Published November 8, 2010 05:41PM
One month after being crowned the 2010 Ironman World Champion, Australia’s Chris McCormack decided to toe the starting line of one of the more difficult half Ironmans in North America. McCormack competed at Sunday’s Silverman Half Distance Triathlon in Henderson, Nev., just outside of Las Vegas.
The course for this year’s Silverman Half is said to be very similar to, if not exactly the same as, the 2011 Ironman World Championship 70.3 course. Although the exact layout of the world championship course has not officially been announced, it is known that, like Silverman, the swim will take place in Lake Las Vegas, the bike will head through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the run will take place in the residential streets of Henderson.
McCormack won the Silverman Half in a time of 4:22:54. After the race, he used twitter to comment on the difficulty of the course:
“Nice win at Silverman Triathlon today. I am done for the season. Been a long one. Tough race for worlds next year. Brutal bike course.”
Chico, Calif. resident Joanne Gilchrist, representing the 40-44 age group, was the first female across the finish line at 5:32:04.
Professional triathlete Andreas Wolpert of Germany won the full distance race in 10:04:51. Monique Jawicki of Jucaipa, Calif. took the women’s title in 11:32:35. Jawicki competed as part of the 30-34 age group.