Editor's Note: We just received this email from our friends at Colorado Multisport in Boulder. As you know thousands of people have been forced to flee the Fourmile Canyon wildfire with perhaps hundreds of them losing their homes to the savage fire. Please help if you can, the important "how" and "when" info is below.

All of us at Colorado Multisport are shocked and saddened by the wildfire still burning in the foothills just west of Boulder.  Our hearts go out to the entire community that is affected by this tragedy, and we are in awe of the brave men and women who are risking their lives to fight the blaze. We are reaching out to you, our awesome community of athletes and fans, our family, to bring donations by tomorrow, Thursday night from 4-8pm. 

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Budapest, Hungary, 8 September 2010 -

In the men's Elite Aquathlon, Varga was the only man to finish the swim in under 12 minutes, doing so in 11:26. Great Britain's Daniel Halksworth exited the chilly swim in the Danube River 35 seconds later, with a small group of men right on his heels. By the time the rest of the field got onto the run course, Varga was too far up the road and he strode the easy win in 20:27. Halksworth hung on for second, finishing in 20:48. Hungary's Attila Fecskovics delighted the crowd by finishing third, using the day's second-best run to finish in 20:57.

The excitement for the Hungarian fans continued in the women's contest, with Hungary pulling off the one-two punch. Italy's Gaia Person took the early lead out of the swim, finishing in 12:46, but Vanek was only four seconds behind. The pair headed out onto the run neck-and-neck, but it wasn't long before Vanek pulled away. Vanek broke the tape with a run split of 8:36, as teammate Szandra Szalay pulled up to second at the finish, coming in 40 seconds later. Peron held on for third, finishing just five seconds back of Szalay.

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The city of Madison, Wisconsin has a claim to fame that goes much beyond hosting this weekend's Ironman race.

For it was here, in the waters of Lake Monona, where the 2.4 mile swim takes place, that soul legend Otis Redding, along with the pilot, Redding's manager, and three members of his backing band, the Bar-Kays lost their lives in a deadly plane crash on December 10, 1967.

The previous night Redding and his band performed at Leo's Casino, a small venue club in Cleveland. The next afternoon, Redding, his manager, the pilot, and four members of The Bar-Kays boarded Reddings private plane, a Beechcraft 18  which eventually crashed during a storm into the Lake.

Reddings most famous hit,  (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was recorded only three days before his death.

According to Nashid Munyan, curator of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Redding considered the song unfinished. Redding intended to compose lyrics later, while Rob Bowman's book "Soulsville USA" claims that Steve Cropper (of the Stax house band Booker T and the M.G’s who usually served as Otis's backing band in the studio) had written a rap for him to speak over the song as it faded out. The story goes that Otis simply whistled the tune because he forgot the words.

The song was released (with the place-holding whistling intact) in January 1968 and became Redding's only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and the first posthumous number one single in U.S. chart history.

Reddings body was recovered from the water the next day and he was entombed on his private ranch in Round Oak, Georgia. Redding was 26-years-old when he died in the plane crash.

Who knows where his career path might have taken him. All we know is that when his plane crashed into Lake Monona, Madison, Wisconsin, the world lost a soul Legend.

This story was written by Danny Ward (our British Bureau chief) of (TriSport Epping).

Get published and submit your original endurance news, views, or review to us.

Click here to send us an email

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September 6, 2010 (Whistler, B.C., Canada)

There was a definite chill in the air  as the sun tried to come out from behind the clouds at Alta Lake for the 9am start of the XTERRA Canada Championship.  The swim was two laps of 750-meters with a short sprint in between, and was led by young stud Jordan Bryden with Christine “Big Fish” Jeffrey only seconds behind. 

Hot on their heels was three-time world champ Conrad Stoltz and U.S pro Branden Rakita.  Canada’s first XTERRA Champion, Mike Vine was a minute back with fellow Canadian Karsten Madsen, and another 30-seconds behind was Colorado’s Josiah Middaugh.  Three-time world champ, Melanie McQuaid, exited the swim 3 minutes behind Jeffrey and new mom Danelle Kabush over 5 minutes back from the leader.

Then came what everyone had been waiting for - 19km over two laps of what may arguably be XTERRA’s toughest bike course followed by 11km of up and down trail running, with a little pavement providing welcome relief from the roots, rocks, slipping and sliding.

It was here that the battle for XTERRA Canada champion came down to a contest between Mike Vine and Colorado’s Josiah Middaugh (pictured here at the XTERRA Mountain Champs in July).  The two pulled almost identical bike splits with Josiah taking fastest bike by only one tenth of a second.  “I like going uphill and the technical stuff was OK” said Middaugh, “but Mike Vine was awesome - he was whaling that stuff – it was crazy.  I was trying to keep it close, but he would put 40 seconds on me on the descent. 

He started the run about 40-seconds up and I got him on the top of the first climb.  He stayed pretty close.  He could always see me, so it wasn’t over - I had to keep working.”  Middaugh took the win with a margin of 35-seconds over Vine to finish in 2:09:30.  It's his first win this season, and his second XTERRA Canada Championship title (he picked up his first-ever championship win in Canada back in 2004).  “It feels good to have a win”, said Middaugh, “I’ve been close all year and I needed this… when you’re on you’re on, I felt good all day.”

Vine took second in 2:10:22 in Whistler, his “stomping ground” and his favorite place anywhere to ride.  “I didn’t know what to expect as I haven’t been racing these guys all year.  I raced in Saipan (in March), but none of the U.S. guys were there, and since then I started my new career working full time at a physical job.  It takes the pressure off racing – I’m doing it for the enjoyment.  I came out to have a good time today and it felt good to go full throttle and let it rip.  Josiah had a really good ride – for him to come up here and ride these trails that well is impressive – I was definitely better prepared.”

Going out on the run Vine and Middaugh were followed by Conrad Stoltz and Branden Rakita.  Rakita caught Stoltz on the run to take third in 2:17:37.  “Canada is awesome and a ton of fun,” Rakita said. “This is a true XTERRA - technical and not just powering along.  I felt good and was flying on the run”.

Stoltz took a wrong turn on the run and while finding his way back was passed by Colorado’s Cody Waite and Idaho’s Adam Wirth who took fourth and fifth respectively in 2:20:41 and 2:23:31.  It was Wirth’s first XTERRA pro podium appearance.  Stoltz took sixth in 2:24:12.

Women’s Race

Canada’s Christine Jeffrey’s lead on the swim of just under 3 minutes was quickly taken away by a raging Melanie McQuaid, who was clearly in her element on Whistler’s mountain bike trails.  McQuaid (pictured below at the XTERRA West Champs earlier this year) put in the fastest bike and run for the women to take the race in 2:29:28 – good for 7th pro place overall and more than 15 minutes ahead of Jeffrey who finished second sporting a dislocated shoulder from a crash on the bike.

This is home,” said McQuaid “so it is kind of unfair, as it is all about my kind of single track.  This is mountain biking, and XTERRA is a mountain bike triathlon.  Different courses suit different people, and I think anyone who can do this race can be proud of their ability.  This is much more impressive than doing an Ironman.  If someone wants to show off their athletic ability, they should definitely try this race.”

“I can’t bike that” said Jeffrey.  “I really struggled with that super technical Whistler single track.  I had a few problems and took a few tumbles but got through it” Jeffrey finished in 2:45:48.

Alberta’s Danelle Kabush took third in 2:50:29, quite a feat given she gave birth to her second child only three months ago.  “Trying to get the endurance back is the toughest part.  I’m half way through my four race season and trying to be as fit as I can,” said Kabush.  “This course is super fun.  The rain made the roots a little slick, and I had a few good crashes.”  She described the run as “brutal – straight up, straight down.”

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Editor's Note: OK, so we are not really "sponsoring" the CSU Triathlon team but we always like to help out as much as we can...so here you go Danny. Go Luck and raise the needed $$$ so you can swim, bike and run your way to collegiate victory.

My name is Danny Harper.  I'm the president of the CSU Triathlon Team up here in Fort Collins, Colorado.  I've been going to EverymanTri for a long time now, and was wondering if you would consider "sponsoring" us with a shoutout to the triathlon community about our upcoming Halloween 5K leaving from the CSU (Colorado State University) Campus.  This is our main fundraiser for the Fall. 

We are putting a lot of hard work into it to make it a great event for the Fort Collins community and for our university.  Our team is comprised of ~50 athletes ranging from all abilities in all three sports.  We promote triathlon as a healthy way of living, and encourage our members to build character and leadership through participation in our sport.  I can give you more information if you like, but thought I'd start out with a quick rundown.  Please let me know what you think.

1.  Who:  Any and all.  The more the merrier.  There will be awards for best costume!
2.  What:  CSU Triathlon Halloween 5K, put on by the CSU Triathlon Team
3.  Where/When:  Start line at the CSU Oval Sat Oct 30 at 9am

Click HERE to sign-up online for the CSU 5K

4.  Why:  Well of course to run around in our costumes!!! (and to have a great, competitive race).  This is our main fund-raising event of the Fall, and we want it to be great and last for years!
5.  We still need sponsors, if you know anyone or business that may be interested?  I'm more than happy to speak with them about it.

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Professional triathlete and 2009 Kona Ironman Champ runner-up Julie Dibens is very fast both in and out of the water...but especially in the water.

So who do you think would win a 100 meter swim race: Dibens or 2007 Ironman 70.3 Champion Mirinda Carfrae?

The answer is probably obvious it would be Dibens, especially given her strong swimming background.

But what if Dibens swam the 100 meter backstroke and Carfrae swam it freestyle?

Check out the video below as the two professional triathletes race for...well just for fun as far as we can tell.

Thanks to Eric Wynn for this fun video:

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The swim off from guerrillacomm on Vimeo.

Editor's Note: As many of you know Boulder, Colorado (our home town) is the mecca of triathlon. The roads and foothills around Boulder offer some of the most beautiful training the runs and rides in the West that draw hundreds of amateur and pro triathletes. Today a massive wildfire fire threatens many people and homes just West of Boulder. The story is below.

A wildfire that erupted this morning just West of Boulder, Colorado has engulfed at least 3000 acres and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people.

According to local officials several hundred people have already been evacuated and numerous structures including homes have burned down to the ground. Huge plumes of smoke from the massive fire can be seen from as far away as Denver, Colorado.

One of the first towns threatened by the flames is the historic gold mining town of of Gold Hill, Colorado just West of Boulder.

Roman Mica filed this story as local residents and firefighters struggled to save Gold Hill from the rapidly approaching flames.

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September 5, 2010 (Valle de Bravo, Mexico)

Here's a look at the podium; with Wealing and Corona on the top step; Dan Hugo and Shonny Vanlandingham in 2nd; and Francisco Serrano and Daniela Campuzano in third.
The managing director of the XTERRA World Tour, "Kahuna Dave" Nicholas, was on-site and brings us this report and these photos:

The forecast was rain.  At the race briefing last night, I promised the crowd that I had brought Hawaiian weather to this fabulous place just outside Mexico City and Toluca – and I kept my promise.

On cue at 0815 Saturday morning, the sun popped up over the mountains and sunshine covered the area.  It was good it happened as we had a huge thunderstorm Friday evening that left everything soaking wet.  Transition, which was on a rather steep slope, became a quagmire with people slipping and sliding all morning. 

Slippery?  Did I mention the mud and puddles?  Slipping and sliding and mud were the order of the day.  That, along with chickens and dogs, horses and even a donkey all made Valle de Bravo one exceptional event.

With the fall, Hugo (pictured) could not get the distance he wanted on Seth.  Serrano, the Mexican Olympic Triathlete was having a fabulous battle with Wealing; who won here last year.  They passed and re-passed a few times with Wealing finally able to edge away a few kilometers from the end of the second bike lap.

“My knee was just throbbing,” said Hugo. “The altitude was hurting me as well – but I really wanted to win this race and gave it everything I had”.

It simply was not enough.  Wealing, who put in the fastest run by two minutes caught up to Hugo with about two kilometers to go.  “Once I could see him I was pretty sure I could catch him.  I thought about staying close and making it a sprint to the finish, but Hugo is tough and I just couldn’t take that chance” said Wealing.

He made the pass but the South African never gave in and finished less than a minute behind him.  “It was close, but once he got past me, there was no way I could get him – I looked behind and kind of backed off a bit” was Hugo’s reply.

Serrano had a great run and was less than two minutes behind Hugo.  “I have been doing so much ITU and road stuff for the federation,” said Serrano. “I have ridden my mountain bike maybe four times over the summer.  I am really happy with my race and getting my mountain bike legs.  I will race hard at Maui.”

For the women, Fabiola Corona (one of my favorite brands and in stock everywhere) came out of the water with nearly two minutes on Shonny Vanlandingham; last year’s winner.  “I know how fast Shonny is so I try to put as much time as possible in the swim… then I say pedal hard Shonny is coming, pedal hard” laughed the Olympian triathlete (pictured).

Shonny was coming OK, but she followed a bunch of men riders through an intersection and got lost in the mountains of Valle de Bravo.  “I should have known better because I made the same mistake on a pre-ride.  I saw the double Jeep track and knew it was wrong” said Shonny.  She got it back on course and was eight minutes down on Corona at the end of the first lap. She was able to make four minutes of it back with a sizzling second lap, but Fabiola (pronounced fav-ee-ola) can run and no matter how hard Shonny ran, she never put a dent into the four+ minute lead and like Hugo, when she could see the finish knew it was for second place.  She even stopped to have her photo taken with the trail side grazing Donkey

A wonderful event again for the second year.  The trails are fabulous, the lake and entire area is scenic and beautiful.  Why the California crowd does not take to this Mexican jewel is beyond me.  The organizers do a great job, hospitality abounds, and flights are very inexpensive from LA, San Diego and the Bay area to Toluca.  It is an easy 1.5 hour drive to the Valle and after that; it is life on easy street.  A group of athletes came from Panama and were super impressed.  They will bring a bigger group next year and are making Mexico part of their program.

Truly one of our great World Tour stops.  Everyone from the USA, South America and even Europe needs to think about coming here and enjoying the Mexican culture and people.  Prices are very inexpensive, the food and drink are unparalleled.

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Edinburgh ITU Duathlon World Championship
Edinburgh, Scotland, Great Britain - 5 Sept 2010
10K run, 38.4K bike, 5K run

Elite Women
1. Catriona Morrison (GBR) 2:02:47
2. Sandra Levenez (FRA) 2:03:05
3. Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) 2:06:14
4. Jenny Schulz (GER) 2:06:20
5. Ana Burgos (ESP) 2:06:42
6. Katie Ingram (GBR) 2:07:10
7. Andrea Steyn (RSA) 2:07:58
8. Ruth Van der Meijden (NED) 2:08:37
9. Stefanie Bouma (NED) 2:10:53
10. Inmaculada Pereiro (ESP) 2:10:59

Elite Men
1. Bart Aernouts (BEL) 1:50:22
2. Rob Woestenborghs (BEL) 1:50:24
3. Joerie Vansteelant (BEL) 1:50:30
4. Victor Manuel del Corral Morales (ESP) 1:51:06
5. Sergio Silva (POR) 1:51:46
6. Damien Derobert (FRA) 1:52:58
7. Adam Bowden (GBR) 1:53:38
8. Sean Jefferson (USA) 1:53:54
9. Ramos Herrera (MEX) 1:54:13
10. Richard Hobby (GBR) 1:54:16

U23 Women
1. Sophie Coleman (GBR) 2:15:02
2. Lois Rosindale (GBR) 2:15:56
3. Alice Capone (ITA) 2:20:41
4. Ami Haishima (JPN) 2:24:12
5. Romana Slavinec (AUT) 2:25:51

U23 Men
1. Etienne Diemunsch (FRA) 1:53:33
2. Matthew Gunby (GBR) 1:54:27
3. Oscar Vicente (ESP) 1:56:01
4. Felix Duchampt (FRA) 1:57:23
5. Ritchie Nicholls (GBR) 1:57:44

Junior Women (5K run, 21.2K bike, 2.5K run)
1. Sofie Hooghe (BEL) 1:12:44
2. Marjon van der Wansem (NED) 1:13:32
3. Liis-Grete Arro (EST) 1:16:15
4. Elinor Thorogood (GBR) 1:16:55
5. Cindy Schwulst (RSA) 1:21:50

Junior Men (5K run, 21.2K bike, 2.5K run)
1. Uxio Abuin Ares (ESP) 1:03:52
2. Michael Gosman (AUS) 1:04:02
3. Jose Luis Cordova (MEX) 1:04:08
4. Jose Veiga (POR) 1:04:16
5. Hugo Alves (POR) 1:04:21

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EDINBURGH, Scotland - Led by a gold-medal performance from Ben Simmons, all three United States' paraduathletes in action Friday at the 2010 ITU Duathlon World Championships reached the podium in the run-bike-run event at Holyrood Park.  
 
In addition to the victory from Simmons (New York, N.Y.) in the TRI-2 category, Lamar Brown (New York, N.Y.) and David Kyle (Athens, Ala.) captured bronze in the TRI-6 and TRI-3 categories, respectively.

Click HERE for more Duathlon World Championships information.

2010 ITU Duathlon World Championships, Edinburgh, Scotland

United States Medalists

TRI-2
1. Ben Simmons (New York, N.Y.), 1:55:09
TRI-3
3. David Kyle (Athens, Ala.), 1:36:32
TRI-6
3. Lamar Brown (New York, N.Y.), 1:51:19

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Editor's Note:

Dear “Lauren”

My husband and I have been married for 5 years.  Recently he has decided to challenge himself by getting involved in Triathlons.  He has been spending a lot of time with a particular riding group.  This is a co-ed riding group and they meet at least 3x a week.  Of course after their rides they all have to grab a beer or a coffee together.

I have been very suspicious lately of how much time he has been spending with the people, particularly the women in this group.  I am even more concerned after what I discovered last week.  We were being intimate and I noticed a big red bump “down there.”  It looked almost infected.  I got up and accused him of cheating.  He swears it is from his bike shorts and riding.  I don’t know what to believe.   Is it true, can you get what looks like an STD from a bike?

Sincerely,

Is he riding more than his bike?

Lauren

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Editor's Note: Recently we've been accused of carrying water for the auto industry. This fun and interesting video is from our sister blog TFLcar.com, and if you watch the video you'll see immediately that it is indeed a thinly veiled advertisement for a four year old Toyota Prius with 140.6 sticker on it. BTW: the sticker is the only triathlon related thing in the entire video.

Like it or not alternative fuel efficient cars are the wave of the future.

So we couldn't help but wonder what's the best (and by best we mean most fuel efficient) way to power a car you can buy and drive today.

Is the future gas, diesel or electric hybrid drive?

Curious?

Watch the video to find out.

Every year at the Texas State Fair a few deep frying entrepreneurs come up with something goofy, unique, or crazy to fry up and enter into the annual state competition.

Do you recall deep fried coke?

This year the big frying buzz is all about deep friend beer.

In the wake of the recent, unexpected firing of USA Triathlon executive director Skip Gilbert we offer one question?

What has USA Triathlon (USAT) done for me lately?

Because you (Mr. and Mrs. amateur triathlete) are the main reason why USAT exists and yet....

Here are just some of the latest press releases issued by USAT:

1) USAT, Endurance Films Extend Partnership Agreement

2) USAT, EcoSportsBottle.com Ink Three-Year Partnership Deal

3) USA Triathlon Renews Partnership with Textile Solutions

4) USAT Renews Partnership with Endless Pools

And let's not forget yesterday's press release:

USA Triathlon Announces Four Partnerships

"COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Triathlon announced Wednesday that it has extended partnerships with DeFeet International, Liberty Mutual Insurance and TriTats through 2011, and added Minerva Health Technologies as an official associate partner." 

Wow. Four new corporate partnerships in one day.

So let us just review.

As of yesterday's press release we know that USAT is certainly selling access to it's membership (that would be you) to:

• DeFeet International
• Liberty Mutual Insurance
• TriTats
• Minerva Health Technologies

And we can't forget the USAT email we just got while writing this opinion and editorial story entitled:

"Christmas in September...4 smoking deals from Rudy Project"

Wow, such a bargain! Thanks USAT and Rudy...we couldn't had Christmas in September without you.

According to published reports, Gilbert was fired from his position because of a disagreement with the USAT board of directors.

That disagreement, according to another published report, seems to have centered around a potential conflict of interest having to do with his Gilbert's wife and paid work she did for USAT.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that:

"Gilbert maintains he leaves USA Triathlon without any regrets, his tenure highlighted by a bottom line that soared from $2.7 million to $6.8 million, memberships that grew from 58,073 to 134,942 and a stable of corporate partners including Bank of America, Garmin and Gatorade. The 47-person staff will move into new offices in the Springs on Sept. 15."

So we know that USAT now has:

• Bigger offices
• More members
• Bigger budget
• Bigger staff
• More corporate partners

But what has USAT done for you lately...besides (of course) sell access to you and your family to (sorry, we of course mean partner with) almost any corporation that knocks on its doors?

Perhaps the new incoming USA Triathlon executive director might ponder that simple question before "partnering" with yet another company that only wants to sell more stuff.

Sad news from the DT web site today below:

Happy training,
The Daily Triathlon Team

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