Not sure why the pile-on here on Craig.
His record at IMH is extraordinary. Whether you like it or not, this is the only race on the long distance side of the sport that really matters!
I had a ring-side seat for his two wins, and I must say it was interesting to watch it all unfold. Basically the bike leg for all the key favourites in the race and everyone save one or two who finished in the top 10 those years revolved around Craig. They all watched Craig and followed what he did on the bike. In both years deep into the bike there was a long line of up to 20 of the top Male pros, all riding in legal formation along the Queen K. In those two years the only ones who mattered and pushed it off the front were Leito and Faris.
Ironically, I think the seeds for Macca's win last year were planted the year before, when Macca had a sub-par day, but got to watch the dynamic of the whole bike ride for all the favorites revolve around Craig. He figured, strategically, one way to beat Craig is to put him on the ropes on the bike and put some time into him. But you need to do this at the right time on the bike, and you need to have some help. Last year Macca got the timing right, and he had some help in the form of Andreas Raelert and a couple of others.
Macca finished the bike with just the right time gap, on Craig, but without depleting his own resources too much, thus being able to still run a strong marathon. As it was Craig still ran very well, but clearly he had given up too much time on the bike.
After the pattern of the last few years, with possibly a slightly different cast of chararcters at the front, and a smaller race field ( 50 as opposed to about 100 men), I am predicting that we will possibly see something very different this year.
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog