Watch Everybody's Finish

With ratified results from the ITU Triathlon Age Group World Championships now complete, your can view the finish line celebrations and download official finisher’s certificate.

On the ITU’s Age Group Zone's link just enter an athlete’s surname or race number and it will access a personal page with full results, the streamed footage, a link to download the certificate and race photographs.

http://www.triathlon.org/agegroup/agegroup_search/

Margaret Bomberg Home Town Hero!!

www.knvn.com/content/localnews/story/Chico-Senior-Citizen-Becomes-World-Champion-Tri/gSNWw60K8k256MqrfOPM4g.cspx

Margaret has accomplished so much over the years and this is the topper!!

Results from Worlds 2009

:)

Here are two links with resutls from Worlds -- both have searchable functions -- one shows the splits as the competitors went along on race day along with finish times (click on your name and you will get a page with just your splits) -- and the other shows all the final results and splits along with some stats from the event (click on your name and get your details) --

http://www.championchip.hu/eredmenyek/detailed.php?lang=en&year=2009&iframe

http://www.multisportaustralia.com.au/RaceTecResults/Default.aspx?CId=1&RId=351&EId=10

A list of age group winners, including Margaret, can be found here:

http://www.triathlon.org.au/Story.aspx?site=ta&dept=events&section=articles&content=news&item=810

http://www.triathlon.org.au/Story.aspx?site=ta&dept=events&section=articles&content=news&item=809

http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/age_group_and_paratriathlon_world_champions_crowned/

A link to the official media guide:

http://www.worldtriathlongoldcoast.com/docs/Media_Guide_WTC09.pdf?call=TVRFeA==&keep=sh

Happy hunting...

:)

Some Closing Thoughts from Sue Kamrar....

The laundry is done, but not yet put away…my attempt to prolong my official and complete re-entry after a most memorable trip to Australia for the ITU World ChampionshipsWhile the race itself was incredible, it is the people who made the greatest impressions. As I settle back in here in Chico, my 13 teammates (Bill and Shawn included) are at the forefront of my mind. I don’t know how we pulled this off, really, other than we have an amazing, cohesive group with a coach who pushes and prods us to be the best we can be. I can’t stop thinking about the eclectic group we have assembled and the fact that we are in no way shape or form full time athletes. Most of us work full time, and train when we can, and still our results are noteworthy. Maybe balance is the key.First and foremost, our 72 year old world champion: Margaret Bomberg! I want to be like Margaret when I grow up. Actually, I want to be like her right now! This woman raced 3 world championship races in 5 days. And if that wasn’t enough, she was heading to Cairns the day after the race to scuba dive. What touched me about Margaret is her proud sashay to the podium. She was beaming and when she got up there, she was dancing and smiling and having a great time. If anyone deserved to get #1 in the world, it’s her. More notably, perhaps is her impact on other Team USA mem bers. After the Olympic race you could find about 5 of Margaret’s friends from all over the USA waiting to congratulate her in the finish corral, a testament, no doubt to the kind of person and friend she is. Margaret has been to 3 worlds and I honor her (and Mary Ann) for paving the way to Worlds for the rest of us. Thank you Margaret.Mary Ann: Travels more than she trains. Her 10th place finish on Saturday is a window into her innate athleticism and determination. Gaby: Our blog reporter who put a face and name to our journey. Gaby experienced injuries this year so she was not able to maximize her training. I know she had to readjust her goals for worlds throughout the year. For an athlete as gifted as Gaby, I know this was difficult. I am proud of her for her perspective on the experience, her good attitude toward the race and her unending, unselfish support as she herself struggled. What a gift.Elizabeth: This girl never rested until the week before Worlds. I hardly saw her all week, as she was napping, and resting, and hibernating. It did her good, as she had a great race. Elizabeth rode so fast on the bike that I missed her the first time around!Teresa: Our renaissance woman who raises sheep, spins wool, knits socks and rides like the wind. Not surprisingly our fastest time for the Olympic Distance. Susan: Broke her foot 6 months ago, with pins and screws and plates in her ankle. Did this stop her? NO! She dedicated herself to hours and hours of physical therapy to be able to compete in worlds and not only did she race in the Olympic tri, she did the Aquathon as well. I hear those Danes are a hard headed lot! It paid off for Susan!Joanne: Our Boston Marathoner turned lemons into lemonade. With her plantar fascitis so bad in June that she could not run, Joanne turned her attention to the bike. Her incredible success on her TTs and races in Newport and AUS were buoyed up by her willingness to press on inspite of not being able to run. The 40 – 44 age group better watch out, as I know Joanne is determined after finishing only a few minutes off the podium. Reene: My age group competitor who pushes me to beat her every time out. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I thank her for not taking our head to head competition personally. If I beat Reene on any given day, I KNOW I”ve had a good race as she is an animal out there on the course. Thanks for your contagious smile and laughter and for being our team mechanic and for hauling all the tools to AUS. Darlene: Up at 4am every morning to drive a forklift, traveling 30 min. to Chico to train after work…how does she do it? She simply PRed at Worlds. Anne: In her 4th triathlon of her life, Anne places 7th in the WORLD! I can’t stop shaking my head about that one. Kim: Kim swears she’s giving up triat hlons and is going to focus on cycling. I hope she doesn’t. When one places 6th in the world, how can one quit? I even think she is beginning to like running (she won’t admit it), now if she could only ditch the fins!Bill: A triathlon turned duathlon qualifier, and Bill gets into Worlds. I love how he was able to join us and become an honorary member of the Women’s tri club. His resilience after the death of his parents this past year is admirable. Shawn: Our second honorary member did his first triathlon in AUS. I wonder if it will be the last? Other inspirational people at Worlds: 1. The paratriathletes (need I say more?) 2. Nancy Templeton (Team USA) who broke her arm 2 weeks before the race and couldn’t participate, but donned a volunteer t-shirt and was passing out medals to finishers, 3. Kim, who loaned $100 bucks cash to Andy (Team USA) whom she did not know from anyone, so he could buy a new tire, 4. Patrick, who endured hours and hours of racing and took 900 photos of the event, 5. Australians, forever kind, happy, and pleasant folks, who truly seem to have “no worries.” 6. Parents, friends and family members supporting and cheering at home and in AUS for their loved ones (I spoke to an athlete’s mother who had traveled from Beirut, Lebanon to watch her daughter race the AG sprint for Team USA, and there were countless others who did the same, including Mary, Reene s mom, and Darlene’s family), 7. The sole competitor in the 8 0 – 84 age group who made me realize that maybe this sport is not about being the fastest, but about lasting the longest!In a few days, I won’t remember my time, place or splits. What I will remember, in the years to come, is the great time I had with all of you in AUS and the constant inspiration and motivation you have given me over the years. As Gaby said several times over the course of the week, we will have this “forever.”

Final Updated Results

This year's ITU Triathlon World Championship event is now over and the updated final results are out showing how fantastic the Women's Triathlon Club girls did in Australia. The girls are now on to a well earned vacation exploring sites and places we have only dreamed and heard about.

ITU Aquathlon World Championship / 2.5k run – 1k swim – 2.5k run
Mary Ann B. (60-64) 4th -- Darlene H. (55-59) 12th
Teresa K. (50-54) 13th -- Reene F. (45-49) 23rd

ITU Intl. Dist. Tri World Championship / 1.5k swim – 40k bike – 10k run
Margaret B. (70-74) 4th -- Mary Ann B. (60-64) 10th
Susan C. (65-69) 11th -- Teresa K. (50-54) 21st
Gabrielle W. (50-54) 30th --Elizabeth B. (50-54) 37th

ITU Sprint Tri World Championship / 750m swim – 20k bike – 5k run
Margaret B. (70-74) World Champion
Kim A. (55-59) 6th -- Anne Y. (55-59) 7th
Darlene H. (55-59) 12th -- Joanne G. (35-39) 21st
Sue K. (45-49) 23rd -- Reene F. (45-49) 28th

Results from Worlds

A searchable database of the results can be found at:
http://www.championchip.hu/eredmenyek/detailed.php?lang=en&year=2009&iframe=

A list of the age group winners, including Margaret, can be found here:
http://www.triathlon.org.au/Story.aspx?site=ta&dept=events&section=articles&content=news&item=810

http://www.triathlon.org.au/Story.aspx?site=ta&dept=events&section=articles&content=news&item=809

http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/age_group_and_paratriathlon_world_champions_crowned/

From Joanne's Perspective.....

Gaby asked us all to share our experiences, so here I go......

My feet were throbbing and I felt exhausted going from the swim to the bike and finally the run....and that was just when I was a spectator cheering on the girls during the Olympic distance tri. Actually, watching my teammates on Saturday was probably the highlight of the event for me, knowing how hard they have trained and the sacrifices they have made to get here is very inspiring! Being a Canadian, British and US citizen, I was proud to be yelling out "GO USA!!" every time they went by. By the end of the day I was wishing that the sprint tri had been first since I was already totally exhausted, but after a big sushi dinner and a good nights sleep, I was raring to go on Sunday morning.

The swim was a beach start, so I did a couple of not so graceful dolphin dives and was right smack in the middle of full on kicking, pushing and grabbing (I was very happy that Jeanne O'Regan wasn't in my age group!!). I took in lots of salt water but I managed to draft behind another pink cap and I kept hoping she was going the right way, however it seemed like there was a strong current pulling me out and I felt like I zigzagged in the whole way.

Into T1, a bit of fumbling with my wetsuit to get it off and then I was running with my bike. Unfortunately as soon as I got on my bike, the chain fell off so that cost me a few seconds, but I powered through and caught a pack in front of me. From there on, it was leap frogging all the Aussies and Kiwi's. I felt like the course officials' motorcycle was constantly behind me yelling at everyone to stay in single file which was totally impossible. I'm not sure how I made it without a penalty.

With my brand new shiny white tri shoes I was able to easily get my feet out of my shoes before the dismount line and I ran to T2. I was not looking forward to the run...my nemesis. I have hardly trained due to my chronic plantar fasciitis and running a 5K is not my expertise. I really didn't know how to pace myself and actually had to ask a fellow Aussie competitor how many laps the run was. When she told me it was only 1 lap and she didn't seem to be very out of breath, I decided to let her set the pace and I ran right behind her until I could see the final turn, when I took off, grabbed a US flag that was handed to me and sprinted across the finish line. My first thought when I was done was "I can't believe it's over already!" and I felt like I could have done it 2 more times, an obvious indication that I didn't push myself as hard as I could (sorry Preben!!) Oh well,there's always next time and I WILL be back!!

A couple of hours after my race I got to play coach and spectator again while my husband, Shawn competed in the Enticer SprintMan Triathlon, his first ever tri. I think he has a new appreciation of the sport of triathlon as he ran past us yelling out "You guys make this look easy!" He did great and I was very proud that he took this on, especially with the pressure of all the tri girls looking on.

All in all I have had an AMAZING experience in Australia. It's been an honor to compete with all my fellow Women's Triathlon Club teammates.

Preben, now I just have to work on shaving off another 8 minutes....I need your help!!
Joanne

The Team in Action!

The After Glow......

The happy race finishers!!  Everyone had a great day.....

More Photos and Video.....

Reene coming down the chute after her swim, Kim, Darlene and Sue at the swim start.

Coverage of Today's Event.....

Looks like Preben is able to give all the details of today's racing so I can put in the video portion and some more comments from the Olympic distance race.  Here is what Margaret had to say about yesterday...."Except for the swim...I evidently tried to cross the river-triathlon was typical (slow but fun).  It is always pleasurable to meet agaijn all the athletes I've met before.  Everyone is so supportive.  Australia-this part anyway is lovely-the weather and the plants-the ocean all remind me of summers in Long Beach, California.  What is so different are the birds.  We are awakened by one bird that shrieks-one who is quite melodic- and one who cackles.  Going to "tri" the sprint distance tomorrow."

Here is what Susan Clavey had to say...."My swim was good and smooth and lucky because I was in the water just ahead of those fast boys.  Biking was a little scary because of the peletons....one boy came too close and brushed me and I almost went over.  He was ticketed.  I power walked most of the time for the run.  All the way around it was a good race."

You will have to wait a bit for photos of yesterdays race..the olympic because those photos are on other cameras.

Here is a side note:  Shawn Hughes (Joanne's husband) did the Sprint Man Enticer this morning. So it looks like just about everyone here got to race with all the opportunities.

World Champion Margaret

She has put them all to shame and crossed the finish line as the new Sprint Distance World Champion. Party on Margaret.

The Racing is Under Way...3g

Molly Hayes in the 75-79 age divsion has finished and those of you watching will see that with most athletes finished the finish line is clear and everybody is waiting to cheer Margaret home to her first World Championship.

The Racing is Under Way...3f

Bill, in the 55-59 divison, has finished his first of many World Championship races in 30th overall in 1:21:28hrs. I bet Bill will be swimming all winter now.

The Racing is Under Way...3e

18:30 was Bill's swim time. Yes, we have not forgotten that he is also racing today in the 55-59 age division. That put him in 38th place, but he is a strong cyclist and runner so he will most certainly move up over the next hours of racing.

Joanne just crossed the finish line, as announced on the live webcast we are watching, moving up more spots on the run with a 22:44 to finish 21st in 1:16:40 hrs, by far the fastes time among the Chico girls.

Sue kept thing rolling with a 24:47 and a 23rd place in the 45-49 division staying ahead of Reene, who just crossed the finish line smiling all over and cozying up the the Aussiers finishing just ahead of her, with a 24:30 split in 28th. Looks like Reene saved some energy for tonight's medal ceremony party! Sue's time was 1:20:37 and Reene's 1:21:43.

Kim headed out on the run in 4th only 2 minutes down on the leaders and seconds behind 3rd. Running is not Kim's strong suit, but maybe the smell of a medal and knowing that Anne is a better runner will help keep things rolling. Anne, in 8th, was 2 minutes ahead of 9th and 10th and one minute behind a group of three.

And they both kept up the pressure to the finish. Anne ran a 26:41 finishing 7th just behind Kim with a 26:48 split placing her 6th in the 55-59 divison. Darlene also kept things rolling and held on for 12th with a 28:28 split. Kim finished in 1:22:37 as the 2nd best American, Anne in 1:26:06 as the 3rd best American, and Darlene in 1:33:17.

By the way -- For those who have followed things down under, you likely already know that the Women's Triathlon Club will be able to boast of one World Champion after today. Margaret, in the 70-74 age divsion, and in her third race at these events, will, when she finsihes the run, claim the top spot and a World Championship for the US. Way to roll Margaret...

The Commonwealth countries again dominated. As a matter of fact, if it was not for Margaret, the US would only have won the 75-79 and the 35-39 age divisons. With Margaret in the 70-74 age divsion, the US will win three World Championships for the women on the Sprint Distance. Of the 34 medals handed out the US gets 8, the Commonwealth nations get 21, and BRA and NFI each gets one, both 1st placings. But, we plan on working on a few aspects the next few years and put a stop to that dominance!