Bella Bayliss :: Tri Life Adventure

Archive for Bella Bayliss

Jul

Ironman Austria 2010

Posted by: robin | Comments (0)

Vanhoenacker goes sub-8 in Klagenfurt

Marino Vanhoenacker cemented his place amongst the Ironman legends by posting his fifth straight Klagenfurt victory in 7:52:05 which is surprisingly still 9 seconds slower than the course record held by another great, Peter Reid.

Vanhoenacker exited the water in fourth place before taking the lead on the bike leg, eventually posting an incredible 4:18 before closing the race out with a 2:42 marathon. So dominant was his performance that the second placed athlete, Dennis Devriendt, finished more than 20 minutes behind him with home favourite and uber-biker, Michael Weiss, taking third.

There was however some consolation for the Austrians as Eva Dollinger took the women’s race by a comfortable margin as her main rivals, Rebecca Preston and Bella Bayliss, withdrew during the cycle and run legs respectively. Karina Ottosen of Denmark to made a late surge that never really threatened Dollinger but was enough to give her second while age grouper, Beate Goertz filled the final spot on the podium.

Women

Eva Dollinger (AUT) 9:18:50
Karina Ottosen (DEN) 9:34:50
Beate Goertz (GER) 9:38:56 (Age-Group 40-44)

Men

Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 7:52:05
Dennis Devriendt (BEL) 8:12:51
Michael Weiss (AUT) 8:14:50

Categories : News, Results

Comments (0)

Jun

Ironman 70.3 UK

Posted by: robin | Comments (0)

Cartmell and Bayliss win in Wimbleball

Billed by race organisers as the toughest 70.3 race on the calendar and held in the isolated Exemoor National Park, Ironman 70.3 UK certainly lived up to expectations as the two Scots, Bella Bayliss and Fraser Cartmell, took victory.

Defending champion, Phil Graves, led the men’s field out of the water with Cartmell close behind but once out on the road, Graves put the hammer down and took advantage of the hills to post the fastest bike split of the day, a ‘pedestrian’ 2:30.

Such was the nature of the course that former Ironman World Champion and renowned biker, Faris Al-Sultan could only record a 2:36 on his way to fourth overall.

Despite losing three minutes to Graves, Cartmell wasn’t about to give up and with his running speed he was able to easily pick off the young Graves to take victory and the bragging rights as the ‘toughest 70.3 racer’ out there.

On the ladies side, Lucie Zelenkova led the field out the water but was soon passed by Emma-Kate Lidbury on the bike. Behind Tamsin Lewis and Bella Bayliss set about making up time lost on the swim as they too moved to the front of the field.

Lidbury held a 90 second lead into T2 and looked good for the first half of the run but behind Bayliss was finding her legs and would ultimately run to victory, with Lewis also passing the tired Lidbury in the final kilometre to take second.

Women

Bella Bayliss (SCO) 4:53:52
Tamsin Lewis (AUS) 4:55:42
Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 4:56:26

Men

Fraser Cartmell (SCO) 4:17:03
Philip Graves (GBR) 4:20:27
Jonas Djurback (SWE) 4:24:32

Categories : News, Results

Comments (0)

May

Ironman Lanzarote 2010

Posted by: robin | Comments Comments Off

Photo: jamesmitchell.eu / ironmanlive.com

Morrison stages epic comeback victory

Ironman has had its fair share of drama and another chapter was written in Lanzarote as Catriona Morrison overcame impossible odds to take victory from age-grouper, Louise Collins.

From Julie Moss, to the ironwar of ’89 or Ken Glah and Pauli Kiuru’s sprint finish at Ironman New Zealand, there are dozens of heroic tales emanating from the various Ironman races around the world but rarely, if ever, have we seen a comeback like Morrison’s.

The day started in pretty normal fashion as Hillary Biscay led the ladies field out of the water and into T1. Morrison exited with Bella Bayliss for company but soon set about building an almost 8 minute lead of Tara Norton on the bike.

Then disaster struck!

Morrison’s chain snapped and with the official support vehicle nowhere to be found, it appeared her race was over. Norton assumed the lead and continued to bike hard coming into T2 with a 9 minute lead over Australian, Kate Bevilaqua. Morrison, who had spent 35 minutes on the side of the road, rolled in 27 minutes down and she could have been forgiven for abandoning in favour of coming back another day.

At the half-marathon mark, Bayliss and Norton were in the lead together and while Morrison had already halved her deficit, it was little known age-grouper Louise Collins that was making news as she had closed 15 minutes on the leaders and was clearly the fastest runner on the course.

With just under 10 kilometers to go Collins took the lead and suddenly the prospect of an age-grouper winning a major Ironman race looked a real possibility. Morrison was now the fastest lady out there but was still 4 minutes back and all Collins had to do was hold her pace to the line. Whichever way it finished, the result was going to go down in history and if life was fair Collins and Morrison would have finished in a dead heat, thereby ensuring both immortality.

News from the course was intermittent and even the announcers did now know who was in the lead. With everyone straining to see who would enter the finishing chute first, it was Morrison that came down the mats, high-fiving the crowd and celebrating an amazing victory.

Llanos too fast for Jammaer

After an uneventful swim it was Maik Twelsiek that made the racing out on the tough Lanzarote course with a solid 4:40 bike to give him a 10 minute lead on defending champion Bert Jammaer coming into T2. Abu Dhabi winner, Eneko Llanos, was a further 2 minutes back and clearly the favourite for victory.

Twelsiek’s efforts on the bike clearly hurt him as he was passed first by Llanos and then by Jammaer to fade to third, while up front Llanos showed his run speed to take victory with Jammaer forced to settle for second place.