Laurie Orchard and Neil de ste Croix will be joining Flora Duffy in Maui as they compete in the XTerra Age Group World Championships.

I just bumped into Laurie at Miami Airport on her way to Hawaii and she looked relaxed and confident.

Here is Laurie’s prerace report :

I’m off to Hawaii! Ready for my first off-road triathlon world championship race, which is next Sunday November 1 in Maui. The race is a 1,500m ocean swim (2 laps, and we’ll have to exit the water and run to a marker on the beach in between laps), 32 km mountain bike and 10.5 km cross country run with some natural obstacles. I’m fit and race ready, and I hope to represent Bermuda well once again.

If you want to track me on November 1, go to this link for live results throughout the race (unofficial), starting @3:30 pm AST:

https://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-17237

The pro race starts at 9:00 am, the men at 9:05 am and the women at 9:10 am (3:10 pm AST). There will also be a live finish camera from 4:15 pm AST (but you won’t see me until around 7 pm AST) on　http://www.xterramaui.com. 　Neil de set Croix will cross the line before me and should place well in the men’s 50-54 age group, and hopefully Bermuda’s own Flora Duffy will have a repeat of last year and finish first in the women’s pro-division. Go team Bermuda!

Laurie

Flora Duffy defends her XTerra World Championship title this Sunday 1st December in Maui, Hawaii.

Flora has been virtually unbeatable in off road triathlon for three years and has already taken the 2015 International Triathlon Union Cross Triathlon Championships in Italy on September 26th 2015 where she beat perennial rival Barbara Riveros by almost 4 minutes.

Last year Flora dominated the field in Maui but she will likely face a stiffer challenge this year from

Scotland’s Lesley Paterson. Paterson, a world class mountain biker and strong runner, was the 2011 and 2012 XTerra World Champion and was 2nd in 2013 before a bout of Lymes Disease sidelined her for most of 2014. However, she has come back with a vengeance in 2015 having convincingly won both the US West and SouthEast XTerra Championships and the Costa Rica XTerra event, races Flora either chose to miss or missed because of injury. At the West Championships she was just 10 minutes behind male winner, the talented Brandon Rakita.

Chile’s Barbara Riveros. Riveros was 2nd last year to Flora by quite a margin but on her day can certainly challenge Flora for overall honours.

Others to watch are Emma Garrard of the USA and European XTerra champion, Renata Bucher.

This link will take you to a video of last year’s XTerra World Championships :

To follow Flora go to :

http://www.xterraplanet.com/maui/index.html

Martina Olchesky-Bell did not let a cancelled swim, shortened bike course due to landslides, rain and wind that made for a sketchy bike course and torrid heat on the run deter her as she placed 5th woman overall at the Ocean Lava, Lanzarote 1/2 ironman distance race. Here is Martina’s report :

Due to unsafe water conditions, the swim was canceled and replaced with a 5km run. 　Due to landslides that resulted in several road closures, the 90 km bike course was modified to a 43 km route …. 　Regardless, I can still understand why Ironman Lanzarote is considered by many to be one of the toughest races in the world – Lanzarote is no joke!

I placed 5th overall female in a time of 3:52:27. 　The top 3 female finishers were all pros so I was pleased with my place all things considered!

The bike course was very challenging with back to back steep climbs. 　It rained for a good part of the race which made the descents a bit terrifying as I was reaching speeds up to 70km/hour with heavy crosswinds…. 　Fortunately I survived without any problems! 　Several others weren’t so lucky …

The run was very hot and there was no shade at any point in the 3 loop bike course. 　The rain was also gone at this point so there was no reprieve from the scorching sun …. 　It wasn’t flat either – it was undulating with plenty of headwind! 　 　It hurt, but I managed to complete the half marathon in a time of 1:49:02.

All in all it was a great experience and the triathlon community in Lanzarote was wonderful. 　I met a lot of interesting people from all over!

Bermuda’s large contingent to the MIAMI 70.3 IRONMAN did the island proud today, Sunday 25th October 2015, with a number of Bermuda’s triathletes producing top 10 performances.

Neil Lupsic was the quickest Bermuda finisher in 4 hrs 38 mins 00 secs for an excellent 12th place finish in the very competitive 35-39 age group.

OTHER BERMUDA RESULTS (NAME – TIME – AGE GROUP – AGE GROUP POSITION)

Claire de ste Croix – 5 hr 28 mins 30 secs – 50-54 – 4th

Kristen Palmer – 5:08:17 – 25-29 -5th

Carolyn Conway – 6:36:11 – 55-59 – 6th

Steve Petty – 6:18:04 – 60-64 – 6th

Tracy Nash – 6:40:12 – F55-59 – 8th

Marie – Lyne Dore – 5:19:11 – 30-34 – 8th

Cora Lee Starzomski – 5:31:33 – 40-44 – 8th

OTHER RESULTS

Allison Schindel – 5.27.16 – 30-34 – 11th

Belinda Castree – 5:59:38 – 40-44 – 24th

Frances Betts – 6:10:07 – 40-44 – 38th

Sharon Hammond – 5:54:13 – 45-49 – 19th

Alec Shepherd – 5:14:45 – 45-49 – 37th

Rebecca Shepherd – 5:54:16 – 40-44 – 20th

Liz Stewart – 6:54:46 – 40-44 – 71st

Clive Langley – 5:30:16 – 35-39 – 155th

Ian Morrison – 6:56:57- 35-39 – 344th

David Soutter – 5:36:57 – 35-39 – 183rd

Karl Wilson – 4:54:21 – 35-39 – 40th

Melissa Logie – 5:43:36 – 30-34 – 23rd

Steve Smith – 5:24:08 – 40-44 – 89th

Mike Neill, owner of coaching company Human Powered Racing and one of the annual Bermuda triathlon camp coaches, was on hand to watch some of his athletes compete but also to make a return to racing, as an age group athlete after a successful professional career. Mike will have been delighted with his 1st place finish in the mens 40-49 age group in 4:21:39, good enough for 31st overall.

Mike’s partner, Sandy Wilson, who also came to assist with coaching in Bermuda, was 7th in the 40-44 age group in 5:25:47.

Pre race favorites, 17 year olds Tyler Smith and Erica Hawley, did not disappoint today , Sunday 25th October, as they won the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Triathlon in emphatic style in rainy conditions.

Despite some heavy rain at the start of the 750 meter swim, the race got underway just after 9 in St. Georges and Tyler soon opened up a narrow lead on Jonathan Herring, a former winner of this race. Tyler exited the water in 11 min 45 secs with Herring out in 2nd in 12.34. A quick transition and fastest bike split (30 min 06 secs) for the 20km bike saw Herring enter T2 with a few seconds lead. But it was Tyler who exited transition first for the 5km run and never looked back, finishing seemingly in cruise control in 1 hr 02 mins 43 secs. Herring was never challenged for 2nd place finishing in 1:04:08.

Despite limited swimming and running, 15 year old junior Matthew Oliviera, impressed again as he held off a fast finishing Evan Naude for 3rd in 1:07:25.

In the women’s race, Erica Hawley ( 12.48) trailed very promising newcomer Eileen Mallowny (12.17) but soon took the lead on the bike with an impressive 36.17 bike leg despite coming down as she exited transition. Erica never looked back as she finished in 1:12 :22, good enough for 9th overall. Eileen showed that she will be one to watch next season as she held on well for 2nd in 1:20:24 (12th overall). Jennifer Wilson took 3rd in 1:22:05. Junior Lynsey Palmer, just 15, might well have stolen 3rd but took a wrong turn that cost her minutes on the bike to finish in 1:22:39.

With the top three overall not considered for the age group prizes the age group winners were :

15-19  Robin Horsefield (9th overall), 20-29 Chris Hands (5th overall), 30-39 Evan Naude (4th overall), 40-49 Matt Thompson (6th overall), 50-59 Kent Richardson (8th overall), 60+ Charles Duffy ( 22nd overall.

15-19 Lynsey Palmer (16th overall), 20-29 Cheryl White (38th overall), 40-49 Vivienne Lochhead (20th overall), 50-59 Susan Edney (17th overall), 60 + Maria Duffy (32nd overall – despite a long mechanical stop).

FOR FULL RESULTS FOLLOW THE LINKS SECTION OF THIS BLOG TO BERMUDA TIMING SYSTEMS.

FOR PHOTOS KEEP CHECKING BERMUDA TIMING SYSTEMS AND BERMUDA ISLAND STATS.