Ironman Texas athletes fight the wind and heat
Jailbreak 100, Xterra ATX and others round out the weekend.
Hello endurance athletes,
It’s been an interesting week around here. I raced the very windy conditions at Jailbreak 100 / Jailbird 55, then cheered on friends at Ironman Texas on Saturday, Sunday saw me planting a couple of maple trees and then washing dust and grime off my bike. I was all set to go in and pack for a business trip to Chicago and relax for the evening. It was a great weekend.
Then a post hole digger got jammed in the garage door rails and higgledy-piggledy ensued.
That was followed by weather-cancelled flights, rescheduled flights and hotel reservations, and all kinds of crazy. So, I’m tired and the newsletter is late. But we’re getting it out!
One note before we jump in. I did hear back from Bike Law about the Deer Park incident. They are on it, and I expect an update coming soon. We’ll have it.
On with the news.
McCauley, Hoffman take Ironman Texas
While it was windy on my 55-mile gravel race Saturday, all I could think was, “man, at least I’m not out on the Hardy Toll Road.”
It was a tough day out there, but spirits were very high with the first normal Ironman Texas since the pandemic started. Many of the racers were on their third training cycle for the race, so it would take a lot get the best of them.
Jocelyn McCauley, formerly of College Station and a regular at the race and in The Woodlands, nabbed her first win of the race. She came painfully close to getting on the podium in 2016 when she passed out with less than a mile to go, gathered herself, and ended in 10th with a case of “Ironman lean.” In 2019, she gave Ironman World Champion Daniela Ryf a literal run for her money, coming in second after leading through much of the race. This year she dominated, hammering out a 12-minute win with swimmer extraordinaire Lauren Brandon in second. Brandon is out of Fort Worth, so it was a great Texas weekend for the women at the race.
McCauley’s race report is on this Instagram post, click-through to read it.
Here’s Ironman’s highlight reel from the pro women’s race.
The men’s race was a slug fest featuring a sprint finish between Ben Hoffman and Magnus Ditlev. Hoffman, famously fast, sat on Ditlev’s shoulder as they jockeyed through the last several turns and chicanes. As they entered the finisher’s chute, Hoffman hammered a corner and Ditlev had no response and seemed to come unstuck after that. Here’s the video.
And the complete men’s highlight reel.
And the full highlight reel with pro athlete interviews.
There are so many great photos from the race, they are hard to pick, but here are a few of my favorites.
XTerra ATX
The off-road triathlon, duathlon and trail runs took place last weekend in Pace Bend Park on Lake Travis near Austin.
The men’s winner for the roughly-Olympic distance race was Andy Lee from Lakeway in 2:24:22.
The women’s winner was Alissa Magrum, who is executive director at Colin’s Hope, a children’s water safety organization. She won in 3:28:28.
Here are the complete results from the races.
And some more photos from the race.
Jailbreak 100 / Jailbird 55 Gravel Challenge
The 100-mile event was won by Chase Collins, who finished in 4:48:01, an incredible time in the brutal, brutal wind. He finished just about 4-minutes behind his win last year, the inaugural year of the race.
The women’s winner was Nicole Jurisch, of the Cantu Cycling Wheels team.
Podium photos on this Instagram link.
Complete results available on the event page on Facebook.
Meme of the Week
Featured Events
Texas MS150 | 2-day ride, various routes | Start from several cities, end in Austin | April 30-May 1
Texasman Triathlon | Sprint, Olympic, X-50 distance triathlon | Valley View | May 1
Texas Switchback | 26.2, 13.1, 10K, 5K trail run | Johnson City | May 7
Gravel Locos | 30 - 150 mile gravel grinder | Hico | May 12-14
Texas State Time Trial Championships | Individual and team trial race | Hempstead | May 14
Bike MS: Round Up Ride | 2-day ride, various routes | Frisco top Texas Motor Speedway | May 14-15
Buffman & Squeaky Triathlon Festival | Olympic, sprint, kids triathlon | Ransom Canyon Lake | May 15
Sylvan Beach Triathlon / Duathlon | Olympic, sprint, tri and du | La Porte | May 15
OTB Cyclery Enduro at Cameron Park | Enduro bike race, various classes including e-bike | Waco | May 20
Possums Revenge | 69M, 52M, 56K, 17M, 8M AND 4M trail runs | Possum Kingdom Lake | May 21
Fort Worth Triathlon | Olympic, sprint, relay tri and du | Forth Worth | May 22
CapTex Triathlon | Olympic, sprint, super sprint, tri, relays, aquabike | Austin | May 30
Texas Trail Running Festival | 26.2, 13.1, 10K, 5K, Youth 1 mile trail runs | Krause Springs | June 4
Rattlesnake Gravel Grind | 111, 66, 32 mile gravel grinder | Sweetwater | June 17-18
Cypress Tris & Trails Fest | Tris, trail runs, MTB, youth and doggie splash and dash | Cypress | July 23-24, 30
Blazin’ Saddle 75 | 75M, 100K, 40M, 20M ride | Granbury | August 6
WRATH 24/48 Texas Endurance Runs | 24 / 48 Hour timed run | Forth Worth | August 12-14
Hotter’N Hell 100 | 100M ride, crits, gravel, MTB, more | Wichita Falls | August 26-29
Rock Dallas Triathlon | Olympic Tri | Flower Mound | September 10
Texas City Tri | Sprint tri, Du, Aqua-Bike | Texas City | October 1
Snapping Tortuga | 5K, 2.5K and 1,250M OWS | Lake Conroe | October 1
Media We are Consuming
Texas sisters with multiple sclerosis ready to bike the MS 150 this weekend (Houston Chronicle)
Central Texas dad trains for 600 mile bike tour to raise awareness for organ donation (KWTX)
Chip Gaines posts adorable video of 3-year-old son Crew running at marathon (Today)
Hundreds hit the road for Lubbock Mayor's Marathon (Avalanche-Journal)
From 500 pounds to competing in an Ironman Triathlon (Fox26)