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Hugely respected as one of the toughest competitors on the ITU circuit, South Africa’s Richard Murray gave us one of the highlights of the 2014 World Triathlon Series – a thrilling sprint finish against Spain’s Mario Mola in Hyde Park – but finished a disappointing 52nd in Edmonton and eighth overall in the series.
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Speaking to 220 yesterday, he says that the end of last season was one of the negative moments of his career: falling ill straight after WTS Stockholm (where he came fifth) with just one week to go until the Grand Final, throw in some missing luggage… It’s fair to say Edmonton was a washout for South Africa’s leading ITU racer, after some superb earlier results that included bronze at WTS Yokohama, silver in Hyde Park plus a bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
So what’s he been up to since then? Training, and lots of it, it seems. “After Edmonton I sat down with my coach and asked, ‘What do I need to do between now and Rio to put myself in the position to shoot for a medal every race?’ I looked into it and decided I had to go to Europe earlier than I had planned. I wanted to spend the summer in South Africa like I usually do, but decided to put in the hard miles at the pool. I think more time with the training squad and fewer events in 2015 is what’s going to be the change.”
To that end, Murray left South Africa at the end of November for a two-week training camp in Portugal, and has been in Majorca since the start of January for an intensive two-month training block, along with training partner and rival Mola – where it’s been snowing the past few weeks…
“The weather was a little bit fresh the last few days but yeah it’s definitely going well. The main priority of coming here was to put in a solid swimming block over these few months, and hopefully that will progress to the point where I’m further up in the swim come Abu Dhabi time.”
A whole lot of racing
Of course, there’s even more to play for this season: in addition to earning enough points in this year’s 10-event World Triathlon series, there’s qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympics to factor into his race schedule. So how hectic is it looking?
“The big one for me is I will be qualifying for Rio, also the World Triathlon Series in Cape Town I’m looking forward to quite a bit. The Abu Dhabi WTS race in the first or second week of March is a big one, I love new events, the unknown is there which is always an interesting factor. Moving further down the season Hamburg and London are always great ones in Europe that I enjoy quite a bit.”
He tells us that he doesn’t put a lot of emphasis on any one single race – “obviously apart from the Olympics” – but the season opener in Abu Dhabi must be ringed in red on his calendar, being a sprint distance event in hot and humid conditions, right?
“I think it’s going to be an interesting one. The temperature should be mid to high twenties, and it’s being held in the evening as well, so you’re going to have to plan things around that and see how the body is ready at that time of the afternoon. A podium is what I want, I’d love it to come down to a sprint finish like it was in London last year, that’s what the crowd wants. Mario is looking strong here on the camp, it’s definitely going to be an interesting event to watch.”
Both Brownlees and reigning WTS champ Javier Gomez have already confirmed they’ll be there, but who else does he think could prove tricky? “João Pereira showed a very good season in 2014, he’s a very powerful athlete, very good in the sprint, and Sven Riederer is coming through as well, his sprint was very good in Stockholm last year. I think there are a couple of guys in the secondary pools who are going to be in the top three leaving the swim. We’ll see how it goes come Abu Dhabi!”
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So with many of the world’s top triathletes being attracted into racing the Challenge Triple Crown series, thanks to promises in equal measure of top prize purses and outstanding organisation, is he tempted to follow Gomez into the new series?
“I am not, no. I only looked at it the other week, thought “Oh lots of prize money, very interesting,” but it’s another of those things where you can’t do everything – unless you’re Javi [Javier Gomez]! Then you can race every weekend and do an Ironman 70.3 here, a sprint distance there, then a World Triathlon Series… To be able to do that is not easy, you need to do a lot of things right, you might walk away with injuries and fatigue, not medals and glory.
“There are obviously certain things that Javier does meticulously and in a certain way, he enjoys racing, he’s a racing character and he trains hard to do it. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but he’s a very strong and also more mature athlete than most of us, he’s got a couple of years on myself, the Brownlees and Mario [Mola]. When you’re 30 plus and you’ve got a bit more stamina and endurance in yourself you can actually do something like that, but when you’re young you should stick to what you’re good at and what you really want to do.”
Rio revelations
Looking ahead to Rio then, what’s he looking forward to most about the test event this August? “I’m kind of in two minds about doing it, it sounds funny but there’s no prize money, there’s positives and negatives about going to do it. But I definitely think going there and seeing the course is worth doing, there’s quite a hill on the bike as well, there are a couple of things that you want to plan and look at beforehand to take what you can away from the event. There’s going to be a lot of psyched people looking at it as well to see how people race, so it’s definitely going to be an important one.”
And what is the qualification criteria for the South African team? “I haven’t heard thus far, the African style is literally whoever’s the best will go, and that’s usually how my mindset goes. The criteria and everything can be there but that can put stress on the whole matter, every event is important for me. The African events are important for the African guys involved, the African champs in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt this May, and also WTS Cape Town will be a very important one to do well at.”
Winter training tips
To wrap up, we asked Richard what tips he has for 220 readers trying to stay motivated through a cold British winter – a plight he’s sympathetic to, particularly given the recent snowfall in Majorca!
Snow in ye mountains this morning .. 🙂 #Yolo #Soller #Mallorca pic.twitter.com/CVbL1JtAz9
— Richard Murray (@RD_murray) February 1, 2015
“Probably one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to plan your sessions – it’s quite difficult when the weather gets bad, your motivation levels are a bit low, so definitely saying: ‘This is what I’m going to do on that certain day.’ even if it’s just one or two sessions, to actually get out there and do it. Once you’ve got past the first half an hour or 40mins you usually think: ‘Ah that wasn’t so bad.’
Also joining groups – if the weather gets really bad, do it indoors with a couple of mates, you still get the session done. If you have the opportunity and lots of money lying around you can come to somewhere like Majorca, there’s definitely options for doing it, and it’s not horrendously expensive if you book well in advance. If you’re a top age-grouper and you’re able to tap into those type of things then a week or two definitely plays well on the body and the mind.”
(Images: Delly Carr / Janos Schmidt)
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We’ll be covering all the action via a liveblog on the 220 website and on Twitter – join us on 7 March from 3pm local time (11am UK time)
The Hy-Vee Triathlon is no more – after eight years of pulling in big-name athletes to the city of Des Moines, USA, the title sponsor has decided to call it a day. Midwestern retailer Hy-Vee says that it plans to shift its focus to a new event series promoting health and wellness in children, with a formal announcement expected next month.
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There may yet be hope for Iowa multisporters though, as the organiser plans to keep the triathlon going, according to reports – starting this summer. “We still have the permits for the city,” the Des Moines Register quotes race director Bill Burke as saying. “And we will be doing the new, inaugural Des Moines Triathlon.”
With whopping prize purses of as much as $200k for the male and female victors (each), the Hy-Vee Triathlon pulled in some of the sport’s biggest names since 2007, including Britain’s Brownlee brothers, Javier Gomez (who won convincingly in 2012), 220 columnist Tim Don and Jodie Stimpson.
“Winning the Hy-Vee Triathlon in 2014 was a highlight in my career, and I want to thank Hy-Vee for their tremendous support of the sport over the last eight years,” said US athlete Hunter Kemper. “A legacy has been created here. And I look forward to learning more about the new event series Hy-Vee will announce.”
The first Hy-Vee Triathlon in 2007 drew in just over 1,000 competitors, and peaked in 2012 at just shy of 3,000 athletes, before dropping slightly in terms of participation numbers to around 2,500 in 2014.
(Images: Delly Carr)
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Have you raced the Hy-Vee Triathlon? Let us know in the comments below!
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The popular British Triathlon Super Series returns this year with three events, starting with season opener the Blenheim Palace Triathlon on 13/14 June. It will then move on to Tri Liverpool on 26 July, finishing with the London Triathlon on 8/9 August.
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Last year’s four-race Super Series was won by Mark Buckingham and Emma Pallant, with the latter winning all three races she competed in (Blenheim, Windsor and London) and finishing just ahead of India Lee and Jenny Manners.
Buckingham took the series title after coming second at Blenheim and first at Windsor and London, finishing ahead of David Bishop and Iestyn Harrett.
What’s more, the London Triathlon will also host the new-for-2015 British Elite Standard Distance Triathlon Championships, which organisers IMG say should ensure a high calibre field of elites.
This year’s London Tri is expected to draw more than 13,000 athletes this year – for our gallery of last year’s event, click here.
For more info on this year’s British Triathlon Super Series and British Elite Standard Distance Champs, head to the British Triathlon website.
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Will you be racing this year’s Super Series? Let us know in the comments below!
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Ay la – entries are now open for this year’s Tri Liverpool, being held in Albert Docks on 26 July and hosting both a leg of the British Triathlon Super Series and GB Age-Group Standard Distance Champs.
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The one-day multisport festival will host more than 1,500 triathletes of all abilities, and will provide the first opportunity for aspiring members of the Great Britain Age-Group Team to book their place at the 2016 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Mexico.
“Tri Liverpool has hosted the British Triathlon Championships since 2013 and the event has gone from strength to strength in that time,” said British Triathlon’s Jon Ridgeon. “The City of Liverpool is the perfect setting with its historic docks and iconic buildings and athletes of all abilities can look forward to competing in front of tremendous crowds in a fantastic location.”
Last year’s elite race drew top US athlete Gwen Jorgensen, though it was British junior Sophie Coldwell who nearly pulled off a famous victory, leading the 2014 WTS champ all the way to a tightly-contested finish on the last lap. The men’s elite race was cancelled due to worsening weather conditions. For a gallery head here.
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Members of the Home Nations can purchase a discounted entry for a limited period. Full details of the entry fees and event distances on offer are available at www.triliverpool.com.
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Will you be racing this year’s Tri Liverpool? Let us know in the comments below!
Dave Scott, endless pools, bike fittings, expert speakers, Wattbikes and much, much more could be found at last year’s Triathlon Show at Sandown Park in Surrey. Below are some of our highlights…
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For 2015 the show has been subtly renamed the 220 Triathlon Show and will again feature all your favourite 220 contributors, cutting-edge tri gear and the usual 10km run on Day 3. Plus we’ll be announcing the winners of this year’s 220 Awards (shortlist here). We look forward to seeing you there!
Day one, 2014
Day two, 2014
Day three, 2014
(All images: Nick Smith Photography)
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Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery of the 220 Awards 2014!
Austria – home of Mozart’s chocolate balls, The Sound Of Music and (as of next year) the European Half Distance Triathlon Championships, as Challenge Walchsee-Kaiserwinkl has just been picked to host next year’s event on 21 August, 2016.
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Around 2,000 athletes are expected next year, with both the Elite European Championship and Age Group European Championship to be held in the Tyrol region, along with paratriathlon and other sporting events.
Athletes can get a test run on the championships course at this year’s Challenge Walchsee on 23 August run alongside more than 1,000 starters, as well as compete for qualification slots for the upcoming European Championships.
Last year’s race was won by Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED) and Giulio Molinaro (ITA), with Britain’s Ritchie Nicholls taking silver in the men’s race. This year’s ETU Half Distance Champs will take place in Rimini, Italy on 24 May.
Information and entries on Challenge Walchsee-Kaiserwinkl 2015 are available at www.challenge-walchsee.at.
(Images: Getty)
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Will you be racing Challenge Walchsee-Kaiserwinkl? Let us know in the comments!
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After winning Kona two years on the trot, Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) will be the headline act at the 2015 Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship in Melbourne this March – though she again faces her Swiss nemesis Caroline Steffen.
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This will be the first time Rinny has raced on Aussie soil since finishing third in the event’s 2012 edition, when she came third behind Steffen. “I’m looking forward to racing again at home. Winning an Australian Ironman title is not something I’ve done yet, so I’d love to add one to my résumé,” Carfrae said.
“It’s a championship race so some of the girls will be really targeting it and be in great shape. I’ll put my nose to the grindstone for the next four weeks, aiming to be as fit as I can be to have a shot at the title.”
It is also the first time in over a year that Carfrae has trained in Australia, as she’s usually based in Boulder, Colorado. “My family is excited to have me back and I enjoyed spending time with them in Brisbane,” she added. “I have six nieces and nephews and the oldest is seven, they change so quickly so I always miss out when I’m away too long.”
Carfrae won last year’s Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii despite a deficit of 14:30mins behind leader Daniela Ryf (SUI) coming out of T2 . She then turned in one of the greatest runs the sport has ever seen with a time of 2:50:27, to claim her third Ironman World Championship title (2010, 2013, 2014).
For more info on this year’s Ironman Melbourne head here. Don’t forget to pick up the March 2015 issue of 220 Triathlon magazine or listen to our podcast for an in-depth interview with Rinny, in which we discuss her upbringing on a farm outside Brisbane, her move from netball to basketball to triathlon and lots more.
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Do you think Rinny can finally beat Steffen in Melbourne? Let us know in the comments!
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Ironman has released its updated competition rules for 2015, taking effect this March and designed to align more closely with the ITU’s regulations.
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The rules for drafting distances, time penalties and wetsuit water temperature cut-offs will now be globally uniform at Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events:
Draft zones
The age-group bicycle draft zone is 10m long, measured from the leading edge of the front wheel and extending towards the back of the bike (five bike lengths of clear space between bikes). An age-group athlete may enter the draft zone of another athlete when passing and must continuously progress through the draft zone. A maximum of 20secs will be allowed to pass through the zone of another athlete.
The professional bicycle draft zone is 12m long, measured from the leading edge of the front wheel and extending towards the back of the bike (six bike lengths of clear space between bikes). A professional athlete must immediately move to the side upon entering the draft zone of another athlete when passing (in other words, no slipstreaming) and must continuously progress through the draft zone. A maximum of 25secs will be allowed to pass through the zone of another athlete.
Race referee cards (professional and age group athletes)
Yellow Card: Stop and Go Time Penalty
Blue Card: Five Minute Time Penalty
Red Card: Disqualification (DSQ)
Time penalties (professional and age group athletes)
First Time Penalty: Five minutes
Second Time Penalty: Five minutes
Third Time Penalty: Disqualification (DSQ)
Any combination of three cards (yellow or blue) will result in a disqualification (red card).
Professional and age group wetsuit cut-off temperatures
Professional athletes will be allowed to wear wetsuits in water temperatures up to and including 21.9C. Age group athletes will be allowed to wear wetsuits in water temperatures up to and including 24.5C.
“We have been working closely with the ITU on this initiative for the past year,” said Ironman CEO Andrew Messick. “As Ironman continues to grow globally and expand into emerging markets that have limited Federation support, it is important that we have a uniform set of rules at our races. This is a big first step for us to harmonise our competition rules, which will create a more consistent race day experience.”
@IronmanTri @CEOIronman Thanks guys, very happy about the lower wetsuit cut-off for pro’s. Much needed!
— Josh Amberger (@JoshAmberger) February 12, 2015
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@IronmanTri If we can align with ITU rules, how about their commitment to equality for pro triathletes? @50WomenToKona #dotherightthing
— Sue Aquila (@fewoman) February 12, 2015
The new rules will take effect in Europe, Africa and the Americas on 1 March, and in the Asia-Pacific region between March and July. A complete download of Ironman’s competition rules for 2015 can be downloaded here.
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What do you think of these newly updated rules? Let us know in the comments below!
Challenge Family has confirmed the prize purses for its 2015 races in North and South America, covering 15 venues and offering roughly €50,000 at each full-distance triathlon.
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Prize money will be paid to the top ten male and female professional finishers at each event, with the exception of Challenge St Andrews, which will pay five deep. Middle distance races will have a purse of around €25,000 each. Exact prize purses in dollars can be found on individual race sites (accessible via www.challenge-family.com).
The 2015 Challenge Family professional division races in the Americas run as follows:
May 17 – Knoxville Half
June 7 – Quassy Half
June 14 – Williamsburg Half
June 21 – San Gil Half
June 28 – Atlantic City Full
July 5 – St. Andrews Half
August 16 – Pocono Half
August 23 – Maceió Half
August 30 – Maine Half
August 30 – Penticton Full
September 13 – Cedar Point Full
October 18 – Rancho Cordova Half
November 1 – Ixtapa Half
November 15 – Florida Half
November 29 – Florianopolis Half
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“It’s simply a reality that earning potential is a factor in any pro’s decision as to where and when to compete, so for Challenge Family to revitalise a prize purse in the US is a major positive for everyone in the pro ranks,” said Australian pro Richie Cunningham. “Personally, I opt to support the events that best support me in turn, and Challenge does exactly that.”
Professional athletes are invited to sign up with Challenge Family here.
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What do you think of the 2015 pro prize purse? Let us know in the comments!
What did you do for Valentine’s Day? These two British age groupers got married after meeting on the picturesque roads of Dorset at Challenge Weymouth five months ago.
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Phillip Henwood and Alicia Livingstone first laid eyes on each other during the 185km bike leg last September, then spent an hour or so cycling at a similar speed and chatting away before Alicia pushed on with her race and left Phillip to finish the route on his own, still thinking about the “glamorous athlete” he’d just met
Luckily for Phillip, Alicia contacted him after Weymouth and the pair decided that their next encounter should be at another race in October (Ironman Barcelona). They both completed the long distance triathlon race and discovered they didn’t just have triathlon in common, as romance quickly blossomed.
And so, they will be getting married tomorrow at St Leonards Church in Streatham, London – exactly five months to the day since they met. They will have a second blessing ceremony a few weeks later in Truro Cathedral in Cornwall, then continue their romantic journey in true triathlete style by going on their honeymoon to South Africa, combining a holiday with an Ironman event in Port Elizabeth!
The happy couple will be returning to compete in Challenge Weymouth this year, not only as husband and wife, but Alicia has qualified to race as a GB Age Grouper following her success in 2014.
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Did triathlon help you find love? Let us know in the comments below!
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