http://www.insidetriathlon.com/race/iro/articles/2481.0.html
Colting, Fithian take Ultraman; Record holds
Colting misses mark by scant 27 seconds
by Timothy Carlson
IT senior correspondent
This report filed November 28, 2004
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii - Suffering in the heat during a double marathon on the third and final day of the 2004 Ultraman Triathlon World Championship, Sweden's Jonas Colting needed all of the lead he earned during his record-setting first two days to hold on for the overall win Sunday.
Colting, 31, an elite professional who placed second at the 2004 ITU long distance World Championship, raced real good for free this weekend to take the title at the small but prestigious Ultraman - which pays no prize money - in 21:41:49.
Colting bested runner-up Tony O'Keefe, 43, a Canadian Air Force Major, by 42 minutes and 44 seconds, and third place Lon Freeman, 29, a resource analyst at Lawrence Berkeley Labs in California, by 58 minutes 32 seconds. But that was in the race for the overall. Colting didn't fare as well in Sunday's run.
Needing only a 7:14:10 run to break Holger Spiegel's six-year old course record after blazing performances on days one and two, Colting faded badly in the second half of his first-ever double marathon to miss the overall course record by 27 seconds.
After hot-footing to the 26.2-mile halfway point in three hours flat, just behind O'Keefe and Freeman, Colting was humbled and walked and jogged through the final 26.2 miles in 4:14:50.
"This is at the top of my list of personal accomplishments," said Colting afterward. "This ranks right up there with my silver and bronze medals at the (ITU long distance) world championship. Ultraman is a cornerstone of triathlon history and the spirit it evokes by circumnavigating the Big Island is awesome. And as I learned today, it is beyond comprehension just how hard it is!"
Colting set an Ultraman swim record and a record for the first day's overall time. His 7:33:36 bike on day two was the third best time ever for the course.
O'Keefe scored his third straight second place finish to better-known professional triathletes, but was proud of his blazing 6:34:07 double marathon, the fastest run of the day. When asked if his opening 2:59 marathon caused Colting to blow up, O'Keefe smiled. "I hope so. That was my gift to a great athlete. Lon (Freeman) and I wanted Jonas to get the full Ultraman experience. If he was going to race us and break the record, he would have to earn it."
O'Keefe could take solace that his run was nearly 40 minutes faster than his run last year where he finished second to Brazilian Ironman champion Alexandre Ribeiro. "This was my best run," said O'Keefe, an age grouper who finished Ironman Canada this year in a PR of 9:14 and won the Esprit Ironman distance event in Montreal overall. "But the whole day I was focused on Lon Freeman. He has a fine record in ultra distance marathons and I was running scared from him all day. But I had prepared with 120-mile running weeks and I was determined to make him work to beat me."
Freeman was all smiles after his third place finish. "I tried to give Jonas all the tips I could because I felt he deserved the record course record after those great first two days," said Freeman. "But some things you just need to experience yourself. Tony pulled away at Mile 34. I guess I waited a little too long to start hitting the Cokes." Freeman, a master of ultradistance marathons, as witnessed by his fourth overall finish in the 100-mile Angeles Crest trail race, said "It was nice, but I'll never do another pavement race again. Those last two miles, I felt pretty woozy and I was glad to finish on my feet. Freeman's 6:38:36 run was the second best on the day.
Fithian holds on for a win
Lauren Fithian, 46, a mother of five and a Minneapolis, Minnesota physical trainer, broke through to her first Ultraman win after two second places. Fithian finished exhausted but proud with a 10:50:07 marathon for a total time of 31:24:24.
"This is the most wonderful race in the world," said Fithian as she put her feet on her husband's lap and closed her eyes with the sublime ecstasy of the cessation of pain. Smiling as bright as the Kona sunset over the nearby beach, Suzy Degazon of Boqueron Puerto Rico crossed the line after a 11:25:14 run and a second place woman's finish in 34:00:57. "I don't know how I did it," said Degazon, who suffered an infected wrist before day one and food poisoning before the run. "I couldn't eat a bite of food all day. I was running on fumes."
After a hard day on the road, Leslie Holton of Pine Colorado failed to finish the third day double marathon within the 12-hour cutoff time and thus failed to be listed as an official Ultraman finisher.
Altogether, all 16 men and two of the five women made an official Ultraman finish.
The Ultraman triathlon is a three day stage endurance event held since 1983 on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving on the Big Island of Hawaii. Day one is a 6.2-mile swim from Kailua Pier to Keauhou Beach followed by a 90-mile bike ride to Volcanoes National Monument. Day two is a 171.4-mile bike ride from Volcanoes National Monument to Hawi. Day three is a double marathon run from Hawi to the old airport park in Kailua-Kona.