Posted: October 23, 2004

Triathlon: USAT News and Notes for Oct. 22, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 22, 3004) – The season may be winding down, but there is plenty of racing still left to do.

On Saturday, Clermont, Fla., will host the USA Triathlon National Ultra Distance Championship at the Great Floridian Triathlon.

More than 1,500 athletes from 48 states across the United States are registered. The event will feature a 2.4-mile swim in Lake Minneola, a 112-mile, two-lap bike course through rural Lake County, and a 26.2-mile run course that will feature three laps around Lake Minneola.

Local favorite Marty Gaal (Orlando, Fla.), 32, is an athlete to watch. He finished first at the 2004 Duke Liver Center Half Ironman in September and seventh overall at the Georgia Rock-n-Roll Man Half Ironman.

In the women’s field, Heather Butcher (North Port, Fla.), 32, who finished second in last year’s Great Floridian, and Amy Kuitse (South Bend, Ind.), 41, are expected to battle for the women’s title.

For more information, go to www.greatfloridian.com.

On Sunday, the Nissan Xterra World Championships will take off in Maui, Hawaii. The race will consist of a 1.5k swim, 30k mountain bike and 11k trail run.

Pro athletes will compete for a $105,000 pro purse. In addition, "The Double" awards $5,000 to the male and female pro athlete with the fastest combined Ironman World Championship and Nissan Xterra World Championship times.

Hawaiian Airlines will also award the top male and female a pair of round-trip tickets from the West Coast to Maui.

The race will be shown on CBS on Feb. 6, 2005.

For more information, check out XTERRAPlanet.com

Results

Cameron Widoff (Boulder, Colo.) and Kate Major (San Diego, Calif.) were the top U.S. finishers at the Ironman World Championships on Oct. 16 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Widoff finished seventh among the men in 8 hours, 59 minutes, 25 seconds. Major finished fourth among the women in 10:01:56.

Germany's Normann Stadler (8:33:29)and Nina Kraft (9:33:25) won the overall men and women's titles.

Terry Martin Duvel (Encinitas, Calif.) was the top U.S. and overall women's age group finisher. Racing in the women's 40-44 division, Duvel finished in 10:47:29.

Justin Daerr (Phoenix, Ariz.) was the top U.S. men's age group finisher. Racing in the 18-24 age group, Daerr finished in 9:38:39.

For complete results, go to www.ironmanlive.com

At the ITU Duathlon World Cup final on Oct. 17 in Varallo Sesia, Italy, Amory Rowe (Middletown, R.I.) was the top U.S. women's finisher in fourth and Desiree Ficker (Potomac, Md.) finished fifth.

Tom Jeffrey (Richmond, Va.) was the top U.S. men's finisher in 16th.

The race will consist of a 10k run, 40k bike and 5k run. Jurgen Dereere of Belgium won the men's race in 1:48:32. Nadia Cortassa of Italy won the women's race in 2:02:09.

For complete results, go to www.cometapress.com.