Are you tough enough to race the Monster Triathlon, a 550-mile event in September that sees teams and individuals swim, cycle and run from Loch Ness to London?
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Open to the general public for the first time, participants will complete a 5km swim in Loch Ness, cycle 100 miles a day for five days, before finishing with a 50km run/walk from Windsor to Richmond on the final day.
The event was pioneered by charity Sabre Trust in 2016, where a team of both novice and experienced triathletes from corporate partner Tullow Oil completed the challenge in eight days.
“We are delighted to see the Monster Triathlon evolve into a full public event this year after a very successful pilot last year,” said Dominic Bond, Managing Director at Sabre Trust. “We are looking forward to establishing the Monster in the challenge event calendar, and increasing the crucial work our teams do to improve the quality of education for Ghana’s youngest school children.”
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The Monster Triathlon takes place September 17-23 and you can find out more at www.monstertriathlon.org
Iron-distance triathlons: the 11 toughest?
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Tomorrow (May 6) all eyes will be on Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee as he aims to qualify for the 2017 70.3 World Champs at the Ironman 70.3 St George North American Pro championships in Utah, USA.
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A win would give him automatic qualification, while a top 3 place leaves him well positioned to get a slot ahead of the first top 40 qualifying cut-off on June 4th.
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But it won’t be an easy race to win. Conditions will be pretty warm with the temperatures expecting to be between 80-85°F (26.67-29.4°C). The water temperature is expected to be in the low to mid-60°F
It’s a lake swim in Sand Hollow Reservoir, while the bike and run courses, say Ironman, ‘are two of the most challenging on the Ironman 70.3 circuit.’ The bike leg’s 3,536ft of climbing includes the signature climb up and through Snow Canyon State Park, while the run’s 1267ft of climbing includes scaling Red Hills Parkway, through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.
See course maps here
The start list includes Canadian Lionel Sanders who set a new Ironman record at IM Arizona 2016, former 70.3 World Champion Sebastian Kienle (Germany) and Brent McMahon (Canada) who came 5th at St George in 2016.
In the pro field Alistair is joined by fellow Brits Mark Buckingham, Stuart Hayes and Tim Don, who used to race Alistair on the ITU circuit and has already got some 2017 70.3 victories under his belt, including Ironman 70.3 Campeche and Ironman 70.3 Liuzhou. Last year he finished 7th at the Ironman 70.3 World Champs.
Alistair’s debut at middle distance took place on April 21 at Gloria Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria, where he won comfortably in 04:03:09, stripping 10:35mins off the course record.
The Ironman 70.3 World Championships will take place at Chattanooga, Tennessee, on September 9.
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The Ironman 70.3 St. George North American Pro championships starts at 6.55am local time (13.55pm British time) and you can follow the action at Ironman.com
Alistair Brownlee’s key triathlon training sessions
Enjoying exploring Utah a bit #redrocks #utah #explore
Tomorrow (May 6) all eyes will be on Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee as he aims to qualify for the 2017 70.3 World Champs at the Ironman 70.3 St George North American Pro championships in Utah, USA.
Click Here: liverpool mens jersey
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A win would give him automatic qualification, while a top 3 place leaves him well positioned to get a slot ahead of the first top 40 qualifying cut-off on June 4th.
But it won’t be an easy race to win. Conditions will be pretty warm with the temperatures expecting to be between 80-85°F (26.67-29.4°C). The water temperature is expected to be in the low to mid-60°F
It’s a lake swim in Sand Hollow Reservoir, while the bike and run courses, say Ironman, ‘are two of the most challenging on the Ironman 70.3 circuit.’ The bike leg’s 3,536ft of climbing includes the signature climb up and through Snow Canyon State Park, while the run’s 1267ft of climbing includes scaling Red Hills Parkway, through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.
See course maps here
The start list includes Canadian Lionel Sanders who set a new Ironman record at IM Arizona 2016, former 70.3 World Champion Sebastian Kienle (Germany) and Brent McMahon (Canada) who came 5th at St George in 2016.
In the pro field Alistair is joined by fellow Brits Mark Buckingham, Stuart Hayes and Tim Don, who used to race Alistair on the ITU circuit and has already got some 2017 70.3 victories under his belt, including Ironman 70.3 Campeche and Ironman 70.3 Liuzhou. Last year he finished 7th at the Ironman 70.3 World Champs.
Alistair’s debut at middle distance took place on April 21 at Gloria Challenge Mogán Gran Canaria, where he won comfortably in 04:03:09, stripping 10:35mins off the course record.
The Ironman 70.3 World Championships will take place at Chattanooga, Tennessee, on September 9.
Advertisement
The Ironman 70.3 St. George North American Pro championships starts at 6.55am local time (13.55pm British time) and you can follow the action at Ironman.com
Alistair Brownlee’s key triathlon training sessions
Enjoying exploring Utah a bit #redrocks #utah #explore
Alistair Brownlee has produced one of the most impressive Ironman debuts of all time today in Utah. Facing a formidable and hugely experienced field at the Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship in St. George, the Brit double-Olympic Games winner stormed to victory ahead of Canada’s Lionel Sanders, with his 3:41:58 overall time breaking the course record to boot.
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The win automatically qualifies Brownlee for September’s Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Tennessee, and silences anyone who doubted his ability to make the jump to middle-distance racing from ITU events.
The women’s race was won by fellow Brit Holly Lawrence, who dominated from the get-go to produce another commanding performance in 113km racing.
Brownlee made his debut at the 113km distance late last month at Challenge Mogan Gran Canaria, where he crossed the line in 4:03:09, beating the next man across the tape, Belgian Pieter Heemeryck, by over eight minutes.
Where Gran Canaria had a shallow pro field, the Utah contenders were daunting, with Germany’s former Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion Sebastien Kienle, the fastest official Ironman in history, Canada’s Lionel Sanders, fellow Brit and former ITU rival Tim Don (a man with plenty of 70.3 victories on his racing palmares, Canada’s Brent McMahon and South Africa’s recent Ironman African Championship winner Ben Hoffman.
Brownlee would need a win to automatically qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga in September, and he came second out of the 1.9km swim in 23:18 behind Ben Kanute and just in front of his Olympic 2012 domestique, Brit Stuart Hayes, and 42secs ahead of Don. Kienle was 2mins back and Sanders over 3mins, and Alistair would power into the lead over Kanute within 20mins on the 90km bike
THE CHASE IS ON
Kienle and Sanders were the key chasers on a course that Ironman tout as one of the hardest on the 70.3 circuit, with 1,077m of total elevation gain over the 90km duration. At the 65km mark, Brownlee was 2:40mins ahead of Kienle and Sanders, with Brownlee actually extending his lead over Kienle by 40secs since the start of the bike. But could he maintain it? Oh yes he could, finishing with a 90km bike split of 2:01:39 to enter T2 with a three minute lead over Kienle and Sanders, 4:35mins over Don.
The half marathon run featured 386m of total elevation gain, includes scaling Red Hills Parkway and through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, with Sanders gaining 20secs in the first 4km on Brownlee. By 15km, Brownlee’s lead had been reduced to a minute by the fast closing Sanders (who would clock a 1:12:19 run split) but it was too late for the Canadian as Brownlee triumphed in 3:41:58 to win by 33secs after a 1:14:49 half marathon. Kienle would finish third over 4mins behind Brownlee, with Don another 30secs back.
Brownlee’s time was a St. George course record and qualifies him for the 70.3 Worlds in Chattanooga, where hopefully we’ll see a face-off between Sanders, Kienle and his old ITU rival Javier Gomez.
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The women’s race saw California-based Brit Holly Lawrence exit the swim in first in 24:56 and gain a comfortable 5min lead by the 65km mark on the bike. At the halfway stage on the run, the reigning 70.3 world champ Lawrence was 6mins ahead of Jeanni Seymour and she hold on for another impressive win, finishing in 4:12:07 to make it a famous day for British long-course tri.
Alistair Brownlee’s key triathlon training sessions
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Alistair Brownlee has produced one of the most impressive Ironman debuts of all time today in Utah. Facing a formidable and hugely experienced field at the Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship in St. George, the Brit double-Olympic Games winner stormed to victory ahead of Canada’s Lionel Sanders, with his 3:41:58 overall time breaking the course record to boot.
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The win automatically qualifies Brownlee for September’s Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Tennessee, and silences anyone who doubted his ability to make the jump to middle-distance racing from ITU events.
The women’s race was won by fellow Brit Holly Lawrence, who dominated from the get-go to produce another commanding performance in 113km racing.
Brownlee made his debut at the 113km distance late last month at Challenge Mogan Gran Canaria, where he crossed the line in 4:03:09, beating the next man across the tape, Belgian Pieter Heemeryck, by over eight minutes.
Where Gran Canaria had a shallow pro field, the Utah contenders were daunting, with Germany’s former Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion Sebastien Kienle, the fastest official Ironman in history, Canada’s Lionel Sanders, fellow Brit and former ITU rival Tim Don (a man with plenty of 70.3 victories on his racing palmares, Canada’s Brent McMahon and South Africa’s recent Ironman African Championship winner Ben Hoffman.
Brownlee would need a win to automatically qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga in September, and he came second out of the 1.9km swim in 23:18 behind Ben Kanute and just in front of his Olympic 2012 domestique, Brit Stuart Hayes, and 42secs ahead of Don. Kienle was 2mins back and Sanders over 3mins, and Alistair would power into the lead over Kanute within 20mins on the 90km bike
THE CHASE IS ON
Kienle and Sanders were the key chasers on a course that Ironman tout as one of the hardest on the 70.3 circuit, with 1,077m of total elevation gain over the 90km duration. At the 65km mark, Brownlee was 2:40mins ahead of Kienle and Sanders, with Brownlee actually extending his lead over Kienle by 40secs since the start of the bike. But could he maintain it? Oh yes he could, finishing with a 90km bike split of 2:01:39 to enter T2 with a three minute lead over Kienle and Sanders, 4:35mins over Don.
The half marathon run featured 386m of total elevation gain, includes scaling Red Hills Parkway and through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, with Sanders gaining 20secs in the first 4km on Brownlee. By 15km, Brownlee’s lead had been reduced to a minute by the fast closing Sanders (who would clock a 1:12:19 run split) but it was too late for the Canadian as Brownlee triumphed in 3:41:58 to win by 33secs after a 1:14:49 half marathon. Kienle would finish third over 4mins behind Brownlee, with Don another 30secs back.
Brownlee’s time was a St. George course record and qualifies him for the 70.3 Worlds in Chattanooga, where hopefully we’ll see a face-off between Sanders, Kienle and his old ITU rival Javier Gomez.
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The women’s race saw California-based Brit Holly Lawrence exit the swim in first in 24:56 and gain a comfortable 5min lead by the 65km mark on the bike. At the halfway stage on the run, the reigning 70.3 world champ Lawrence was 6mins ahead of Jeanni Seymour and she hold on for another impressive win, finishing in 4:12:07 to make it a famous day for British long-course tri.
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Alistair Brownlee’s key triathlon training sessions
Want to improve your biking skills, in particular your off-road skills and your strength and core? Pure Body Balance have teamed up with top downhill racer to create day and weekend retreats focused on corrective gym exercise, yoga, nutrition and skills coaching, with these day retreats being a huge success we have expanded them into full weekend retreats which are the first of there kind in the UK.
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The weekends retreats will be based in the Forest of Dean staying in the luxury accommodation at Broadrock, riding on some of the forests natural single track trails. The weekends will be lead by Adrian Stokes and Karen Maidment of Pure Body Balance and aimed at at those looking to improve there fitness, strength, health on and off the bike with a big focus around skills work when out on the trails.
Adrain Stokes will be there to work through key movement patterns and giving you an insight to insider secrets for ultimate strength, balance and coordination on the bike. Karen Maidment will guide you through the perfect post ride mountain bike specific yoga sessions as well sharing her knowledge about the key nutrition secrets needed for lasting out on those all day rides. Jake Ireland, owner and technician at Sprung Suspension will be on hand to get that perfect bike set-up specifically for you, making your ride even smoother when ripping up the trails. Katy Curd, top professional mountain bike racer, will be there to help guide you through the skills on the bike, helping you build up your confidence and skills to maintain natural flow on any trails you ride.
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You can subscribe to the print magazine here or if you prefer a digital issue, or live overseas, click here
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How to regain your confidence after a fall off the bike
Want to improve your biking skills, in particular your off-road skills and your strength and core? Pure Body Balance have teamed up with top downhill racer to create day and weekend retreats focused on corrective gym exercise, yoga, nutrition and skills coaching, with these day retreats being a huge success we have expanded them into full weekend retreats which are the first of there kind in the UK.
Advertisement
The weekends retreats will be based in the Forest of Dean staying in the luxury accommodation at Broadrock, riding on some of the forests natural single track trails. The weekends will be lead by Adrian Stokes and Karen Maidment of Pure Body Balance and aimed at at those looking to improve there fitness, strength, health on and off the bike with a big focus around skills work when out on the trails.
Adrain Stokes will be there to work through key movement patterns and giving you an insight to insider secrets for ultimate strength, balance and coordination on the bike. Karen Maidment will guide you through the perfect post ride mountain bike specific yoga sessions as well sharing her knowledge about the key nutrition secrets needed for lasting out on those all day rides. Jake Ireland, owner and technician at Sprung Suspension will be on hand to get that perfect bike set-up specifically for you, making your ride even smoother when ripping up the trails. Katy Curd, top professional mountain bike racer, will be there to help guide you through the skills on the bike, helping you build up your confidence and skills to maintain natural flow on any trails you ride.
You can subscribe to the print magazine here or if you prefer a digital issue, or live overseas, click here
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How to regain your confidence after a fall off the bike
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The line up for WTS Yokohama includes Olympic medallist Jonathan Brownlee. This will be Jonny’s first race of the 2017 season after having to pull out of the earlier races in Abu Dhabi and the Gold Coast.
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Jonny said: “It’s good to be back in Japan, and it’s good to be back racing. I’ve been feeling strong in training, so I hope everything comes together for a good result on Saturday.”
Trying to stop Jonny topping the podium will be current and former ITU World Champions, Mario Mola and Javier Gomez of Spain, however Gomez has been suffering from toothache and an infected root canal we will have to wait and see if this has affected him.
A painful toothache, that turned out to be an infected root canal has knocked me around this week with fever and put me on antibiotics. But thanks to the help of dentist Nana Salzfeld and her team I’ll try to be on the start line ready to give my best on Saturday in Yokohama. Also thanks to the ITU for the help! / He tenido una semana complicada con una infección en una muela que me ha dado, además de dolor, fiebre y me ha obligado a tratarme con antibióticos. Parece que voy mejor así que haré todo lo posible por estar en la salida de la WTS de Yokohama este sábado, para dar el 100% como siempre. Quiero agradecer a la dentista Nana Salzfeld y su equipo por tratarme en Tokio para estar bien lo antes posible. Y a la ITU por su ayuda!
British hopes will also fall on Tom Bishop who raced a fantastic race in Abu Dhabi to finish second behind Gomez. Can he make the podium again?
Gordon Benson and five-time Yokohama top ten finisher, Adam Bowden make up the four GB men racing.
In the women’s series New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt has been the in-form athlete so far with two Series wins from two starts (Abu Dhabi and Gold Coast), however for the first time this year she has to race ITU Word Champion, Flora Duffy, who starts her 2017 campaign here.
Also hoping for a podium finish will be GB triathletes Non Stanford, who comes here after winning the Chengdu ITU World Cup last weekend, and Olympic bronze medal winner Vicky Holland.
Stanford said: “I’m feeling fairly relaxed and happy following the win in Chengdu last weekend. I’m looking forward to doing my first full distance race of the season and seeing where I am.”
Making up the British female team of five are Jess Learmonth, Lucy Hall and Sophie Coldwell, who have all scored World or European Cup wins this season. Expect them to attack the swim and bike courses in their usual style.
The course is flat, but the forecast rain and technical bike leg with lots of tight corners should suit all of the British athletes.
Britain’s paratriathletes, including Rio gold medal winner, Andy Lewis, start their international seasons in Yokohama as well this weekend.
How to watch
There will be live BBC Red Button coverage of the men and women’s elite races on Saturday and highlights on Sunday:
Women’s race: Live 2am, repeated 10:12am
Men’s race: Live 5am, repeated 12:15pm
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Highlights: 1pm BBC2 (including interviews with Andy Lewis and Jonathan Brownlee)
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For those that don’t have the BBC head to Triathlon Live (you need to purchase a pass)
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The line up for WTS Yokohama includes Olympic medallist Jonathan Brownlee. This will be Jonny’s first race of the 2017 season after having to pull out of the earlier races in Abu Dhabi and the Gold Coast.
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Jonny said: “It’s good to be back in Japan, and it’s good to be back racing. I’ve been feeling strong in training, so I hope everything comes together for a good result on Saturday.”
Trying to stop Jonny topping the podium will be current and former ITU World Champions, Mario Mola and Javier Gomez of Spain, however Gomez has been suffering from toothache and an infected root canal we will have to wait and see if this has affected him.
A painful toothache, that turned out to be an infected root canal has knocked me around this week with fever and put me on antibiotics. But thanks to the help of dentist Nana Salzfeld and her team I’ll try to be on the start line ready to give my best on Saturday in Yokohama. Also thanks to the ITU for the help! / He tenido una semana complicada con una infección en una muela que me ha dado, además de dolor, fiebre y me ha obligado a tratarme con antibióticos. Parece que voy mejor así que haré todo lo posible por estar en la salida de la WTS de Yokohama este sábado, para dar el 100% como siempre. Quiero agradecer a la dentista Nana Salzfeld y su equipo por tratarme en Tokio para estar bien lo antes posible. Y a la ITU por su ayuda!
British hopes will also fall on Tom Bishop who raced a fantastic race in Abu Dhabi to finish second behind Gomez. Can he make the podium again?
Gordon Benson and five-time Yokohama top ten finisher, Adam Bowden make up the four GB men racing.
In the women’s series New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt has been the in-form athlete so far with two Series wins from two starts (Abu Dhabi and Gold Coast), however for the first time this year she has to race ITU Word Champion, Flora Duffy, who starts her 2017 campaign here.
Also hoping for a podium finish will be GB triathletes Non Stanford, who comes here after winning the Chengdu ITU World Cup last weekend, and Olympic bronze medal winner Vicky Holland.
Stanford said: “I’m feeling fairly relaxed and happy following the win in Chengdu last weekend. I’m looking forward to doing my first full distance race of the season and seeing where I am.”
Making up the British female team of five are Jess Learmonth, Lucy Hall and Sophie Coldwell, who have all scored World or European Cup wins this season. Expect them to attack the swim and bike courses in their usual style.
The course is flat, but the forecast rain and technical bike leg with lots of tight corners should suit all of the British athletes.
Britain’s paratriathletes, including Rio gold medal winner, Andy Lewis, start their international seasons in Yokohama as well this weekend.
Click Here: liverpool mens jersey
How to watch
There will be live BBC Red Button coverage of the men and women’s elite races on Saturday and highlights on Sunday:
Women’s race: Live 2am, repeated 10:12am
Men’s race: Live 5am, repeated 12:15pm
Highlights: 1pm BBC2 (including interviews with Andy Lewis and Jonathan Brownlee)
Advertisement
For those that don’t have the BBC head to Triathlon Live (you need to purchase a pass)
it was a top-class line-up at the third race of the World Triathlon Series, WTS Yokohama, which included reigning world champion Mario Mola (ESP), double Olympic medallist Jonny Brownlee, five-time ITU world champ Javier Gomez (ESP) and Rio bronze medallist Henri Schoeman (RSA).
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Conditions in Yokohama, Japan, were wet and rainy, making it a slippy and unpredictable race. In the swim leg the men kept as a pack with Jonathan Brownlee leading after lap one and exiting the waters first.
However they still remained together and after a busy T1, 30 men emerged onto the bike leg, including some of the day’s biggest names Javier Gomez Noya, Mola and Brownlee.
The chase pack behind, which was being led by Aussie Jake Birtwhistle, had a large gap of over two minutes that they could not make up.
As the lead bike pack got close to the T2, it seemed that it would be Brownlee against the Spaniards on the run course, however, Brownlee got caught in a bike crash 1km from T2, which took him out of the running for the podium.
But with true Yorkshire grit running through his veins giving up was never going to be an option, and he picked up his bike and ran it in to T2 to be able to finish the race, where he ended up 42nd.
Brownlee said: “My first reaction was to get back on the bike, get back riding, but then I got to my bike and the handle bars were pointing wrong direct and I couldn’t move it. I still want to run, I’ve not come all the way to Japan not to finish.”
The bike is not supposed to look like that. Taken down by another athlete. Not had a lot of luck this year. Really disappointed pic.twitter.com/JjMD3NigKu
— Jonathan Brownlee (@jonny_brownlee) May 13, 2017
Out on the run leg South Africa’s Henri Schoeman, Hungary’s Gabor Faldum and Blummenfelt were the immediate frontrunners, but on the first lap, Mola picked up his pace and swiftly overtook them to take the lead, where he remained for the rest of the race.
Behind him, however was a battle going on for the remaining two medals between Schoeman, Alarza and Blummenfelt. The three took turns passing each other and eventually Alarza pulled ahead to take the silver and first podium of the year.
While it then looked like Schoeman would take bronze after Blummenfelt held a face of struggle, he then surprised even himself and sprinted ahead of Schoeman with just enough time to snag the last podium spot.
“I am very happy obviously, it has been a very good day for me. On the bike we had to be careful. We saw at the end I think it was Jonny who had a crash with so many others. But with this day you never know what is going to happen, today luckily it worked for well for me so I am very pleased with it,” said Mola.
“I have said this before with triathlon it doesn’t matter how fit or how good you think you are, races put you in a place where sometimes you are happy and sometimes you are disappointed. But I was confident that I made the work during the winter, I kept doing the same work and when the result comes around you have to be pleased, so I will just keep trying to work to do the same things in the future.”
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After suffering tooth ache and a root canal infection earlier in the week Javier Gomez finished 9th tweeting “9 today in Yokohama, gave everything it had, that certainly wasn’t much. Congratulations to the @mariomola cracks and @Fernando_Alarza! Great race!”