Posted: October 18, 2004

Triathlon: Canadians excel in Kona

Canadians continued to excel at the IRONMAN Triathlon Championships in Kona, USA again this year over the 3.8km/180km/42.2km swm-bike-run event. In the men’s event Peter Reid finished second, with the fastest run of the day; while Heather Fuhr and Lisa Bentley finished 3rd and 5th respectively.

The heat was intense and there were strong headwinds as defending Hawaii Ironman Champion, Peter Reid of Victoria posted his fastest time yet on the marathon course (2:46:10). The blistering run time wasn’t enough to catch Germany’s Normann Stadler who finished the bike with a comfortable 20 minute lead. Stadler won the event in a time of 8:33:29, Reid was 10 minutes back; Germany’s Faris Al-Sultan rounded out the podium a further 2 minutes back.

It was Germany’s day once again in the women’s event. Nina Kraft (GER) established a commanding lead during the bike and finished the event in 9:33:25 – seventeen minutes ahead of second place finisher Switzerland’s Natascha Badmann. Duffield, Alberta’s Heather Fuhr was a further six minutes back finishing in a time of 9:56:19. Fuhr, a run specialist, posted a fast run split and her best overall result in several years.

Lisa Bentley of Caledon, Ontario also had a strong 5th place finish with a time of 10:04:16. Defending Ironman Champion Lori Bowden, of Victoria, was in contention following the swim but finished in 12th position.

From: TriathlonCanada.com.