<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Laguna Phuket Triathlon - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest laguna phuket triathlon articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[Laguna Phuket: Emma Ruth Smith]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_7853.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Sunday saw the 17th running of the &#039;Race of Legends&#039;, the annual Laguna Phuket Triathlon in Thailand. The 1.8km swim, 55km bike and 12km run is one of those races which features on plenty of triathlete &#039;to do&#039; lists, as the stunning Thailand location attracts competitors to an end of season paradise. The role of honour features some of the greatest names in the sport over the past two decades. 
This year British Pro and XTERRA specialist Emma Ruth Smith (www.emmaruthsmith.com) took second place in this iconic event, taking some notable scalps in the process. Here is her report...

This time it wasn&#039;t  in scorching temperatures but in pouring rain. This made for unusually  treacherous and rather slippery conditions on the bike. I can&#039;t say I really  noticed it after having been training in Krabi, Thailand for the last month  where it&#039;s consistently been raining, no pouring, every afternoon. It is  supposed to be the end of the monsoon rainy season but clearly I brought the  good old English rain with me.
I was in the first  wave alongside the other pros and fastest age-group men. We started from the  beach tops and sprinted into the Andaman Sea. We swam one loop in the Sea,  being stung by all sorts of ocean creatures, before exiting the water to make a  100m dash up and over the beach to plunge into the bath-like waters of the  Laguna. 
I was still a bit stuffed from the week&#039;s hard training in the lead up so the  race this for me was a suffer fest from the gun. The non-wetsuit swim also  didn&#039;t help. Not one to be deterred I came out onto the bike. It began with  some tasty sharp climbs and descents and once those were done, it was a flat  time trial course. I kept pushing and pushing and found myself finishing the  bike right next to Samantha McGlone and Martina Dogana. We all exited T2  together and someone shouted &amp;ldquo;the race is on for 2nd!&amp;rdquo; Brilliant I  thought, let&#039;s keep that hammer down then!
The run was a flat two laps around the sodden grassy greens of the golf course. I  went out hard next to the other girls having no idea whether I&#039;d be able to  hold that pace. But my recent training stint proved its worth and whilst the  others dropped off, I was pleased to hold pace right til the end to finish  behind 8x finisher and 2x LPT winner Belinda Grainger aka &amp;lsquo;BG&#039; and four minutes  ahead of Sam McGlone.
What a fun event  and crazy awards ceremony. You could even say the drink and crazy dancing got  close to the Xterra parties I&#039;ve been to, and, that was BEFORE the awards had  been dished out! These guys really know how to party. Looking forward to next  weekend which is the &amp;lsquo;biggie&#039; for us all &amp;ndash; the Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific  Championship.

  
    Pos
    Men
    Women
  
  
    1st
    Massimo Cigana (ITA) 2:35:26 
    Belinda Granger (AUS) 2:55:08 
  
  
    2nd
    Fredrik Croneborg (SWE) 2:44:45 
    Emma Ruth Smith (GBR) 3:00:15 
  
  
    3rd
    Clinton Mackevicius (AUS) 2:44:57 
    Samantha McGlone (CAN) 3:03:56 
  



]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[A tough day at the office: Laguna Phuket]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_6343.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[One again Stuart Lumb - aka Jet Set Super Vet - has been living up to his name, and ended his 2009 season by swapping the cold of Yorkshire for the heat and paradise of Thailand for the Laguna Phuket Triathlon.

Standing on the steps with the snow swirling round,  waiting  to board my much delayed flight from Paris to Leeds, the hot sun and blue skies  of Thailand seemed a very distant memory   &amp;ndash; in fact it was only three weeks ago that I&#039;d been slogging round as a  competitor in &amp;ldquo;The Race of Legends&amp;rdquo;. 
I&#039;d fancied having a bash for a while and  registered back in the summer hoping my fitness would be ok in December. It&#039;s  hard work keeping the training going through the autumn plus cold, short days  don&#039;t help. Open water training is not an option - for me anyway - but my gym has  a 20m  pool so I was ok there. Another hazard I have to contend with travelling so much  is plane &amp;lsquo;flu . I picked up a head cold in  November during a Malaysia  trip but fortunately it didn&#039;t last long. Curtailed my swim training though. I  thought my long &amp;ndash; suffering heel would be bothering me but I pulled a hamstring  as a result of an over zealous fartlek session so my &amp;ldquo;running&amp;rdquo; got restricted yet  again. 
Anyway, in late November  out came  the bike box and I set to and stripped down my bike. They say mishaps go in  threes&amp;hellip;.I always undo my hanger to stop it getting bent  even though I have a very solid glass fibre  box. BTW  &amp;ndash; DON&#039;T do this with your bike  on its saddle as tiny bolts can disappear down down tubes very easily!! Fortunately my long suffering race manager Mrs JSSV was in Hull that very afternoon and  stopped off at Cliff Pratt Cycles  who very kindly robbed a brand new Giant to  find me those all important bolts. Ian, who owns the business also gave me a  slug of TORQ gels and Nuun re-hydration tablets  bless his cotton socks. Mishap no. 2 - after  my wife got home I suddenly noticed I had only one spare inner tube. I always  carry two so I said to her let&#039;s hope there&#039;s a bike shop near our Thai hotel.  Another note: Have a pre-race check list and USE it! Mishap no. 3 was  actually a tragic accident. We took  the  train from East Yorkshire to King&#039;s Cross en-route to Heathrow and always allow a good few hours safety margin. Just  outside Peterborough the train ground to a halt and after about 10 minutes were  told that some poor soul had committed suicide, jumping into the path of an on-coming train... Naturally the whole main East Line was at a standstill. Time  was ebbing away and we finally got to King&#039;s Cross two hours late. 
We fought  our way out through the crowds to the taxi rank and clambered aboard a black  cab  with another Bangkok-bound traveller. The normal 45 minute  trip   actually took nearer 90 minutes  but the cab did at least take us right into the Terminal forecourt. I hate to  think what my heart rate got to - much higher than in  my toughest race! My box has wheels so we  &amp;ldquo;rocketed&amp;rdquo; into the check-in area &amp;ndash; with five minutes to spare. Ironically the  flight left half an hour late, but at least we were on it!
We were flying with Thai Airways, who  gave competitors an extra 10kg luggage allowance FOC.  Our hotel was one of several which comprise  the Laguna Phuket resort complex, some 30 minutes  drive from Phuket airport. Once settled in  the hotel staff kindly found me a local bike shop and I purchased a couple of  inner tubes, ironically made in Italy.  The organisers arrange two bike recces with police escorts and I went round  with a bunch of friendly Swiss athletes, who had left home in the snow. There  were a couple of stiff climbs and as I hit the first one I rued not bringing my  Kinesis Motobecane which has a granny ring. My Giant Composite 1 is lighter  though so a case of swings and roundabouts. 
At registration there was the usual  scrum   to see who everyone was racing  against. I saw that a certain John Clarke of Sheffield Tri was in my age group -  delighted to meet him again but saddened as he can give me 30minutes any day,  despite the fact that  he&#039;s four if not five  years older than me.  For some strange reason  the organisers lump all the 65 and older men together and all the 50 plus women. It seems penny pinching to  me if it&#039;s just done to save giving out a few extra trophies. There was a 75  year old Aussie finisher and he merited an award and a moment of fame on the  podium,  for sure. I appreciate there  were only a handful of  athletes in those   age groups, but my view is that if you  can still race at that age it merits recognition &amp;ndash; I wonder how many of the  organising committee actually race and how many of them will be racing in their  70s?    It was even worse for the women  as Edwina Brocklesby was racing against  women 10 years younger than herself. Anyway, in Dec 2010 there will be an  Ironman 70.3 event and they at least will keep to the 5 year grouping  regardless of age.
The race started at 7am, so it was relatively cool.  The swim was in two parts, a sea swim of 1.2km followed by a 100m dash and a 600m lagoon swim to T1. I had opted to wear my  tinted mask and thought I had it wrong &amp;ndash; yet again &amp;ndash; as it was overcast at the  start. However, the final sea leg faced due east and I was practically  blinded by the rising run so my decision was  vindicated. We had been warned to watch out for jellyfish and I saw  quite a big one below me as I swam along,  but fortunately I didn&#039;t get stung. The organisers, with their TV coverage in  mind, don&#039;t allow a buoyancy second skin as they like to see competitors race  in their colourful trisuits. I opted for my now illegal GB two piece outfit,  the one that has the  GB FLAG on it&amp;hellip; The  sea swim went ok buoyancy-wise, but the lagoon swim was tough as it was fresh  water and seemed to go on forever. 
Then it was out on the single lap 55km bike split  with   most of it  being  on closed roads. Many of the competitors were  racing in black outfits. What some guys do for fashion &amp;ndash; apart from soaking up  the heat black is terrible for visibility and the sooner the fashion  aficionados decide a brighter colour is more &amp;ldquo;de rigueur&amp;rdquo; the better, in my  book. The spectator support was fantastic with many of the local school  children lining the more rural stretches of highway and waving frantically &amp;ndash; a  big help in that heat.  I chickened out  and pushed my bike up the steepest climbs but given it was around 30&amp;deg;C I  reckoned discretion the better part of valour and looked to conserve a bit of  energy. Most of the bike split is on closed roads but at one stage we raced  down the wrong side of a dual carriageway &amp;ndash; in the fast lane &amp;ndash; with cars,  trucks and buses coming head on at us, which was pretty hairy as the vehicles  were in no hurry to pull over to the side. At least we could see each other  though&amp;hellip;
The run was 2 x 6km and flat. The circuit wound round the  resort and in fact I ran past my hotel on several occasions. Aid stations were  plentiful with loads of very welcome sponges and ice water which I gratefully  made use of. My run felt to be going quite well, that was  until I came into T2 to start my second lap  when I saw John Clarke finishing!! Anyway, I plodded on and duly finished, in  just over five hours, gleefully  clutching my  cherished medal, another  to add to my growing collection!

The race was very well organised and even  quite enjoyable, dare I say, apart from the &amp;ldquo;close encounter&amp;rdquo; on the dual  carriageway. The awards ceremony and banquet went well, my previous comments  not withstanding. Edwina Brocklesby and  John Clarke both merited an award not to  mention our Ozzie friend. Hopefully this will be rectified for next year. Many  of the podium finishers  were British  nationals, but I suspect quite a few are ex-pats based in Asia. Roughly a quarter of the entrants were from   Hong  Kong, where two clubs are fierce rivals.
I was quite surprised that my run ranking was better than my  swim, but put that down to not having my neoprene crutch to swim in. There were  706 finishers with 24 DNFs and I was pleased to see my bike split ranking was  660th.
Well, I&#039;m now  having a  little Christmas / New Year training break but will be back in the gym before long. Got quite a few races lined up for 2010, so I just hope my body holds  together . 
So, to all you  anoraks who have nothing better to do than  read  my Grimm&#039;s Fairy Tales - thanks a  lot -  and may I wish you one and all,  a healthy, injury &amp;ndash;free, enjoyable and  successful   season&#039;s racing in 2010!
Jet Set Super Vet ]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Eddie Brocklesby reports from Phuket]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_6284.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Eddie Brocklesby is quite a remarkable lady indeed! She trains harder, works harder, and plays harder than most athletes half her age, and always with a smile on her face and a great sense of humour. This year amongst many races she raced Ironman Lanzarote, quite incredible when you consider the fact that last year she was dealing with a burst appendix, and a knee injury that put doubts on her ever running a marathon again. And talking of marathons, her PB is 3:45, not bad for a woman in her 60s!

Enjoying a sabbatical from work (well sort of, she&#039;s still frantically busy with two2go) Eddie decided to head-off to warmer climates for her final couple of races of the year and sent us this report from the Laguna Phuket Triathlon. It&#039;s now on to Canberra in Oz for a quick half-Ironman this weekend before Eddie puts her feet up in Vietnam. Well actually, not quite, she&#039;ll spend two weeks on her bike travelling around the country. I did say this was one quite remarkable lady...



Even the journey to the start of Laguna Phuket was fun. After a leisurely set up in transition, at dawn on an already balmy warm day, we travelled by ferry across the lagoon to the 7am mass beach swim start. The gun went and it was 550m straight out to sea, then 150m across, and then 550m back, which I spent desperately trying to sight the gantry as the sun rose over the beach. But it&rsquo;s not all over yet; you then have to run 100m up over the beach, only to plunge back into the lagoon. My legs were sinking as they adjusted to the fresh water and the thought of the final 600m lagoon swim, but then before I knew I was running up the ramp into transition. 

The 55k bike course was challenging with some very steep hills during the first 15k. Many of the multi-national competitors were on bikes not set up for the gradient, so they were gracefully stepping or falling off bikes, or even worse, zig-zagging right across the traffic free road &ndash; some enviously watching me climbing steadily with my granny gear - maybe there&rsquo;s a need for a new rule to `stay left` if you are walking with a bike!

The copious number of marshals was great, but it was the support of the whole community that made the event so very, very  special &ndash; children cheering everywhere, and Thai family groups supporting enthusiastically, even the backmarkers. The police and volunteers were similarly encouraging. It&rsquo;s a fabulous single-lap bike course through some great terrain, even the 4k up and down the traffic free dual carriageway had its attractions &ndash; I had a smile on my face the whole way round &ndash; so maybe a good bike split wasn&rsquo;t my main goal, sorry coach!

The 12k run through the wooded areas of the golf course offered some shelter from the ever increasing heat &ndash; ok, so a faster swim and bike would have led to a cooler less challenging run? But the drink stations and iced sponges were plentiful, charming volunteers seemingly unused to an elderly female competitor anxiously poured iced water all over me. But the shade of some tropical rainforests woods offered respite and even the baby elephant watched and nodded approval!

Overall I thought the triathlon was a superbly organised race and the 2-day event offered something for everyone, from the relay teams, to the fun run and the `splash and dash` the previous day for age-group kids. The energy of the commentator Whit Raymond was impressive over the seven hours before the last weary competitor came in. And still he continued, on into the early hours, through the banquet, awards presentation and disco. He made the day for many individuals, who commented that he was as enthusiastic in welcoming the older or slower competitors as the winning guy, the Olympic gold medallist, Jan Frodeno.
 
With current increased airline costs of bike transport, I rented a great bike from Siam Bikes in Kata Beach. If I had one, perhaps age related comment, it would be a request for taller, more high-vis buoys and gantries for the swim, but that is a minor criticism on one fantastic event that I will definitely be repeating.

2010 too will see the race a week earlier, followed by an Ironman 70.3 the following week. They are planning some relaxing events too for the intervening week. Booking early is recommended for the cheaper Laguna Phuket accommodation and I found out too late that as one of the main sponsors, Thai airways were doing some good deals! Oh well just means I&#039;ll have to make the most of it next year!]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Olympic Gold Medallist confirmed to race at Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2009]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_6025.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Laguna Phuket Triathlon organisers are excited to announce that German triathlete Jan Frodeno, who won his country&amp;rsquo;s first triathlon gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, will be competing in this year&amp;rsquo;s &amp;ldquo;Race of Legends&amp;rdquo; in Phuket on 6 December.
In Beijing Frodeno edged out the pre race favourites in an exciting sprint finish to win a surprise gold medal. Frodeno has also recently struck a gold win in the ITU World Championship Series in Yokohama.
Making his debut in Phuket, Frodeno&amp;rsquo;s presence will certainly add to the excitement as he battles it out with Australian defending champion Richie Cunningham and 2007 Laguna Phuket Triathlon champion, Massimo Cigana from Italy.
Laguna&amp;rsquo;s reigning women&amp;rsquo;s champion Belinda Granger of Australia will defend her crown following her maiden victory last year. Just three months after surgery on her Iliac artery, Granger returned to competition in style claiming victory in the Honolulu Ironman 70.3, and pushing 2006 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Samantha McGlone into second place. Granger&amp;rsquo;s dynamism and winning spirit has also awarded her a recent second place in the Subaru Ironman Canada.
Now in its sixteenth year, the Laguna Phuket Triathlon is supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Thai Airways International. Renowned as the &amp;ldquo;Race of Legends&amp;rdquo;, the Laguna Phuket Triathlon boasts possibly more world champions racing in past fields than any other race in the world short of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii.
Apart from a tremendously exciting pro race, race organisers also anticipate the largest field ever at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2009. For the fifth consecutive year entries to the individual race have completely sold out with 950 individual athletes registered. In addition, 50 teams will be taking part in the team relay and there are still places left to enter the 6k Fun Run.
For further information on the Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2009 please visit www.lagunaphukettriathlon.com.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Laguna Phuket 2008 video interviews]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_5692.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Check out these video interviews with Richie Cunningham and Belinda Granger, winners of the 2008 Laguna Phuket Triathlon (www.lagunaphukettriathlon.com). The 2009 race takes place on Sunday 6th December 2009, and you can find out more about the race in our dedicated section on the site. 
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[www.lagunaphukettriathlon.com]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_4346.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[They call it the &#039;Race of Legends&#039;, and they are not far wrong! During it&#039;s 14 year history, the Laguna Phuket Triathlon has seen over 50 World Champions from every discipline (Ironman, Olympics, Ironman 70.3, Duathlon and XTERRA ) take part in the event. Past winners have included, to name just a few: Simon Lessing, Paula Newby-Fraser, Greg Welch, Carol Montgomery, Craig Alexander and Liz Blatchford.

The fact that the race falls at the end of the triathlon season doesn&#039;t seem to effect the number of competitors taking part (the beautiful weather and location may help a little), as this year the race organisers anticipate one of the largest fields ever following a complete race sell-out. The Laguna Phuket triathlon is also featured in our Iconic Races series. 

This year in keeping with the norm, the race, which takes place on December 6th, will once again boast a star-studded line-up, including last year&#039;s defending champions from Australia, Belinda Granger and Richie Cunningham, going up against Olympic gold medalist Jan Frodeno from Germany and Italian Massimo Cigana the LPT07 champion.

To read about the Laguna Phuket Triathlon&#039;s 15 year history, see plenty of great race pictures and find out more about this great race, go to: www.lagunaphukettriathlon.com
Fancy racing? The 2009 event is sold out, BUT, you can still get guaranteed entries and travel packages through Sports Tours, our official travel partner. For more details, check out their packages HERE. 



]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Iconic Race: Laguna Phuket Triathlon]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3882.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[





Laguna Phuket Triathlon 



  



  
Location: 




  Laguna  Beach Resort, Laguna Phuket, Thailand. 



  
Distance: 




  Swim 1.8km, Bike 55km, Run 12km



  
Date: 




  6th Dec 2009



  
Background: 




  Has been running since 1994 and is considered Southeast Asia&#039;s premier triathlon.



  
About/Details: 




The site of this stunning resort complex was  was once an abandoned tin mine and has been transformed by a US$200 million investment. The resort has won awards for  environmental conservation. The upscale Laguna Phuket Resort occupies 600 acres of tropical beachfront parkland on the northwest coast of Phuket island in southern Thailand.



  
Course: 




Swim
The swim course comprises two bodies of water. Starting on the beach between the Dusit Laguna Resort and Laguna Beach Resort near the LBR Marine Centre, competitors swim 1,180 metres in the sea before sprinting 100 metres across the beach to swim the last 620 metres in a lagoon finishing at the Laguna Beach Resort Y-junction. Wetsuits are not allowed.
Bike
 The bike course takes competitors out of Laguna Phuket onto narrow, winding roads. The course will be the same as in 2008, with some steep hilly sections on the road to Naithon Beach north of Laguna Phuket. Drafting is illegal. Suggested equipment includes a minimum of two water bottle cages. Athletes should consider a 24-28 tooth rear cassettes to ease the difficulty of hill climbs. Some of the road surfaces may be rough and athletes should use durable tires. The bike course will have 2 aid stations.
Run
The run course will be similar to the 2008 course. It is flat and leads runners north through the Laguna Phuket resort complex and onto the award-winning Laguna Phuket Golf Course, before looping back past the Wedding Chapel through Canal Shopping Village and finishing at the Laguna Beach Resort Y-junction. The course will have three aid stations approximately 2km apart that runners pass twice.



  
Travel/Country info: 




  Flight times from: Bangkok (1.5 hour), Singapore (1.5 hours) and Hong Kong (3.5 hours).
    London to Bangkok  (14 hours)
    862 km from Bangkok
    Tropical climate 30&amp;deg;C, extremely high humidity
    Currency: Baht (1.00 GBP is equal to 62.66  THB)



  
Interesting stats: 




Champions include: Mike Pigg, Paula  Newby-Fraser, Mark Allen, Simon Lessing, Greg Welch, Michellie Jones, Craig  Alexander, Carol Montgomery and Samantha McGlone.



  
Triathlon shops nearby: 




  &amp;nbsp;



  
Restaurants/Caf&eacute;s:




  &amp;nbsp;



  
Things you must do:




  &amp;nbsp;



  
More info:




  www.lagunaphukettriathlon.com



  
Tri247 tips and comments:




  &amp;nbsp;



  
Tri247 related articles:




  Video interview with 2008 winners Richie Cunningham and Belinda Granger, Tri247 website of the week, Stuart Hayes finishes second (2003), Blatchford wins (2007). 




]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[A brighter end to the year for the girls]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2695.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[In 2007 we&rsquo;ve seen some phenomenal results from our non standard-distance female athletes &ndash; Chrissie Wellington, Leanda Cave, Julie Dibens and Catriona Morrison - but unfortunately it hasn&rsquo;t been the best year for the GB women&rsquo;s standard-distance squad, apart from Michelle Dillon&rsquo;s early season successes. Injuries have played havoc with what is normally a strong force on the World Cup circuit but thankfully though it looks like we&rsquo;ve turned a corner and things are looking up for the team. Helen Tucker is back running and starting to look stronger every day. Jodie Swallow has finished the season with two fourth places in the last two World Cup races and Andrea Whitcombe had a great second place finish in the penultimate World Cup race in Rhodes. This weekend there was more good news to round out the season; Liz Blatchford, the Salford World Cup winner in 2005, made a fantastic comeback by winning the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in Thailand. Tri247 received this report from Liz&rsquo;s training camp.

Liz Blatchford made a stunning return to racing after a horrific accident in a criterium bike race left her with two fractures in her spine and six months convalescing. The injury left her wondering if fate had dealt her Olympic dream a killer blow. Stepping out for her first race on a bike since her accident, it was felt that a less pressurized event rather than a full blown World Cup would be the best way to ease her back into racing.

Liz returned to her squad&rsquo;s training camp following her rehabilitation period in Australia and proved in her first session that her swim fitness was as good as ever. Whilst not being able to ride or run, Lizzy had worked hard to improve her swim and she was actually swimming better than ever, and her bike was also much stronger than anticipated. During her comeback training camp, prior to the Laguna Phuket triathlon, to prevent jeopardizing her progress she just kept to steady, easy running. Orders from her coach, Brett Sutton, were no speed work, everything just at her own pace. 

The ingenious instructions for the race from her coach were, &quot;Liz, just enjoy yourself, swim as hard as you can, get a gap and be overly careful please on the downhill&#039;s and then jog the run. Just try to get the 12km in your legs with no dramas, remember the run course is on dirt, grass, cobbles don&rsquo;t be tempted, just trot and see where you&rsquo;re up to.&quot;

The race went according to plan and better! Liz blasted the swim, got a gap, blasted the hills, descended like a demon &ndash; not quite the coach&#039;s instructions &ndash; and then just kept on going. Liz said, &quot;On the run I felt so strong, so I just kept going,&quot; and go she did!

Brett Sutton commented, &quot;She&#039;s had some success over the longer non-drafting distance races before, but she managed to hold off the other girls who were doing their best to chase her down and we&#039;re not talking about just anyone. In the chasing pack there was Chrissie Wellington, the World Ironman Champion 2007; Miranda Carfrae, World 70.3 Champion 2007; and Belinda Granger who finished 8th in Hawaii this year.&quot;

So, with so many of our top female Olympic distance triathletes coming back to form, it looks like selection process for the Beijing 2008 Olympics is going to be much more exciting after all!]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[So that's where Stuart went...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_638.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[We commented earlier that Stuart Hayes didn&#039;t seem to be in the
elite lineup at the Worlds and part of the reson seems to be that
he chose to race at the Laguna Phuket triathlon and placed second.
Lots of other GB athletes there as well, Julian Jenkinson came in
8th. If memory serves, and we can&#039;t seem to find the definitive
answer on the web, this may be the only open water swim where you
can do a tumble turn against the temple wall at the half way
point... [Update: no, it isn&#039;t! Thanks to John Brewer for putting
us straight, can anyone remember which one we were talking
about?]]]></description></item></channel></rss>
