Ironman 70.3 Hawaii Attracts a competitve Pro Field (www.ironman.com)

Dawn Henry previews this weekend's professional race on the Big Island

Published Wednesday, May 27, 2009

It's beginning to look a little bit like October along the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway. Triathletes are descending upon the Big Island's sunny leeward coast and trotting out their new rides in preparation for the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii. And, while this family-friendly race offers no prize money and no professional qualifying slots, it has still managed to attract a bevy of top professionals.

In the women's field, 2007 and 2008 winner Samantha McGlone is scheduled to return to defend her title. McGlone was forced to miss last year's Ford Ironman World Championship due to Achilles tendinosis and has been rehabbing since. Ironman 70.3 Hawaii will be her first race back in 2009. The challenging run course here that includes miles of uneven terrain and plenty of twists and turns should be the perfect test for her running legs.

McGlone will be racing against Belinda Granger (left), who is using the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii to test her fitness after surgery on an artery in her stomach. Granger underwent the surgery shortly after her win at Ironman Malaysia in February, and seems to have bounced back quickly. She has already spent a week in Kona training with husband, Justin, racing on Saturday on his new Ceepo Katana, and fellow Aussies Luke McKenzie and Amanda Balding, the winner of the 2009 Ironman 70.3 China, who is also in town to race this weekend.

The pre-race training camp seems to have agreed with all involved. "It's such good training," says Granger. "I'm kicking myself now that I didn't have the foresight to do this earlier in my career." The biking powerhouse, who loves to race in steamy conditions, says she's looking forward to wind on the bike and lots of heat throughout the day.

Also in the women's field is hometown phenom Bree Wee. Wee last raced this course in 2007 as an amateur. That year, she finished third behind McGlone and 2006 Ironman World Champion Michellie Jones. Wee added Ironman 70.3 Hawaii to her schedule this year after what she felt was a disappointing run in St. Croix Ironman 70.3. Wee is looking forward to racing in her own local community and she'll be sure to generate plenty of crowd support along the route.

The men's field is headed by 2008 Ford Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander. Alexander is in town for his first Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, but his 2008 Kona win and his second place in Kona in 2007 speak to Alexander's ability to take on the Hawaiian conditions. Alexander will be racing for the first time since his win at Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore in March, and since the birth of his son.

Top among Alexander's challengers will be Luke McKenzie and Chris Lieto. McKenzie will take on the 70.3 course for the third year in a row. He says he keeps coming back because, "I love the race, I love the course, I love the town and I like to test myself on the Hawaii course." McKenzie, who is spending several weeks in Kona, says that this is a great time "to do some good hard training on the [Ironman World Championship] course. It's a bit more relaxing atmosphere compared to the Ironman World Championship." McKenzie, who says his training is coming together at a new level, earlier this year won Ironman Malaysia, came second to 2007 Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack at Ironman 70.3 China and recently set a new course record at the Western Australia 2009 Busselton Half Ironman Triathlon.

Lieto's biking prowess could give him an edge on the hilly, windy bike course along the road to Hawi – he had the fourth fastest bike time in last year's Ford Ironman World Championship. Lieto will be joining the field after taking sixth place in the 2009 Avia Wildflower Triathlon and recently going head-to-head with McCormack at the 2009 UVAS Triathlon, ultimately finishing in second place.

The talent among the men's field doesn't stop there. Hawaii's own Tim Marr finished 15^th in Kona last October, and does most of his training year-round just next door on the island of Oahu. The Big Island's heat and humidity won't begin to phase the Hawaii native, who's had some of his best results in some of the sport's hottest races.

Also in town is Benjamin Sanson, who was first out of the water last year in Kona. Sanson might find some swimming competition in John Flanagan III. Flanagan, a first-year professional from Oahu, turned in the second-fastest swim time for an amateur last fall in Kona and swam away from the entire field in the choppy conditions of last year's Ironman 70.3 Hawaii.

Chad Seymour, also from Oahu, has been racing here since 2005. And Big Island triathlete Luis De La Torre will be looking to give the men's professional field some competition, even though he's chosen to stay in the amateur ranks. De La Torre was fourth overall at last year's event and will be using the home field advantage and a powerful run to charge through the course.

The biggest variable in racing on the Big Island is the type of day the island will serve up to race participants. Winds, heat, and humidity all come in variable sizes and the crystal-clear Hapuna Bay can lay flat and calm or whip up currents and chop to challenge the field. Regardless of the weather, though, we can count on a day of top-notch competition on Saturday from the men's and women's pro fields and throughout the amateur ranks as 1,400 athletes take on the 2009 Ironman 70.3 Hawaii.

2009 Ironman 70.3 Hawaii Pros by Last Name

1 ALEXANDER CRAIG M 36 MPRO AUS

9 ELLIOT LEWIS M 29 MPRO USA

7 FLANAGAN III JOHN M 34 MPRO USA

8 GRANGER JUSTIN M 38 MPRO AUS

4 LIETO CHRIS M 37 MPRO USA

3 MARR TIMOTHY M 30 MPRO USA

2 MCKENZIE LUKE M 28 MPRO AUS

6 SANSON BENJAMIN M 38 MPRO FRA

5 SEYMOUR CHAD M 27 MPRO USA

16 SUPLICY CAUE M 31 MPRO USA

12 BALDING AMANDA F 32 WPRO USA

13 FLETCHER CHRISTINE F 36 WPRO CAN

11 GRANGER BELINDA F 39 WPRO AUS

10 MCGLONE SAMANTHA F 30 WPRO USA

14 TINGLE LAURA F 25 WPRO USA

15 WEE BREE F 30 WPRO USA

You can reach Dawn Henry at dhenry@ironman.com

AUSTRALIAN TRIATHLETE MAGAZINE - ISSUE 16.6

Index Page (top) & BlueSeventy Ad along bottom(Whats your choice?)

The News - Ironman Inks Official partnership with K-Swiss (Featuring Luke)

AUSTRALIAN TRIATHLETE MAGAZINE - THE BUZZ. A COFFEE WITH LUKE McKENZIE

TRIATHLON MAGAZINE - GERMANY

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The rise and rise of Luke McKenzie

Monday, 18 May 2009 10:48

Luke McKenzie's star is on the rise. In the past 2 seasons McKenzie has stepped up and now lays claim to being a legitimate contender in any race that he fronts up to. Luke has made a new home and realigned his training and approach with great results, spending more time on the podium in the last two seasons than at any time in a career that is definitely on the build. The two time Ironman champion chatted to us just before he jetted off to his next race in Hawaii.

The last few seasons have seen you go from strength to strength. Has it been a change of training or a change of mindset?
I think it's a little of both.  This year my relocation to Noosa (Queensland) has given me a fresh outlook on my training and my training partners.  I lived on the Gold Coast for 13 years and trained out of there. Making the move to Noosa has definitely refreshed me, so that's helped. And having some of the best athletes in the world here during the Summer has also rubbed off on me. Being able to train with Belinda Granger and Greg Bennett and some of those guys has really helped me. I've started to race with a bit more confidence. And that's something I've really tried to build on in the last 12 -18 months. 

How hard is it to race Kona as a pro?
It's a tough one. It's one that I'm still working really hard at. For some reason I don't feel like that I have gone anywhere near my full potential at that race yet. I guess it's been a race that I haven't really focused on yet. But it's a race that this year, I'm really looking forward to knuckling down and trying to get a result there because I fell like I suit that sort of race and the conditions. I really want to perform there. The last three years I just haven't got that result there yet, but that's absolutely the goal for this season. 

Talking about the business of triathlon, how important is a big result in Kona for you?
I don't feel like I've got any pressure at this stage to put a big result in at Kona, but personally I feel that I'm due for one. I feel like I'm doing everything right in my training and I'm getting it right in most of the other races. It's just that when you get on that big stage and you throw in every guy who's won an Ironman during the season, well, it's a whole different ball game. 

Your best result is an 8:12 Ironman in Western Australia (Busselton) in 2008. Is that the best race you've put together?
Yes definitely. Busso (Busselton) was a race I never expected to be in if you had asked me 8 weeks before. I came off Kona and I wasn't happy with how I performed (29th). And that's the beauty of having that race there 8 weeks later. I thought, why not utilise this fitness and go to Busso and see what I can do. I didn't really do much in the weeks after Kona. I went to the World 70.3 titles and I surprised myself there (7th). I thought it would be a bit of a stretch to get another 3 weeks out of myself for Busso, but when I got there everything just seemed to click on the day. I had never really pushed myself to that limit in a race. I really hurt myself in the back end of the run. That was probably because of the lack of training in the 8 weeks beforehand, but it felt good to really push myself that hard and get to the finish line in 3rd that day. 

Your last 3 results have seen you on the podium (Busselton Half Ironman 1st, China 70.3 2nd, Ironman Malaysia 1st) but the one that intrigues us is China. How torturous was that day?
(laughs) Mate, I can't begin to describe it! Only the people who attended that event will ever know just how hard that was (laughs). The funny thing was I was originally going to race the Ironman there and after Malaysia I got really sick and had the flu for 2 or 3 weeks. I had to make the choice not to do the Ironman which I was really upset about because I'd told K-Swiss, my major sponsor who were sponsoring the race, that I was going to come and race the Ironman. Then I had to tell them that I wasn't going to race. They suggested doing the 70.3 and thought I could do it.

I got there and Macca (Chris McCormack) was there racing for his sponsor so it turned into a bit of a contest. The weather was absolutely brutal on race day (temperatures around 45 degrees) and through the bike I could tell it was going to be one of those days in which you just try to survive. Macca put a bit of a gap on me and I didn't see him again. I was pretty happy just to try to get myself around the course without doing too much damage. I think I did that. You know on paper I got absolutely belted by him (McCormack) but at that stage I didn't really see the point. He already had 5 - 6 minutes off the bike on me and in those conditions there was no way I was going to run him down so I just made the best of a day that I could get a bit of training done and not do too much damage to my body. 

Do you think that the WTC need to step in with a heat rule or would that ruin the sport?
That's a hard one. On the day (China 70.3) the 70.3 was run in conjunction with the Ironman and I was telling anyone that would listen that there was not enough aid stations on that run course and you were going to kill someone in this Ironman if you don't do something about it. I really honestly thought that they might have to step in and maybe only run 1 out of the 2 laps.

Everyone survived it on the day, but I think there are going to be a lot of people who are going to have some repercussions from that event after pushing themselves so hard. Every single person who was coming across the line was going to the medical tent and every 5 minutes there were people getting carted off to hospital in ambulances. 

So I think in the future the WTC need to look at implementing something during the race for when conditions like that pop up. Unfortunately, if it continues to happen, someone is going to die and it's not going to be good for our sport. 

You've raced all over the world for many years. Who do you think is the toughest competitor in Ironman right now?
I definitely think we've got a good little rivalry just here in Australia right now with myself and Pete Jacobs and Tim Berkel coming through. In the past it's been Luke Bell. I haven't really raced Luke much recently but it seems in the last year or two Pete (Jacobs) has really stepped up. He won the Australian Long Course Title this year and was second at Port Maquarie and second at Roth. That guy is an amazing athlete. It's exciting coming through at the same time as these guys. Tim (Berkel) is in similar form. His win at Busso was an amazing race. They're two guys that I look forward to racing. We'll be all racing each other through our careers so I think it will be only good for our sport that we are all pushing each other.

Do you like to talk the talk out there in the course?
(laughs) It's funny ... I get on really well with both of them. I haven't really known Tim (Berkel) until this year and he's a great kid. I actually raced my first Ironman against Pete (2004 Busso) and we had a back and forth tussle the whole way. We've never really had any animosity and there's a good healthy rivalry. 

What's the biggest curse in triathlon - drafting or compression socks?
(laughs) I've used the socks for a recovery but I think they're a bad fashion statement! But drafting is something that is definitely becoming quite a problem. I really hope that the referees can do something more than they are right now. I understand that the events are about participation but I want to see more draft busters out there. It is getting worse and worse. The refs need to enforce the rules. 

Tell us about your favorite training day.
Definitely my Wednesdays up here (Noosa). When I wake up we go down to the ocean and do a group ocean swim and do 'ins and outs' in the surf and it's great when there's a few waves cracking. We do that for an hour and a half and then usually we go and grab a quick coffee and something to eat for breakfast and then we go for a 2 hour run in the Noosa National Park. That's an awesome day. Usually I just rest in the afternoon or get a surf in.

To keep check on Luke's progress, take a look at his webite at www.lukemckenzie.com

LUKE FEATURES ON FINISHLINE-MULTISPORT.COM

WRITTEN BY KEVIN KORESKY    MONDAY, 04 MAY 2009 00:00

Luke McKenzie Q&A

There must be something in the water from the land down under.  Australia keeps producing more and more of the world's top triathletes. Growing up and training in Australia, Luke McKenzie is not any different than his fellow countrymen/women who have recently won an Ironman World Championship Title.  Watch out folks he is coming.  Ladies and gentlemen: Luke McKenzie KK: Luke, please tell our readers where you're from? What your sports background was growing up? LM: I grew up playing a mixture of team sports like soccer, rugby league, basketball and cricket but from the age of 6 I was a swimmer. I swam at state level when I was 9 and national level at 10 till 14. I also did a lot of running at school and was State Champion in Cross Country and 2000 steeplechase and finished 5th at the Australian Cross Country Championships. KK: What is your academic background? LM: Academically I finished high school in 1999 and got a Sporting Scholarship to University but I never took it up as I went away with the Australian Institute of Sport Triathlon team for three years in a row to Europe and then from 2003 onward I was traveling to the USA to compete on the North American circuit so unfortunately I am still yet to finish my University. KK: What was you very first triathlon? LM: My first triathlon was in a small Australian town called South West Rocks in 1995. Back then I was still swimming competitively so I won the swim by a mile, rode really badly and a few guys passed me then I came back on the run and won. KK: Did you have all new fancy gear when you started? LM: I didn't have all the gear for my first few races. I competed on a $800 bike without race wheels. KK: Australia has already been through its triathlon boom is the sport still going through a growth spurt or has it slowed down? LM: It's still growing. It's definitely getting more popular and a lot more recognition with the Australian public thanks to Emma Snowsill winning the Olympics and Michellie Jones, Chris McCormack and Craig Alexander all winning Hawaii recently. I feel like Ironman racing has a bigger following in Oz these days than the Olympic distance whereas when I was growing up short course racing was more popular. KK: Luke, what is the Australian Institute of Sport Triathlon? LM: The Australian Institute of Sport is a government funded program that develops athletes for the Olympics. Basically all the sports competing in the Olympics have support to coach athletes; they have a national HQ in Canberra where there are amazing facilities and experts in Sports Science, Nutrition and psychology. What is it about the 70.3 and Ironman Distance races that attract so much attention? LM: I think people are attracted to the challenge. There is no greater challenge available to the general population than an Ironman. The Ironman and 70.3 series offers people a wide range of locations all around the world and have they all have a great atmosphere. Having Clearwater and Hawaii gives people a major goal to aim for and that why I think the Ironman brand is so popular. KK: Describe your 2006 rookie debut at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. LM: Unfortunately my 2006 Hawaii Ironman was hampered by a bike crash I had in training only a few weeks prior to the race. I fell badly on my knee and didn't realize how much damage I had actually done. I kept training and was really fit but just before I got on the plane to Hawaii my knee started to ache. Once I landed in Kona my knee had blown up twice the size and I could hardly walk. I spent the week getting physio and massage on it and it seemed to help a little. I didn't run the whole week before the race. LM: Race day I just tried to put the injury behind me and once I got going on the bike I think the adrenaline kicked in and I got through that fine but once I was on the marathon I was in trouble. I hobbled my way through the first 18-20km but from then on it was walk run walk run. I was determined to finish my first Hawaii. I got the finish line in 9hr 21, not a bad time considering my injury. LM: I went home to Australia and had a scan on my knee and it revealed a stress fracture. I didn't race again for 6 months I had done so much damage! KK: What are some of your fondest triathlon memories so far? LM: Making my first Australian team was really exciting. I won the Australian Junior Championships and was selected to go to the World Championships LM: Finishing my first Ironman in 2004 - I finished 3rd at Ironman Western Australia. LM: Competing in Hawaii for the first time was amazing. Floating in the water before the gun was a feeling I have felt. The hair stands on the back of my neck just thinking about it. KK: What is your ultimate goal? LM: To win Hawaii! KK: How does racing short course differ from racing long course races? LM: Obviously the preparation is different. Short course requires a lot more anaerobic threshold training. Ironman training involves a lot more aerobic work and a lot more strength. LM: Short course racing is a little more tactical in the draft legal format. KK: What is your favorite race? Why? LM: Wildflower is right up there. The atmosphere is awesome and the weekend is great fun camping. LM: Escape from Alcatraz is an epic event. LM: St. Croix is a fun weekend in a beautiful location. The course is tough but I love it. LM: Hawaii Ironman - Everything about this race is awesome. Probably my favorite! KK: How do you balance family, friends, training, career, traveling, racing, etc? LM: I am very lucky. My girlfriend is also a pro (Amanda Balding) and we travel everywhere together. Sometimes we race the same races sometimes its just one of us, but either way we always have each other there for support. My parents love triathlon and since they are semi retired they try and get to a lot of my races in Australia, Asia and make an annual trip to Hawaii to watch me race there. A lot of my friends are involved in the sport or I have made by traveling around the world doing this sport. LM: It seems I have found the right balance of all these things over the past 18 months. Getting my training done is number 1 priority and keeping focused on up coming races is key. I can easily work this into my social life. KK: What do you enjoy doing during the off season? LM: I love to go surfing. I try and get out as much as I can when I am at home in Australia. KK: Here at Finishline-Multisport.com, our goal is to help our sport keep growing. If you would, what are some tips that you would give to someone starting off in triathlon? LM: 1.Getting a coach or join a group you can train with would be my first piece of advice. LM: 2.Get your equipment expertly fitted. ie. Bikes, shoes, wetsuit. LM: 3.Don't let your new found love for triathlon take over your life. Take some time out and keep the family time. KK: As a pro you get to race all over the globe; where is your favorite places to race and why? LM: I like the races in Asia. The people are helpful and friendly and the events are always hot and humid just how I like it. Most of the races in are in nice tropical destinations which make it a great place to relax afterwards. KK: What are the funniest things you have done or you have heard during a race? LM: When I started out I was in the Formula One series in Australia. It was a televised series and was a series of really short, fast races in a crit style. I was having a great race one day right up among the leaders when I got to T2 and put my shoes on I put them on the wrong feet. Not wanting to waste time swapping them, I ran the 2km with my shoes the wrong way. Man that was weird and hard! KK: When people think of Luke McKenzie, what do you want them to know most about you? LM: He is a dedicated athlete that is passionate about triathlon and everything he does. Loves meeting people and is friendly and approachable. KK: What are some of your goals for 2009 and beyond? LM: I have already accomplished one of my goals for the year - to win another Ironman title so that was exciting. I really want to defend my Ironman title in Japan then focus on a top 10 result at Kona in 2009. LM: Beyond 09, it's about trying to win a lot more Ironman titles and move into the top 5, top 3 and ultimately win Hawaii. Luke McKenzie Personal Website: www.lukemckenzie.com Photography by Sarah Hall