Online entry is $65 (+ $10 day-of-event insurance).
Race day registration is $85.

Racers will start on Butterville road, head toward 299, then to Mtn Brauhaus @ 44/55, up/over Minnewaska and down to Granite Road. The backside of the course is a relatively flat section through Accord toward Clove Road, and finally up/over Mohonk. See Route Map

There is a 56mi race (Half Ironman) and a 112mi TT. Top 3 male & female finishers in the 112mi TT will win part of the $850 prize money.

This race is a perfect opportunity to re-race the SOS bike course (in reverse), test your ride for you Ironman or 70.3 race, or kick start your SOS training for 2012.

Local pro, and 2010 SOS winner Justin Harris won the race in 52m 41s, followed closely by Christopher McCloskey and SOS veteran Dr. Mike Halstead.

Other noted SOS’ers racing in the Spring Dual included SOS founder Don Davis, Dan Winfield, Arthur Boyko, Shane Eversfield, Bill Shashaty, Keith O’Malley, Paul Trapani, Jim Bacon, and Mary DeNitto – perhaps others. See the full results here

If you raced or spectated and have any photos that you’d like to share: sostriathlon@gmail.com
How many SOS Survivors are signed up for next week’s Trooper Biathlon?

The run takes place up/down Huguenot Street in the middle of New Paltz, and the bike course exits town by the Gilded Otter, across the flats, and out/back on Springtown Road. The course is fast, last year’s winner finished in 54min 2sec.

There are numerous places to spectate along Huguenot Street, but race day entries are being accepted starting at 7:30am tomorrow (we believe that the cost is $65). Race time is 9am.

If you are already registered you can check your entry and bib number on the online Entry List

Good luck to all SOS Survivors competing this weekend.

We already told you about the Half-Iron and Ironman distance cycling time trails (May 20th – register now!), but now we have local 2.5k and 5k swims too. Announcing, on June 2nd starting from the public dock at Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie, the “2 Bridges Swim Under the Walkway“.

There are two distances, either are ideal for triathletes – especially those training for the Survival of the Shawangunks or for Half Ironman (1.2mi) or Ironman distance (2.4mi) races. Both the 2.5k (1.55mi) and 5k (3.1mi) have wetsuit/technical suit divisions so this is an excellent chance to test your suit early in the season and in open water. The course is a loop running between the Walkway Over the Hudson and the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

(From the Event Site)
Course Description: The 2.5K swim starts in the water near the public dock, and follows a rectangular course that circles the eastern stanchions of the Mid-Hudson and Walkway Over the Hudson Bridges, which are 900 meters apart.

Swimmers head west for 50 meters and turn right around a buoy. They then swim north parallel to the shore, pass under the Walkway Bridge and turn left (west) at a buoy. They swim 50 meters before taking a left (south) turn around a second buoy. They pass under the Mid-Hudson Bridge, turn left (east), swim 50 meters and turn left again (north) before returning to the start/finish area where they exit the water at the boat ramp. 5K swimmers will do two loops of the 2.5K course.

So there you have it.
Find your running race anywhere, but stay SOS-local for early in the season Half-Iron and Ironman distance bike and swim races.

Spoiler Alert – here are the finishing orders for the Pro fields:

Men’s Pro Field
1 3:47:40 2 Timothy Odonnell Boulder CO USA
2 3:48:03 0:24 3 Sebastian Kienle Hohenklingen DEU
3 3:48:49 1:10 4 Ronnie Schildkn Samstagern CHE
4 3:50:08 2:28 45 Michael Raelert Rostock DEU
5 3:52:35 4:56 44 Stephane Poulat Anglet FRA
6 3:54:32 6:52 34 Jordan Jones Golden CO USA
7 3:54:32 6:53 5 Lance Armstron Austin TX USA
8 3:54:55 7:15 48 Marino Vanhoena Jabbeke BEL
9 3:55:28 7:49 38 Jeremy Jurkiewi Nice FRA
10 3:55:43 8:03 17 Axel Zeebroek Samr E BEL

Women’s Pro Field
1 4:13:27 55 Kelly Williams Austin TX USA
2 4:18:47 5:21 57 Yvonne Van Vler Schwarzach NLD
3 4:20:16 6:50 59 Amy Marsh Austin TX USA
4 4:22:03 8:36 58 Caitlin Snow Brockton MA USA
5 4:25:27 12:01 64 Margaret Shapiro Herndon VA USA
6 4:26:43 13:17 67 Sarah Piampian Los Angeles CA USA
7 4:29:12 15:46 69 Anja Beranek Nuernberg DEU
8 4:29:34 16:08 60 Heather Wurtele Kelowna BC CAN
9 4:30:00 16:34 63 Jessie Donavan Shelburne VT USA
10 4:31:09 17:43 90 Jennifer Tetrick Millville CA USA

See MEMORIAL HERMANN IRONMAN 70.3 TEXAS coverage here:
http://texas.ironmanlive.com/#axzz1qmquC1wO

Tune in on March 31st to see Andy Potts defending his Ironman 70.3 California title against a stacked pro entry list that includes Richie Cunningham, Chris McDonald, Leon Griffin, Tim Berkel, Paul Ambrose, and Matt Lieto. Expect to see Leon Griffin as a contender.

In the pro women’s race look for Heather Jackson to try to redeem her almost win with a position atop this year’s podium. Last year Jackson lost out to Mirinda Carfrae with the finish line in sight. She’ll have stiff competition from Lesley Paterson, Melanie McQuaid, Magali Tisseyre, and Americans Linsey Corbin and Amanda Lovato.

Follow race-day coverage at IronmanLive.com

7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will be at the Galveston Island race tackling his second 70.3 since returning to triathlon – and he is only one of a number of notable pros entered into the April 1st race. Also competing will be D3 Multisport coach and Zen and the Art of Triathlon host Coach Brett. Brett will also be competing in this year’s SOS Triathlon, so come Sept we expect to hear which challenge he found most daunting.

The pro field for Texas is topped by the following:
Michael Raelert
Marino Vanhoenacker
Timothy O’Donnell
Ronnie Schildknecht
Paul Amey
Bryan Rhodes
Jozsef Major
Sebastian Kienle

Kelly Williamson
Leanda Cave
Yvonne Van Vlerken
Caitlin Snow
Amy Marsh
Nina Kraft
Heather Wurtele

Notably absent, the injured defending champion Chris Lieto.

Follow race-day coverage on IronmanLve.com.

If there are any local racers heading down and you can provide either commentary, images, or video we’ll be happy to publish them along with a race recap. Email: sostriathlon@gmail.com

—Original Post—

This weekend in Triathlon… there is a lot going on but we’re watching 2 races in particular.

The 28th Ironman New Zealand takes place in Taupo on Saturday (3/3).
The pro field looks interesting and the age groupers have been sending in motivational stories that will inspire you to challenge yourself beyond what you thought was possible.

Here’s how you can follow:
Ironman website
IronmanLive
Twitter

Race History
The IMNZ is the oldest qualifying race on the Ironman circuit, making it a prestigious place to qualify from and certainly adding to the ever increasing field of pros and fast age groupers.

According to the Race’s official description:
The swim course in the beautiful, clear, waters of Lake Taupo is a one loop affair around a rectangular course, which, if the water is calm, is laid out nicely for a fast first leg of the day.

Once out of the water, the athletes run past the Lake Taupo Yacht Club to T1, and then start the bike course by riding along the lake next to where they just finished swimming. The initial few kilometers are flat, but a quick left turn takes the athletes up a hill that is a precursor of the fun to come.

The beautiful two-lap run course follows Lake Taupo down to Five Mile Bay and then returns back to town. The course could be described as “rolling,” although there are a few good hills to be negotiated along the way.

————————–

Wow, if you read Triathlete.com you’d think that the only thing going on in the world was the Abu Dhabi Triathlon, and it does seem to be the larger draw of the weekend. Maybe it’s the exotic location, maybe it’s the 124 mile bike leg – in fact all of the distances are somewhat non-standard (3km Swim, 200km Bike, 20km Run), but this race really appeals to us… and apparently the pro crowd too! So, we’re on board. Given Faris Al-Sultan recent win in Sri Lanka it’s unlikely that the ’05 Ironman champ (and Speedo fan) will make the field, although he is a major factor behind the race organization.

We’ll be looking for coverage on IronmanLive (doubtful) as well as the official Twitter page and website.

It’s a race weekend – what are you doing?

Alex Sherwood & winner James Lawrence.

Now that we know of so many SOS’ers participating in the HITS series we’ll start to add coverage of those events. If you have any photos or race reports to add email them in to: sostriathlon@gmail.com .

Additional Links:
HITS homepage
Alex Sherwood | Venture outdoors for winter fitness fun | PoJoNews
James Lawrence – Tri & Give a Dam