria produces course records, personal bests and the world's fastest women's Ironman time ever. It was an amazing day in Klagenfurt as Sandra Wohlenhorst of Germany sets a new World Best Time for the Ironman distance in the women's division. She blows away Paula Newby-Fraser 14 year old mark of 8:50:53 by more than 3 minutes with a winning time of 8:47:25. Just last week at Ironman Germany Chrissie Wellington missed setting the new record by 31 seconds (link). Bella Comerford had a great race and was in the lead until Wohlenhorst passed her. She lowered her personal best with an amazing time of 8:51:15, probably the 4th or 5th women's fastest Ironman time ever.

As if that wasn't enough, earlier in the day Marino Vanhoenacker set a personal best time and broke the course record with his 3rd consecutive Ironman Austria victory. He blew away the mens field with a winning time of 8:06:07, at least seven minutes faster than 2nd place finisher Stephen Bayliss.

Wohlenhorst, a 36-year-old German mom finished sixth at Ironman Canada three years ago, then was off for a year due to an injury and then missed another year of racing to have a baby. As Wellington, it's amazing and strange to see a relatively unknowns coming close and/or setting world marks these days. You wonder how Wohlenhorst had the time to train raising her new baby and lower her personal best by over an hour.

 
2008 Ironman Austria Results:

Oscar Galindez of Argentina who was last year's runner up at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship race and multiple Ironman Champion Lisa Bentley of Canada were victorious at the inaugural running of the Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island in Providence, Rhode Island.

Over 1,200 athletes participated in the inaugural event which consisted of a 1.2 mile Swim, a 56 mile Bike and a 13.1 mile Run.
 
2008 Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island Results:

For additional race coverage see:
Oscar Galindez and Lisa Bentley Claim Titles at Inaugural Amica Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island [via I
 

Simon Whitfield of Canada and Emma Snowsill of Australia, both who will represent their countries at the Olympics in Beijing in August won the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis on Saturday. It's was Whitfield's first win and Snowsill's 3rd victory at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon and for their effort they both receive a nice check for $60,000.

Last year in the men's race Greg Bennett set a new course record with a time of 1:48:49. That record didn't last long as Whitfield used his blazing 4:56 / mile pace to set a new mark with a time of 1:48:01. The weather conditions for this year’s race were ideal, in the mid 60's and cloudy at the start of the race. This was a contributing factor in the blazing times in the men’s division as Andy Potts, Bennett and Stuart Hayes also beat last year’s record time.

Men’s Race Summary:
This was the first race for Andy Potts who last month did not qualify for the USA Olympic Team at the HyVee World Cup race in Des Moines. Maybe he had something to prove as he was the first out of the water with at least a 40 second lead on the other male professionals. Whitfield, Hayes and Brent McMahon initiated the chase out of T1. Local pro David Thompson's day didn't start off so well as he was down at least 2:40 exiting the swim, he finished the bike well behind the leaders and started the run but ended the day with a DNF. Bennett who was released as a memeber of the Australian Olympic team because of its country ranking blazed into T2 ahead of Potts and flew out of T2 with the lead. A pair of Canadians, Paul Tichelaar and Colin Jenkins followed in 3rd and 4th place with Craig Alexander and Matt Reed close behind. Bennett looked strong just past the 5km mark but Whitfield was right on his tail, step for step as they ran past us. Potts’ looked strong several seconds down and flying down the course chasing the lead group. You could hear the cheers down the road as the leaders approached the bend that sends them down to the finish line. Whitfield came around the bend first and was doing all he could to stay barely ahead of Potts and Bennett who were chasing him down to the finish line. Hunter Kemper who won a spot on the USA Olympic team in Des Moines finished in 10th place, over two minutes and thirty seconds behind the top finishers.

• David Thompson getting ready for the swim • Men's professional swim start • Women's professional field at the swim start • Greg Bennett & Andy Potts flying into T2 • Matt Reed coming into T2 • TJ Tollakson coming into T2 • David Thompson coming into T2 • Becky Lavelle, women's race leader into T2 • Sarah Haskins coming into T2 in 2nd place • Snowsill, Dibens and Zeiger flying into T2 • Greg Bennett leading Simon Whitfield half way into the run • Andy Potts chasing Bennett and Whitfield • Craig Alexander half way into the run • Hunter Kemper half way into the run • Sarah Haskins in 2nd place half way into the run • Julie Dibens half way into the run • Stuart Hayes finishing in 4th place • Becky Lavelle finishing in 3rd place • Joanna Zeiger sprinting to a 4th place finish • Simon Whitfield getting his 1st place check for $60,000

Chris McCormack and Chrissie Wellington are the winners of Ironman Germany (Ironman European Championship). On a fast day, on a fast course both World Champions put up very impressive times. McCormack broke the 8 hour barrier with a sprint to the finish line with a time of 7:59:55. Wellington was on pace to break Paula Newby-Fraser's 1994 record time of 8:50:53 (at Ironman Europe) but took her time coming down the finish shoot to finish just 31 seconds behind the mark with a time of 8:51:24, the second fastest time ever in a women´s race, amazing in only her 4th Ironman race ever.

The much talked about and anticipated race between Ironman World Championship Chris McCormack, Normann Stadler and Faris Al-Sultan again fizzled in the end as Stadler had to pull out before the race because of illness. No problem, Al-Sultan was still up for a head-to-head battle with McCormack and it showed as his reported bike average was over 40km/hours through the first 61km. Al-Sultan maintained the lead with his fast bike until Macca took the lead around 130km. From the point on Al-Sultan faded as Macca gained. Al-Sultan ended the day with a DNF. Macca gained the lead back from second place finisher Eneko Llanos around the 34.5km mark to take the victory, Llanos had passed McCormack around the 25km mark when he showed signs of struggling. Llanos just missed breaking the 8 hour mark by 49 seconds, a great race for him. Defending champion Timo Bracht finished in 3rd place today.

Rookie sensation, if that's what you can still call her after only her fourth Ironman races, Wellington dominated pretty much from start to finish and finished with a 26 minute gap. Defending champion Nicole Leder after struggling through the second half of the bike managed to run her way from sixth place to second place overall, .
 
2008 Ironman Germany (Ironman European Championship) Results:

The third Ironman 70.3 triathlon race of the weekend was the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Boise race in Boise, Idaho. Over 1,000 triathletes took on the 1.2 mile Swim, 56 mile Bike and 13.1 mile Run course.

Terenzo Bozzone of New Zealand and Kate Major of Australia claim the victories today in Boise at the inaugural running of the triathlon race. Terenzo lead out of the swim had to chase down Chris Lieto on the half marathon to claim the victory. Kate's overall solid performance on the course today lead her to victory over second place Desiree Ficker.
 
2008 Ironman 70.3 Boise Results:

Chris McCormack and Samantha McGlone returned to the island of Hawaii for the 5th running of the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii race and successfully defended their titles.

McCormack was the pre-race favorite and you can see why as this was his 3rd consecutive title at the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii triathlon. Last year he set the course record with a blazing time of 3:57:18.

McGlone managed to stay ahead of Tyler Stewart and Kate Bevilaqua to take her 2nd consecutive title at this triathlon. Local native Bree Wee who finished 3rd last year as an age grouper and has since turned pro did not start today. She is recovering from a recent illness.
 
2008 Ironman 70.3 Hawaii Results:

Conrad Stoltz of South Africa and Melanie McQuaid of Canada didn't let the hot and sunny conditions in Temecula, CA get in the way of back-to-back victories at the XTERRA West Championship.

2008 XTERRA West Championship Results:

The race consisted of a 1 mile Swim, 20 mile Bike, 6 mile Run

In Richards Bay, South Africa Daniel Unger of Germany and Carolyn Murray of Canada Win their first ITU World Cup titles at the 2008 Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup race.

Today's win solidifies Unger World Championship title which he won last year in Hamburg before every winning a World Cup race. He crossed the finish line just ahead of Olympic bound Matt Reed. On the women's side Murray who's world cup best has been eighth place just edged out Felicity Abram of Australia for the win.
 
2008 Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup Results:

The 20th running of the St. Croix triathlon which has consisted of various distances over the years and became part of the Ironman 70.3 series in 2006 was run today on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Today on the island Craig Alexander wins his third consecutive St. Croix Ironman 70.3 title and his fourth victory overall at this race. He'll share part of the $50,000 purse with Mirinda Carfrae who won the women's title today.

Alexander's 1:15:58 run helped him over the field today on the run course and take the victory. Marino Vanhoenacker sets a new bike course record with a time of 2:19; Paul Ambrose also beat the previous course record today. Richie Cunningham held on to finish in third just 13 seconds ahead of Faris Al-Sultan who took fourth. Frederik Van Lierde was in the running but crashed with 5 mile to go on the bike, he didn't start the run and DNF'd.

On the women's side 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Mirinda Carfrae wins her second title in St. Croix, she won the inaugural Ironman 70.3 series race back in 2006. Carfrae used her strong run to pull ahead of the women’s field for the victory today. Nina Kraft also used her strong run to pull her into second place today. Bree Wee who made her pro debut today placed third. Julie Dibens had a flat out on the bike and also DNF'd today.
 
2008 St. Croix Ironman 70.3 Results:

Tim Don of Great Britain and Samantha Warriner of New Zealand were victorious at Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup in Tongyeong, South Korea.

It was a good showing for Don in Tongyeong in his continued quest to qualify for Great Britain's Olympic Team as he claimed his fifth world cup win of his career. Beijing bound Bevan Docherty of New Zealand took 2nd place with a photo finish result over Germany’s Jan Frodeno.

Docherty's teammate Warriner claimed her sixth world cup title with the win today.
 
2008 Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup Results:

Germany's Olaf Sabatschus is the first participant to cross the finish line at the very hot and humid inaugural Ironman China triathlon thus becoming the first male champion of Ironman China. He crossed the finish line in a time of 8:52:14, eleven minutes ahead of second place finisher Byung Hoon Park. On the women's teamTBB gets another win as Belinda Granger wins her 2nd Ironman title of 2008 with the women's Ironman China title.

For Sabatschus the win must feel amazing. In late 2006 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He received immediate and successful treatment and spent early 2007 recovering. The win today has to be a total confidence boost for him after his minor setback; he will be a force to reckon with. He's a familiar face at Ironman Brazil and is currently on the starting list for the race which is scheduled to take place at the end of May. He has won Brazil twice, back-to-back wins in 2004 and 2005.

Training in Asia with teamTBB seems to be a plus for Granger who seems to like it when it's hot. Today she won Ironman China under sweltering conditions. Back in February she did a similar feat in Langkawi when she won Ironman Malaysia in hot and humid conditions. This is her second Ironman title in 2008. Last weekend three of her teamTBB team members won Ironman titles in South Africa and Arizona.
 
2008 Ironman China Results:

It's been a busy month for the WTC as Ironman China becomes the 4th and final Ironman race scheduled to take place in the month April. On top of that, today in a unique situation in Haikou they had the inaugural running of Ironman 70.3 China. The race was run on the same course but the triathlon started 2 hours later. They had 471 participants for the Ironman race today and 261 competitors and 57 relay teams for the 70.3 race.

Matt Reed and Julie Swail Ertel out ran their field to secured spots on the U.S. Olympic Men's and Women's triathlon teams with their wins at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This was the second selection event of three trials. The Olympic distance triathlon featured a 1.5km swim in the Black Warrior River, a 40km 8 loop bike course along the Tuscaloosa waterfront and a 10km run also along the waterfront.

Reed beat out favorites Andy Potts and Hunter Kemper to take the second U.S. men’s Olympic Triathlon team spot. On the women’s side Ertel managed to stay ahead of Sarah Haskins and Sarah Groff for the win and earn the second spot on the women's team.

Matt and Julie will join previously selected U.S. Olympic Team members Laura Bennett and Jarrod Shoemaker. The Beijing Olympic Games are only four months away. The event schedule has the Men's and Women's Triathlon event taking place in the second week of the games on August 18th and 19th.
 
2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials:

The first selection event was held at the ITU Beijing World Cup last September where Laura Bennett and Jarrod Shoemaker qualified. The next and final selection event will be held in Des Moines, Iowa at the Hy-Vee Triathlon on June 22nd. With two out of three slots determined for both the men and the women, all eyes are on Des Moines, Iowa where the final team members will be selected based on the best two finishes in the three-race selection process.

Erika Csomor dobles the distance and gets the win at the 2008 Ironman Arizona triathlon in Tempe. Just two weeks ago she raced in California and was victorious at the Ironman 70.3 California race in Oceanside (link). With her win she becomes the 3rd member of teamTBB to win an Ironman title today, earlier today Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford won Ironman South Africa (link). teamTBB is coached by Brett Sutton.

Csomor had a deficit of 7:41 early into the bike but made up the deficit. She used her strong bike skills to take the lead on the bike three quarters of the way into race but lost the lead to Michellie Jones in T2. That didn't last long as she regained the lead on the run over Jones three and a half miles into the race and steadily continued to pull away from that point on. With her strong run she was able to put a 9:41 gap between herself and Jones to cruise to the finish line. Jones finished in second place ahead of defending champion Heather Gollnick.

Jozsef Major who also is from Hungary and grew up in the same town a Csomor takes the victory on the men's side over TJ Tollakson who finished in second place by only 17 seconds. The men’s race was nail biter, if you blinked within the last 3 miles of the run you might of missed the lead changes leading to the finish line. Less than 2 minutes separated 1st and 4th place at mile 23. A mile later the gap was down to 1 minute with Tollakson taking the lead over James Bonney. With a half mile to go, Major who was in 4th place at mile 24 was running neck and neck with Tollakson. Major dug deep and pushed ahead of Tollakson at the end to take the victory. Only one minute and fourteen seconds separated 1st and 4th place today on the men’s side.
 
2008 Ironman Arizona Results:

Defending champion Rutger Beke had a DNF today and its unknown why at this time. He was in fourth place going in to T2 but never went out on the run.

It was a great day in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for the teamTBB couple of Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford as they pulled off a unique double ironman victory at Ironman South Africa. It wasn't easy as both of them came from behind on the run to take the victory.

It was triple sweet for Bayliss as this was his first Ironman title and in the process sets a New Course Record with a winning time of 8:18:23. He managed to fend of home time favorite Raynard Tissink who finished in second place for the 3rd consecutive year. Bayliss has had many top five finishes and last year came close to winning his first Ironmna title at Ironman UK when he finished in second place but today he gets to share the spotlight with his fiancé with the fairy tale ending in South Africa.

Francois Chabaud who lead the men into T2 and held the lead half way into the run faded and held on for a fourth place finish today.

On the women's side Comerford had an amazing task of coming from a 17 minute deficit at T2 to Lucie Zelenkova to take the victory by five seconds over Edith Niederfriniger.
 
2008 Ironman South Africa Results:

The first Ironman triathlon of four races in April took place today as Patrick Vernay Repeats and Chrissie Wellington Wins Down Under at Ironman Australia in Port Macquarie.

Patrick Vernay of New Caledonian used his strong running to successfully defend his Ironman Australia title in Port Macquarie with a win over 2nd place Mitchell Anderson. Vernay has been very successful in Australia as this is his third Ironman title in Australia over the last year, this past December he won the title at Ironman Western Australia in Busselton.

On the women's side Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington of Great Britain started with the lead on the run and successfully held off Kate Major for her first Ironman title of 2008. She finished in ninth place overall today in Port Macquarie. In the process Wellington smashed the course record by almost 10 minutes previously set by Rebekah Keat (9:13:00) in 2007.
 
2008 Ironman Australia Results:

Luke Bell who had a DNF last month at Ironman New Zealand today finished in 6th place today with a time of 8:56:17.

Home town favorite Emma Snowsill and Javier Gomez win the BG Triathlon World Cup season opener in Mooloolaba, Australia.

Before the start all eyes were on Vanessa Fernandes who with a victory could make history with a record-breaking 20th world cup but it wasn't meant to be as Snowsill over powered Fernandes on the third lap of the run to for her second straight win in Mooloolaba.

It wasn't easy for Jomez, he had a slow swim and then suffered a minor crash on the bike course but raced back into contention to take the win over last year winner Brad Kahlefeldt.
 
2008 Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup Results:

History was still made in Mooloolaba as Lisa Norden of Sweden becomes the first Swede to ever take the podium at a world cup event in ITU history. She finished in 3rd place today. She was last year’s under23 world champion.

Over 1,900 athletes gathered today in Oceanside, California for the 2008 running of the Ironman 70.3 California triathlon.

Andy Potts who lead all day was passed by Craig Alexander with about 400 meters to go but Potts surged past Alexander in the last 25 meters to defend his Ironman 70.3 California title. On the women's side Erika Csomor of Hungary used her fast bike split to set herself up for the victory over Leanda Cave.
 
2008 Ironman 70.3 California Results:

It was a great day for New Zealand's own defending Ironman New Zealand champions Cameron Brown and Joanna Lawn. They've won the Ironman race in Tapou over the last several years and with the win's today they've set new unique Ironman records.

With the win Cameron Brown becomes the first man to ever win an Ironman race seven times. Not to be out done, Joanna Lawn has her day as well as she sets a new record with the win and becomes the first person / women to win the same Ironman race six consecutive times. She also set a new course record with a time of 9:16.00, breaking her previous record set back in 2003.

The day in Tapou started off nice but went from good to miserable as the race progressed with windy and raining conditions. It didn't matter to Brown who was patient while hanging around the lead all day. At the T2 Brown was down to Kieran Dow by about seven minutes. Brown cut the lead down and took the lead on the run and pulled ahead for the win. It was a tougher day for Lawn on the women's side. Lawn rode into T2 with a four minute lead but got chased down by Kate Bevilaqua who passed her around the 28km mark. Lawn stayed tough and ran with Bevilaqua for the next 10km step-by-step. Catching Lawn proved to be a little too much for Bevilaqua today, she started fading around the 39km mark as Lawn built up a lead and eventually pulled ahead for the record setting win and new course record.

Kieran Doe who recently beat Brown at the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman triathlon in January had a solid day. He pushed the pace and Brown all day until Brown passed him around the half way point on the run. In 2004 Doe finished 16th, last year he moved up to 6th place and today in Tapou he finished in 3rd, nine minutes behind Brown.
 
2008 Ironman New Zealand Results:

The much anticipated re-match between Luke Bell and Brown fizzled when Bell was tagged for a four minute drafting penalty out on the course. He was five minutes behind Brown at T2 and in 4th place but disappeared and ended the day with a DNF.

On a hot and humid but relatively cooler day on the island of Langkawi, Faris Al-Sultan and Belinda Granger take the win at the 5th running of Ironman Malaysia. Belinda and Faris took control of the race on the bike, Faris pretty much never looked back all day and Granger had to kick it up a notch in the last 15km of the run to win. Granger ends up breaking the course record set by Nicole Leder last year by more 12 minutes with a time of 9:29:21.

Al-Sultan eventually built up a commanding 20 minute lead on the bike and pulled ahead on the run by adding another 10 minute to the lead to take the win. It's has to feel good for Al-Sultan who had a disappointing end to his 2007 Ironman season when he had to pull out of the Ironman World Championship race in Hawaii.

“I did not come here to finish eighth, but to win the race. The glory days of being a world champion may be long gone and I had a bad season last year. Therefore, I need to get good results soon to get back on track,” said Faris yesterday. (The Star (thestar.com.my), Friday February 22, 2008, Germany’s Faris confident of winning start to season)

Belinda did as Faris and pulled ahead as much as she could on the bike eventually building up a 10 minute gap on Yvonne Van Vlerken who was behind her. Van Vlerken didn't give up and closed the gap by T2 and then slowly gained on Granger on the run eventually cutting her lead down to 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

The real action today on Langkawi was for those racing for 2nd through 5th place as those positions changed all day in both the men's and women's race.
 
2008 Ironman Malaysia Results:

Some 1,200 triathletes gathered down under for the first running of the Ironman 70.3 Geelong triathlon. This race replaces the Ironman 70.3 Australia that previously was held in Port Macquarie, New South Wales.

Mirinda Carfrae, the reigning Ironman 70.3 World Champion kicked off her 2008 season with nice win Geelong with a time of 4:24:27. It was a solid day for Carfrae who took the lead after the swim and held off the likes of Kate Major and Rebekah Keat.

The title on the men's side wasn't solidified until late into the bike when Leon Griffin was able to build up a 2 minute gap on the nearest competitors and hold the lead on the run to win the title. It was a good day for Griffin who had to late season World Championships - DNF's at the end of 2007.
 
2008 Ironman 70.3 Geelong Results:

The 2008 Ironman 70.3 Series season kicked-off today in East London with the inaugural running of the Ironman 70.3 South Africa triathlon race. This was the first of nine new races added to the 2008 schedule. On a perfect day, some 900 triathletes took on the challenge today with a 1.9km Swim, 90km Bike and 21.1km Run.

South Africa's own Raynard Tissink who a month ago took second place at Ironman Western Australia was the pre-race favorite on the men’s side, but it wasn't going to be easy with the likes of Frederik van Lierde and Carl Strom also of South Africa. On the women's side, Desiree Ficker stood out as the pre-race favorite.

Fraser Cartmell of Scotland was the first to exit the water in with a blazing time of 18:33, Tissink was ninth out of the water just a minute down. Lucie Zelenkova of the Czech Republic led the women out of the water with a time of 20:28, almost four minutes ahead of Ficker who was tenth. But that didn't matter as both Tissink and Ficker gained control on the bike and lead out on the run. Ficker built up a commanding lead on the bike and continued on the run to win the race, 12 minutes ahead of second place finisher Heidi Jesberger of Germany. It was a tougher battler for the South Africa native Tissink all the way the way to the finish line as he held off Frederik van Lierde of Belgium to win by just over a minute at the inaugural race.
 
2008 Ironman 70.3 South Africa Results:

The 19th annual Port of Tauranga Half Ironman took place on Sunday in Tauranga, New Zealand. The favorite on the men's side would probably have been last year’s champion and overall 8 time champion Cameron Brown and on the women's side probably Joanna Lawn the defending champion for the last two years. But today wasn't their day for a repeat as both defending champions finished in 2nd place today.

Kieran Doe, the 26 year old from Auckland held off Cameron Brown, the eight time champion, to win the race by less than two minutes and claim the title for the first time. It was a grueling battle on the women's side as well as Kate Bevilaqua from Australia defeated defending champion Joanna Lawn by only 10 seconds for the women’s title.
 
2008 Port of Tauranga Half Ironman Results:

The last Ironman race in the 2007 calendar year took place today in Busselton, Western Australia. Over 900 triathletes took the plunge down under on a perfect day after several days of rain and wind.

An incentive was announced prior to race day as event organizers offered a $50,000 USD bonus for a world record time on this fast triathlon course. Last year's champion Jason Shortis posted a time of 8:03:57, well short of the world record time of 7:50:27 set by Luc Van Lierde at the Quelle Challenge Roth in Germany (3.8km Swim, 180km Bike, 42.2km Run).

On the men’s side South African Raynard Tissink held the lead half way into the run but pre race favorite Patrick Vernay move up took the lead after that and held on for the win. On the bike, the men were on pace for a sub eight hour finish and only two minutes behind world record pace but once on the run the wind and temperatures picked up and that dashed the quest for a world record time. Tissink held on and finished in second place.

On the women’s side Australian native and last year's runner up at this race Charlotte Paul took the lead from Ali Fitch, who was blazing fast on the bike course, at the 10km mark on the run and continued on strong to take this year’s win. Paul fell short of setting a new world record time and breaking the nine hour barrier but her time of 9:00:56 smashed the course record set by Lisbeth Kristensen by almost 10 minutes. Gina Ferguson of New Zealand moved up on Fitch and passed her to finish in second place as did Bella Comerford who finished in third place today.

2007 Ironman Western Australia Results:

As the saying goes "The Show Must Go On" and so it did at the San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island despite the 58,000-gallon oil spill that hit San Francisco Bay on Thursday. On Friday Tri-California officials, the United States Coast Guard, and city officials determined that the water conditions off Treasure Island were unsafe to proceed with the swim leg portion of the event for the San Francisco Triathlon. The Olympic distance triathlon on Saturday was actually modified to Duathlon consisting of a 6.5km Run, 40km Bike, 10km.

Despite the unfortunate mess in the bay and the added extra run leg Hunter Kemper and Julie Ertel raced to victories. In conjunction with their victory each captured the overall title in the USA Triathlon's Haul to the Great Wall series.

2007 San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island Results:

On a sunny and fast day in Clearwater, Florida, Andy Potts and Mirinda Carfrae are crowned world champs at Ironman 70.3 World Championship race. It was an awesome day of racing in Clearwater, with all of the lead changes on the men's side and with most of the top 5 place finisher beating last year’s marks on both sides. Today, more than 1,500 pro and age-group triathletes from around the world competed in the triathlon that consisted of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run. The prize purse for today race was $90,000, its split among the top 10 professional men and women, with the overall winners earning $18,000.

On the men's side, Andy Potts, who just three weeks ago won the inaugural Olympic distance Escape to Bermuda Triathlon was first out of the water and hung on during the bike portion of the event. Bjorn Andersson pushed the pace and managed to hold on to the lead on the second half of the bike with his 1:59:37 bike split but that might have been his un-doing as he finished in 23rd place today. Early on Oscar Galindez, who just over six weeks ago qualified by winning the Cancun Ironman 70.3 triathlon race, took the lead on the run and was on fire. From the live video coverage Galindez looked strong and managed to hold just over a minute lead over Potts at the half way mark. Potts kept his cool and slowly crept up on Galindez and eventually passed him on the return lap to the finish. With a mile and a half to go Galindez was right there with Potts, keeping pace but in the end with just a few hundred meters to go Potts surged to take the victory with Galindez finishing just four seconds behind for 2nd place. Andrew Johns managed to stay just ahead of a surging Craig Alexander to take 3rd place today.

From the start it looked like it might be Julie Dibens day in the sun. Dibens who just two weeks ago became the XTERRA World Champ was on her way to possibly her second World Championship title. She looked strong maintaining the lead throughout most of the race, which was at least was four minutes at T2 over Becky Lavelle who in the end finished in 7th place. Mirinda Carfrae was in 4th place, seven minutes behind Dibens at T2 but slowly made her was to the front. By mile six on the run Carfrae had moved up to 2nd place, just over three minutes behind Dibens. Carfrae who finished in 2nd place at the following 70.3 events this season Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3, Eagleman Ironman 70.3 and Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore and who took 3rd place last year at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship surged past Dibens around mile 10 on the run and never looked back. In the end she held a comfortable four minute lead to the finish. She ends up breaking the world record mark of 4:08:17 for the 70.3 distance set earlier this year by Natasha Badmann at the Eagleman Ironman 70.3 race. McGlone surged to the front to finished in 2nd place, will Dibens fall to 4th place.

2007 Ironman 70.3 World Championship Results:

Julie Dibens & Conrad Stoltz were crowned XTERRA World Champs in Maui.

The best off road triathletes in the world met in Maui to vie for the XTERRA World Champion title and $125,000 in prize money. They endured a 1.5km ocean swim, a tough 30km mountain bike and an 11km off road run.

Conrad Stoltz who won the title back in 2001 and 2002 was one of this year's pre-race favorites to win the men's title and he did so today holding off Olivier Marceau who finished in 2nd place for the 2nd consecutive year. Just last month Stoltz won the XTERRA USA Championship.

Jamie Whitmore is always a pre-race favorite because she's tough and this year she has been busy and successful winning 5 XTERRA Championship races since June. Besides Whitmore, you had defending champ Melanie McQuaid, but today it's was Julie Dibens day to shine in Maui. She was the first woman out of the water and had the fastest run to which helped her stay in front of McQuaid and Whitmore. Just last month Dibens won the XTERRA UK Championship race.

2007 XTERRA World Championship Results: