Hello Everyone!
Lisbeth Kenyon
As some of you know, I coach Lisbeth Kenyon, the reigning Ironman Triathlon Age Group Champion (40-44 and 45-49), and she has quite a race coming up this weekend! Lisbeth's "A" race for the season is the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon. Norseman is arguably the hardest single day race on the planet, and certainly the hardest long course triathlon. If you are a triathlete or a fan of the sport and are not familiar with Norseman, check out the video links below. Just watching the athletes jump into a 15? C fjord when the sun is not yet up is epic! Here's the description of the race from the website:
Norseman is the world's toughest long-distance distance triathlon. It is also the most northern, taking place at the same latitude as Anchorage in Alaska. The race is a travel through some of the most beautiful parts of Norway. It is not a normal circuit-race as it starts in a fjord and finishes at mountain Gaustatoppen at 1,850 meters above sea level. Total ascent is 5,000 meters. The water temperature is normally about 15.5 degrees C, and the air temperature normally ranges from 6 to 28 degrees C through the race day. The first about 160 participants are expected to be allowed to finish at the top of the mountain. The others are allowed to finish at the mountain plateau.
The race is limited to only 240 competitors. The competitors need to bring their own support. Normally about 45% of the participants are non-Norwegians and about 15% are female. The prize to the winner is the same as to the last to finish at the top of the mountain; a fabulous black t-shirt. Norseman is the race any hard core triathlete should do once in a lifetime.The male record holder is Bjorn Andersson (Sweden). He hit a snowstorm at mountain Gaustatoppen, but still finished at 10:30 in 2005. The female record holder is Susanne Buckenlei (Germany) at 13:13 in 2010."
Bjorn Andersson's record time of 10:30 gives an instant sense of how hard this race is! Bjorn is normally a ~8:30-9 hr IM finisher, and one of the strongest cyclists in all of triathlon.
Lis is in Norway doing a great deal of course reconnaissance and prep before her race on Sunday. We wish Lis the all of the good fortune and luck that is possible for any one person to have! No one deserves the race gods on their side more than she. We'll let you know how the race turns out for her too!
Llykke Til, Lis, and God Speed!
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