Whitfield, Snowsill Win Life Time Fitness
Minneapolis - Just three weeks after the emotionally charged final U.S. Olympic Trials in Des Moines and roughly a month before the long-awaited Beijing Games kick off mid-August, the world's top short-course triathletes and a few multi-distance stars collided at the big-dollar, high-profile Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis. On an unseasonably cool yet perfect-for-racing day at Lake Nokomis Park, Canadian Simon Whitfield survived a race-long duel with his multisport hero, Greg Bennett of Australia, to take the men's title in a course record-breaking 1:48:01. Australian Emma Snowsill cruised to the women's crown, using her World Cup run speed to break the tape uncontested in 1:58:04.
THE MEN
To kick off the contest, former University of Michigan swimmer Andy Potts stroked out an early lead in the one-lap non-wetsuit swim, exiting Lake Nokomis roughly 30 seconds ahead of Canadian Colin Jenkins and an ensuing pack that included Whitfield, Canada's Brent McMahon, and American
Olympians Hunter Kemper and Matt Reed. Although formidable forces such as reigning Life Time Fitness king Bennett and super-biker David Thompson ran up the sandy lane to transition well behind the leaders, the hearty crowd knew it was still anyone's game.
Sure enough, the single-loop 40km bike became a heated affair, as the stacked field of pros struggled to spread out the line. According to several athetes following the race, drafting was a major problem throughout, and as Reed remarked, "Something needs to be done about the problem." Kemper was called for drafting and forced to serve a penalty, while, as many course spotters reported, other racers hung back to let their foes do the work at the front of the line but weren't penalized.
Drafting speculation aside, Bennett surged to the lead on the bike and maintained a slight margin on Potts, who turned in a respectable bike split despite breaking his aero bar. But the pesky Whitfield was hot on Potts' tire, leading fellow Canadians Paul Tichelaar and Jenkins, Aussie superstar Craig Alexander, Reed and a resilient Kemper.
Bennett held his lead throughout most of the final 10km run but couldn't shirk the onrushing Whtifield or Potts. Finally, after sticking with the Aussie through two of three laps, Whitfield gathered enough steam to stride past Bennett with less than a mile to go and put the reigning race champ's dreams of first place in jeopardy.
As the strong-looking Canadian powered to the finish line to take first place in 1:48:01 and break Bennett's previous course record, a never-say-die Potts edged past Bennett with mere meters to go to snag the runner-up position in 1:48:04.
"I'd been hoping for a finishing duel with Greg Bennett," said an exuberant Potts at the finish. "You have to be careful what you ask for, but I got it." After narrowly missing the final U.S. Olympic team slot to Kemper in June, the Colorado Springs, Colorado, resident will now zero in on winning the Life Time Fitness series title. "I'm very happy with my performance today," said Potts.
A disappointed-looking Bennett crossed the line three seconds later for third, while Great Britain's Stuart Hayes turned heads with his 1:48:48 fourth-place effort. Reed came in six seconds behind Hayes for fifth.
THE WOMEN
While the men's race came down to the final few meters, fleet-flooted Snowsill surprised few by blasting away from hometown hero Becky Lavelle coming out of T2 to earn the fat first-place paycheck. But before the runners took over, super-swimmer Sara McLarty led all women out of the water by roughly 30 seconds, with a tightly clustered Snowsill, Beijing-bound Sarah Haskins, American Amanda Stevens,
Brit Jodi Swallow, the versatile Joanna Zeiger and 2007 XTERRA world champ Julie Dibens in pursuit.
By the time the women reached the second transition, Snowsill and Lavelle had taken the lead, with Haskins and Zeiger hanging on to the third and fourth positions. McLarty turned in a strong bike split as well, clinging to the fifth-place spot heading onto the run.
As Snowsill and Lavelle hit the 10km run in tandem, one look at the tiny but tough-as-nails Snowsill revealed she'd have more than enough fuel left to tear up the course. Sure enough, the Aussie broke Minnesota, native Lavelle to stride to victory in 1:58:04, and Haskins used her constantly improving ITU run speed to pass Lavelle and take second place in 2:00:36.
Fortunately for the women vying for Life Time Fitness series glory, Snowsill is off to Australia to prepare for her medal-chasing pursuit in Beijing and won't be racing the remaining series events.
All photos courtesy Paul Phillips of Competitive Image.
Life Time Fitness Triathlon
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Minneapolis, Minnesota
1.5km S/40km B/10km R
Men's Results
1. Simon Whitfield (CAN) 1:48:01
2. Andy Potts (USA) 1:48:04
3. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:48:07
4. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:48:48
5. Matt Reed (USA) 1:48:54
6. Brent McMahon (CAN) 1:48:56
7. Paul Tichelaar (CAN) 1:49:23
8. Craig Alexander (AUS)
9. Paul Matthews (AUS) 1:50:41
10. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:50:47
Women's Results
1. Emma Snowsill (AUS) 1:58:04
2. Sarah Haskins (USA) 2:00:36
3. Becky Lavelle (USA) 2:01:19
4. Joanna Zeiger (USA) 2:01:52
5. Julie Dibens (GBR) 2:02:15
6. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 2:03:01
7. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 2:03:17
8. Rebeccah Wassner (USA) 2:03:38
9. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 2:03:58
10. Amanda Stevens (USA) 2:07:16
