World Championship

Today was a great day!

Know why?

Because it was your birthday!!!!

Just joking. If it is, awesome! If not, okay then.

Today was the 2010 Ironman world championship viewing. The event happened on October 13th earlier this year. It was greater than the ironwar when McCormack and the other guy made the closest race ever!

Craig Alexander didn't get his three-peat which was disappointing. He's like the Zenyatta of the Ironman distance. They both get that start where the other racers are a great distance ahead of them, catch up, pass and then win it! Not this year. Alexander was at a different pace and finished either fourth or eleventh. I forget which one. He ran a great race none the less. Amazing athlete.

I missed one of my favorite triathletes, Normann Stadler. It didn't show him much. He's a beast on the bike and holds the record at the ironman distance. The bike portion is 112 miles which he finished in four hours in 2006. The Hawaii winds are a great stress for the bike portion and he overcame that situation. Fastest rider for that distance and he deserves it.

Again today, Chris Lieto lead on the bike portion. These past few years Stadler's and Lieto's strategy was to set a fast pace on the bike to get a nice space in the running portion. Last year, Alexander caught up to Lieto in the last six miles of the race and took the crown. I think Lieto finished fourth or eleventh this year. I forget.

Chris McCormack was the star for this year. He is one of the greatest triathletes out there. Having the greatest number of triathlon wins ever and this is his second time winning the world championship. He also had the strategy of "win it on the bike portion." It was a close race and the closest ever in IM world championship history! In the last mile he was head to head with some other athlete whose name I forget. I feel so terrible not remembering. (I just remembered, his name is Andreas Raelert) In the last mile, Chris McCormack boosted up to grab the win with only one minute and twenty seconds to the runner up. AMAZING RACE!!!!

For the women, the gorgeous three time IM world champion Chrissi Wellington did not make it. She came down with an illness and was a no-show. Belinda Grenger had gotten high hopes and said that sixteen women are now in competition against each other. Chrissi Wellington was a three time champion and had not lost once at the ironman distance. She won in her first try at the ironman distance as well.

This gave the title to the beautiful Mirinda Carfrae who is the new womens IM world champion. She deserves it! I knew she would win this year or at least give Wellington some competition. Carfrae broke the IM marathon record with a shorter time of two hours and fifty seven minutes last year. Last year was her first IM world championship also and in her second year, she won it!