Triathlon News & Notes: Mary Cain at Malibu Tri, Arland Macasieb Released from Hospital, and More
All the (non-Kona) news from the triathlon world this week.
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News about the Ironman World Championship may be filling your feeds and dominating headlines this week, but here’s what else has happened in and around the triathlon world over the past seven days.
Sprint and Relay World Championships, set to take place in Bermuda, canceled
Amid the hubbub of the Ironman World Championships being moved from Kona, Hawaii to St. George, Utah next year, you might have missed that another world champs fell victim to the pandemic this week. The highly-touted Sprint and Relay World Championships, set to take place in Bermuda on Oct. 15 to 17, were canceled, due to the island’s recent spike in COVID-19 infections in addition to the Bermuda Hospital’s elevated COVID-19 patient intake. On her Instagram, gold medalist and Bermuda native Flora Duffy posted that she was “devastated and heartbroken” by the turn of events, saying “it has taken some processing, including some tears,” to accept the news.
Mary Cain, Rich Roll to highlight Malibu Triathlon celebrity division
Mary Cain, the phenom runner who won a world junior championship in the 3,000m event at the age of 18, will trade her sneakers for cycling shoes this weekend at the Malibu Triathlon. Now 25, Cain joins ultra-endurance athlete and podcast host Rich Roll, as well as fellow pro runner Olympian Alexi Pappas to complete a relay in the swim and run leg, respectively. “This will be one of the few times I’ve rode clipped in,” Cain admitted in an Instagram live with the Malibu Triathlon on Thursday evening. “So I’m more in the information gathering stage with cycling than going out and really trying to conquer a specific goal.” The Malibu Tri goes off on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. ET.
Filipino former pro triathlete released from hospital three weeks after being hit and dragged by a car
A few weeks ago, we reported about Arland Macasieb, a former pro triathlete from the Philippines who was hit and then dragged by a car for almost 100 feet while riding his bike in Fairfield, New Jersey on Sept. 4. On Friday, which happened to be his birthday, the 45-year-old left St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson with a clap-out as hospital staff lined the lobby of the hospital to see him off on his way home. “We are so vulnerable out there on our bikes. Whenever there is a collision we always lose. But we can win when we come together as a community and rally around each other,” posted Macasieb on the GoFundMe page established to support his recovery. “I will try to thank you all individually but it is still a number of surgeries before I will be able to type with two hands.”
Sam Holness becomes the first known autistic triathlete to race 70.3 Worlds
History was made on Saturday when Sam Holness, a 27-year-old British triathlete, became the first known triathlete with autism to compete in the Ironman 70.3 World Champs. Holness originally made headlines back in April when he launched his plan to qualify for the Ironman World Championships. But first, he conquered half the distance, completing the St. George race in 5 hours, 44 minutes. Next up, Holness—who dreams of going pro—will participate in the virtual London marathon and follow that up with Ironman Portugal on Oct. 23.
RELATED: Autism Isn’t Stopping Sam Holness From Going Far (And Fast)
Polish man sets new quintuple ironman mark
A 33-year-old from Poland covered some 12 miles (19 km) of swimming, 559 miles (900 km) of cycling, and 131 miles (211 km) of running in 67 hours, 58 minutes, and 1 second to become the fastest ever quintuple Ironman, according to local reports. Robert Karaś set out to complete the feat in Mexico earlier this week, with a course that traveled from León to Manuel Doblado Guanajuato, some 250 miles outside of Mexico City—and 2,000 meters above sea level . He beat the previous record, held by Germany’s Richard Jung, by nearly five hours, but it didn’t come easily. “It was hell. It cannot be compared to any other run,” Karaś, who sprained his ankle during the event. “It was 100 times worse than ever before.”
Leanda Cave emerges from retirement, podiums in epic endurance race
2012 Ironman World Champion and Ironman 70.3 World Champion Leanda Cave found herself in a familiar place earlier this month: Back on the podium. The 43-year-old, who retired in 2018, competed in the famed SOS Triathlon in New Paltz, New York on Sept. 12, an 8-stage race that requires a grueling 30-mile bike, 4.4-mile run, 1.1-mile swim, 5.5-mile run, .5-mile swim, 8-mile run, .5-mile swim, and then a .5-mile uphill run to finish. Cave, who finished third behind Rebeccah Wassner and Liz Gilden, posted, “I have no plans of coming out of retirement, but you will see my racing every now and then as my passion for triathlon will be with me for life.” She has since announced that she’s in the field for SOS Cape Cod, slated for Saturday.
Athletes head to New York for USAT long course nationals
National champions in the long course triathlon, duathlon, and aquabike will be crowned this weekend in Stony Point, New York. The event, held in conjunction with the aptly-named Toughman Tri, will take competitors over a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run (for the triathletes) on the challenging course. On Sunday, the standard-distance aquabike (1.5-kilometer swim and 40k bike) will go off. On both days, athletes will race not only for national titles, but also for the chance to represent Team USA at the 2022 World Triathlon Age-Group Championships for their respective disciplines.
Voting still open for USAT Board of Directors
Voting remains open for 2021 USA Triathlon Board of Directors and Athletes’ Advisory Council. Nine candidates are running for five positions. The election will stay open until Oct. 15, and all USA Triathlon annual members are eligible to vote. (Members received a personalized link to cast their votes via email.) Composed of 12 members, the board represents the interests of the sport of triathlon in the U.S. by providing USA Triathlon with policy, guidance, and strategic direction.
Podcast Notes
- Arild Tveiten, the head coach and sports director of the Norwegian Triathlon Federation (and longtime coach of Olympic gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt) heads to That Triathlon Show to share some secrets to his success as well as his Tokyo takeaways. (Bonus for Outside+ members: Blummenfelt’s Gold Medal Workouts.)
- In his latest podcast, the podcast host formerly known as Triathlon Taren announces a change to his company name and direction, citing that he’s dropping the nicknames in order to embrace the future with the MōTTIV training app.
- The World Triathlon podcast brings on Paralympic gold medalist Brad Snyder to talk about his time in Tokyo.
- On the Triathlete Hour, co-host Laura Siddall joins for a recap of the 70.3 World Championship races—with all the details you might have missed from the broadcast and the report from the ground.
- ProTriNews also offers its own hot takes on 70.3 Worlds and looks ahead to the big races that remain in the season. (Earlier in the week, they spoke with 70.3 world champ Gustav Iden and his countryman Blummenfelt about the race in St. George).
- The TriDoc podcast brings on Ironman legend and coach Mark Allen, plus a discussion on how “falling back” with daylight savings can impact performance and training.
- Get caught up on all things Super League Triathlon on their Short Chute show, including a recap of last week’s Jersey event.
- The Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete podcast brings on Dr. Chris Myers, author of the new book Triathlon Training with Power to chat about why power training matters and what it all means.