Posted: April 5, 2005

Multisport: PCH Sports News

Bell 2nd At Ironman Australia

Luke Bell kicked off his 2005 international race season in fine fashion last weekend with a solid second place finish at Ironman Australia on Sunday. This was Luke’s highest finish ever at this race. Luke and Chris McCormack shadowed each other through the swim and bike. McCormack bolted out of the bike to run transition and ran solo through the marathon.

Luke’s North American schedule begins with Wildflower on April 30th. After assessing his Ironman Australia performance, Luke will soon determine the remainder of his schedule, including whether to add a summer Ironman. Last year, Luke raced Ironman USA in July. In 2003 Luke did not race at the Ironman distance between Ironman Australia and Kona but, rather, raced frequently at the half-Ironman distance.

Luke’s 2005 primary sponsor is a throwback -- American Interbanc.com, the company that supported Luke to his 5th place 2003 Ironman Kona finish. “I’m very happy to be back with Mike Dannelley and American Interbanc.com. Mike races a lot of the same races as I do and he’s always supportive whether I’m sponsored by him or not”, commented Luke. American Interbanc.com also sponsors Simon Lessing, Chris Legh and Michael Lovato. For more information on American Interbanc.com, browse its web site www.americaninterbanc.com .

Luke continues his relationships with Pearl Izumi, InfinIT Nutrition, Giant Bicycles, Profile Design, Xterra Wetsuits, Oakley eyewear, and Reynolds Composites for Wheels. Fi’zi:k saddles is a new sponsor this year.

Chris Legh was sick on the bike (possibly from drinking too much of Lake Wallace on the swim) and couldn’t fuel himself adequately. He finished in 22nd place.

Ironman Australia Results

Men
1. Chris McCormack AUS (46:55 4:40:17 2:58:32) 8:25:44
2. Luke Bell AUS (47:09 4:40:09 3:03:58) 8:31:16
3.  Mitch Anderson AUS (50:59 4:40:28 3:06:23) 8:37:50
22. Chris Legh AUS 9:13:27 (splits not available)

Women
Lisa Bentley CAN (54:36 5:12:50 3:05:54) 9:13:20

Kate Major Racing Ironman Arizona Next Weekend

Kate Major is no Nanook of the North. She likes it hot. Just returned from summer in Australia, Kate defrosted on the run to pick her way up to 5th place at the rainy, cold Half Ironman California on March 19th. She’s hoping for more typical spring weather when she lines up for Ironman Arizona this Saturday. For live race coverage, browse www.ironmanlive.com.

Over the last 6 months Kate has experienced a complete equipment and sponsorship makeover. Prior to Kona she signed with Saucony for footwear and apparel and Profile Design for handle bars and components. Since Kona she’s joined the Tri Dubai team and added Orbea bikes, Ironman wetsuits and Blackwell wheels to her equipment list. Tri Dubai is the greatest amalgamation of Ironman champions in the history of the sport, including Heather Fuhr, Simon Lessing, Peter Reid, Chris Legh and six others. It is an ambitious program with three-fold goals: Promote Dubai as a training and vacation destination; promote triathlon in unique ways; and to support local charities in triathlon host cities. For more information, browse www.tridubai.com .

“Despite the good results, last season was very unsettling for me because of the uncertainty regarding my equipment,” said Major. “I’m so relieved to have my equipment settled and to have associations with fantastic people and products.”

Laguna Phuket Auction Is A Success

PCH’s triathlon memorabilia auction to support the Phuket Tsunami Recovery Fund was a big success. The total proceeds from goods sold were US$18,500. The auction’s total benefit to the Fund was significantly exceeded this number due to direct cash contributions to the Fund from auction links. “We hope the lasting impact of the auction is to raise awareness in the triathlon community for the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, said Shannon Delaney, PCH’s auction coordinator. “Tourism is the key to the long-term recovery of Phuket and other tsunami-affected areas. Our fingers are crossed that triathletes will turn out in record numbers to support the race on December 4th. LPT helped lead the area out of the 9\11 related downturn and we hope that the same will be true this time.”

The oddest item sold at the auction was a bike seat belonging to Scott Tinley that he described as follows: “This was the bastard that prevented my wife and I from having our third child. It's hard, uncomfortable and killed more nerve endings in my "?$%%#" than Agent Orange would have. But I was close to this little guy." The seat sold for $42. Other items included $777 paid for Lisa Bentley’s 2003 Ironman Canada Championship jacket and $600 paid by some masochist for a training weekend with Mike Pigg.

PCH thanks active.com, cmarket.com, DeSoto Sports, Profile Design, Ironman North America, multisports.com, Headsweats, Cytomax and numerous other companies and athletes for participating in the auction.

The PCH Sports website is at: www.pchsports.com.