Half Ironman UK

Zondag volgt voor mij de volgende test: Half Ironman UK. Ik zal er alleszins in een heel sterk deelnemersveld starten (zie hieronder). Ik ben alvast benieuwd en heb er ongelooflijk veel zin in.

Artikel hieronder is van IronmanLive. Wegens geen internet ginder zal er op Ironmanlive jammer genoeg geen live tracking zijn, maar ik breng jullie achteraf wel op de hoogte.

Zondag start de Peet trouwens in Eindhoven. Ook een goede test voor Zürich!!

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Ironman 70.3 UK Preview
Henry Budgett reports that Chris McCormack will highlight the field in Wimbleball this weekend
Published Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The UK is no stranger to running its Ironman 70.3 distance event over some pretty tough terrain. Before the Ironman 70.3 series began the first two races were held in North Wales in the shadow of Snowdon, one of the country's three highest peaks.The race moved from the tough terrain in Wales to the still-challenging hills around Sherborne for three years until that race went to full-distance. The Ironman 70.3 distance race was held at Longleat House for one year before moving to its new home in the Exmoor National Park at Wimbleball Lake.

The course starts with an uphill run from the lake to transition and then sticks in a brutally tough two-lap bike with no less than 52 hills of varying sizes in the 56-mile ride. And the run isn't exactly flat either!

Despite the toughness of the conditions, the race has attracted a pretty stellar field in 2008. Topping the bill in every sense and looking to repeat his win here in 2006, is current Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack. Macca is also doing some work behind the scenes with the organizers and will be paying a visit to the triathlon squad at nearby Kelly College, where he will work with them in training sessions and show them that you really can make a living in this sport. Who knows, perhaps a future Ironman generation will be taking inspiration.

For this year, however, the cream of the UK's current Ironman athletes will be on hand to see if they can beat the best in the world. Fraser Cartmell, last year's winner, will be there together with fellow Scot Scott Neyedli, who won last year's Ironman UK. The man he beat there, Stephen Bayliss, will be looking to pick up where he left off in South Africa - a race he won and which finally broke his run of lower podium places. Bayliss missed out on Ironman Lanzarote last month through injury and should be fresh and ready for the challenge.The home-grown talent won't have it all their own way; Bryan Rhodes is on the start list and has been a regular visitor to these shores with his best result a win at the inaugural Ironman UK in 2005. Also looking for a piece of the action will be Luke Bell, who has a formidable 11 wins to his credit at the 70.3 distance.

The women's field isn't half bad either with 2007 Ironman UK champion Bella Comerford looking to continue her great season of wins at both Ironman South Africa and Lanzarote with another here over the shorter distance. She'll be up against a strong challenge from Julie Dibens, who won here in 2007 despite a broken set of tribars and a kamikaze rabbit. Dibens is coming into the race off a win at Ironman 70.3 Switzerland two weeks ago. Two other athletes who are looking to make their mark at the distance are Michelle Lee, best known for her exploits at Powerman, and Michelle Parsons.Since there is no cell phone or Internet coverage available, we won't be able to bring you live coverage from the event, but we'll have a report on the winners as soon as possible on Sunday.