Texas Independence Relay

The Texas Independence Relay is composed of 40 relay legs of various lengths, totaling over 200 miles. The course starts in Gonzales, where the spark of the Texas Revolution took place, and it finishes at the San Jacinto Monument, where Texas Independence was won! To tackle this formidable task, teams of up to 12 members make the trek through Gonzales, Shiner, Moulton, Flatonia, Schulenburg, Weimar, Borden, Columbus, Altair, Eagle Lake, Wallis, Orchard, Simonton, and Fulshear. This all took place over Saturday and Sunday, March 28 – 29.  This year Finish Strong athletes' Christina Farooq, Andy Brock and Ken Page were among the members of one team and Gabriel Belforti and Eduardo Garzon on another team that participated in this big relay weekend.

Christina reports that her team's name was ISLAGIATT ("It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time") finished in @ 27:47.  Christina ran 4 shifts for @20 miles.

Gabe and Eduardo report that their TENARIS turtle team finished in 25:16:39. Gabe reports, "I was the team captain for the Tenaris Turtle Team and we had a blast! We did 25:16:39 hours. A whole new record for our team in its 4th edition."  See below for pics.

Andy Brock at the run exchange for Team ISLAGIATT.

Reaching the San Jacinto Monument

Team Tenaris at start.

Team Tenaris at finish.

Wet 'N Wild Sprint Triathlon in Portland, Texas

Wet 'N Wild Sprint Tri  (300 yard Swim, 14 mile Bike (one loop) and 5K Run) and Newbie Tri (150 yard Swim, 6 mile Bike, and 1 mile Run was held in Portland, Texas on March 38.  FSC's Rodrigo Abascal made a nice comeback!  Rodrigo returned to triathlon after taking a break for college studies and won first place in his AG and 6th overall in the sprint distance tri finishing in 1:13:43.  Rodrigo's girlfriend, Amanda Keeter, won the best newbie in the super sprint finishing in 35:51.  Just like Manuel and Irasema -- these two make a great new couple of triathletes!

Rodrigo makes a grand return to triathlon with AG win!

Amanda rocking her 1st super sprint tri!

For more on results, go to:

http://www.itsyourrace.com/Results.aspx?id=5065

Texas10 Boerne Run

Congrats to Finish Strong athlete Kevin Baker for placing third in his AG at the Texas10 Boerne run despite battling with the flu earlier in the week.  Also, kudos to Jim and Sue Griffis who managed to take 2nd in their AGs in the 10 mile and 5 mile race, respectively.

Kevin enjoying Boerne bluebonnets following another podium finish.

HITS Ocala 70.3

Congrats to Finish Strong's Dana Lyons, Alberto Agostini, Sara Vanderford and Kathleen Crea for competing at the HITS Ocala 70.3 race on March 28.  Dana placed 1st in his AG and 11th overall with a finishing time of 4:57.  Alberto finished 4th in his AG in 5:58.  Kathleen finished 4th in her AG for her first half Ironman side-by-side with Sara Vanderford who finished 7th in her AG.

Temperatures were unseasonably chilly (47 degree) which made for a wet suit swim followed by a bone-chilling windy bike ride, but ended with sunshine and nice cool temperatures for the final run which took place in wooded trails.

Dana running it in for the AG win!

Alberto looking confident at the beginning of the run.

Sara and Kathleen all smiles at the start of the final run!

1st in AG  Dana Lyons  35:31 swim; 2:34:46 bike; 1:41:12 run  overall 4:57:33
4th in AG Alberto Agostini 43:38 swim; 3:00:26 bike; 2:05:22 run overall 5;58:42
7th in AG Sara Vanderford  56:54 swim; 3:39:28 bike; 2:51:07 run overall 7:38:09
4th in AG Kathleen Crea    47:32 swim;   3:44:37 bike; 2:51:08 run overall 7:38:08

More pics available at our Finish Strong Coaching Facebook page.

For more on results, go to:
http://hitstriathlonseries.com/images/stories/ocala15_half_agegroup.pdf

Oceanside California Ironman 70.3

Congrats to Finish Strong's Alan Jones and Geno Zicarelli who competed in Oceanside, California Ironman 70.3 event on Saturday, March 28.  Alan finished in 5:28 and Geno in 6:19.  Alan reports, "It was a great day for racing.  We swam in protected oceanside harbor.  Among the spectators were a half dozen seals in the water accompanying the swimmers.  Then a beautiful course through Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton for the bike with 3 HUGE climbs including 14% grade and 40 mph descents.  Run was along the beach front with great Southern Cal crowd support but blazing hot sun.  Got it done!"

Alan and Geno get it done at Oceanside 70.3!

Alan's splits 34:39 swim;  2:46:05 bike; 2:00:30 run overall 5:28:01
Geno's splits 37:26 swim;  3:05:40 bike  2:27:05 run overall 6:19:35


For more on results, go to
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/california/results.aspx?rd=20150328&race=california70.3#axzz3VoN6KPa9

Ironman New Zealand

Congratulations to Finish Strong's Susan Hardwick-Smith who completed the challenging Ironman New Zealand on March 7, 2015.  This was Susan's second year in a row at Ironman in Taupo,  New Zealand.  This year she coped with heavy winds and rain, but still managed to finish in 13:19:08.  Susan swam a 1:18:17, biked 6:42:05, and finished the final marathon run in 4:58:20.  Well done!

For more results, go to:

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/asiapac/ironman/new-zealand/results.aspx?race=newzealand&rd=20150307&q=Hardwick-Smith#axzz3TvDxZpDi

Heads or Tails 40K Time Trial Beaumont, TX

Congrats to 8 Finish Strong athletes who took on the Heads or Tails Time Trial held in Beaumont, Texas on Saturday, March 7.

Zach Miller putting down the hammer at Heads or Tails 40K TT!

Zach Miller: 1:02:06 - 24.0mph 2nd Place Men’s Cat 5
Alan Jones: 1:02:52  23.7 mph 3rd Place Masters Men 40+  Cat 1/2/3/4
Dale Claudel: 1:03:15.0 23.5mph 6th Place Master's Men 35+ Cat 4/5
John Tortorici: 1:13:17  20.3 mph 13th place Master Men 35+ (not too bad when later he discovered he had a locked front brake)
Ligia Felsen: 1:20:21 18.4 mph 6th place Masters Women 40+
Ryan Myers: 1:20:23  18.6 mph  13th place Men’s Cat 5
Maclane Fulvio: 1:15 (unofficial time).  Would have been 3rd in Women Cat 4, but timing chip was lost when a radio car from the marathon got on the course and tried to play chicken with the cyclists.
Meagen Kelleher: 1:21 (unofficial time).  Timing chip lost going down start ramp.

Maclane, Ryan, Ligia, Meagen and John pictured at Heads or Tails 40K TT!

For more pics, check out

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vfcrajuriw1c40n/AACK1t4lFWHLAFG3PsGeES8va?dl=0

For more results, go to:

http://www.iaapweb.com/results/15/03_07_15_40k_bike.htm