Nov. 20, 2007 – Fresh off her World Championship win at the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, Mirinda Carfrae changed her distance, but not the outcome, as she stormed to a dominating win at the Subaru Caribbean Classic Triathlon, held Nov. 18, on St. Croix. The Olympic distance race, consisting of a 1500-meter swim (.9 miles), 40 K (25-mile) bike and 10 K (6.2-mile) run, puts more of an emphasis on speed than endurance. Carfrae had both in spades, posting an excellent time of 2:17:12 on the hilly course.
Top U.S. female finisher at the 2007 World Ironman World Championships Dede Griesbauer led the women out of the sea with Carfrae over a minute back. However, it soon became apparent that the effort in October's Ironman race had left Griesbauer's legs a little flat, as Carfrae stormed to the lead on the rolling bike course. A noted runner, Carfrae was never headed again, as she held off second-place finisher Karen Smyers by just under two minutes. Smyers had also raced at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships the week before, and had shown renewed vigor after her disappointing results in the previous race.
In the men's race, French triathlete Benjamin Sanson fired off to a quick lead in the swim, besting Australian Richie Cunningham and New Zealander Bryan Rhodes by almost two minutes. Sanson's lead was short lived as his bicycle saddle came loose and fell into his front wheel only three miles into the race. That left Cunningham and Rhodes to battle the rest of the way, and no man gave any quarter during the bike or run segments. Cunningham held off the gutsy Rhodes to win by less than a minute in 2:05:49.
The age group athletes were led by Elliot Mason of Antigua, who used the fasted run split of the day, 38:22, to win. His time of 2:25:42 was over 17 minutes ahead of his next closest competitor. His effort won him $1250 and the title of Caribbean Champion.
St. Croix athlete Theresa Harper won the distaff side after a close battle with Carole Murphy, with a time of 3:01:52, with Murphy only 16 seconds back.
The triathlon is set to become the premier late-season Olympic distance race in the region, featuring a truly beautiful and challenging course.
More information and full results can be found at www.stcroixtrathon.com.
