About the author:

Medur is our go-to person for many of the essential tasks involved in putting on our races: race setup, our lap counting system and our website. An enthusiastic runner himself, he has participated in many editions of the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run in Canada and the US.

Lessing, Bentley Take Half Ironman Florida

By Jay Prasuhn

It was as much a surprise to her as anyone else, but when Lisa Bentley got off the bike in second place at the inaugural Florida Half Ironman at Walt Disney World, she was as surprised as the rest the deep field."You know, I haven't have good training leading up to thisâ€”at least I didn't think I did," Bentley said. It was more than good. Against one of the deepest fields of the year, Bentley's 2:28 bike was third-best on the day. Combined with a trademark run, her day-best 1:21 half marathon cemented a four-minute victory in Orlando, in 4:22:04.

Another question was answered Sunday: could Great Britian's Simon Lessing manage the step-up from short-course to long-course? His last attempt at the distance was in 1995 when he won the Nice Long Course World Championships.

He answered it confidently. Against a smashing 2:02 bike effort by Sweden's Bjorn Andersson and a no-less-impressive 2:07 effort by American Chris Lieto, Lessing sent forth a balanced effort that saw him bide his time on the bike, then stride past the two strong bikers on the half-marathon to win in 3:52:02.

The women's race began with Boulder's Monica Caplan tearing out of the 1.2-mile swim in 26:08. But her lead would be short-lived, as she fell victim to an uncharacteristicly flat day. Several other top hopefuls, including reigning Hawaii Ironman World Champion Lori Bowden, fellow Canadian Melissa Spooner and New Zealander Lyndley Allison, quickly fell off contending bike pace.

Driving that pace was Austin's Andrea Fisher. Out of the water on Caplan's feet, she was able to keep the pace up throughout the bike, extending to nearly a two-minute lead over a pursuing Gollnick and Bentley.

But the runners were coming. Or rather, they were already there. Bentley surprised by passing Gollnick late in the bike to start the run in second position just two minutes back.

In her element, run specialist Bentley pressed on to take the lead from Fisher just a few miles into the run, cruising in for the win. Gollnick faded off Bentley's pace but still have a substantial advantage over the balance of the field to take second.

Surprising was the third-place result by Canadian Heather Fuhr. Off the bike in 12th place, she took flight with a 1:21:37 half marathon to pass eight women and earn a place on the podium. Nearby Tampa pro Lara Shaw, passed in the last half mile by Fuhr, took fourth.

The men's race saw Andersson, a growing bike phenom after a third-place finish at Ironman New Zealand this year, blast off to take the immediate solo bike lead. The only man to stay relatively close was reigning U.S. National Champion Lieto, two minutes back early in the bike.

Behind, a group including several heavy hittersâ€”Aussie Luke Bell, New Zealander Cameron Brown, German Uwe Widmann, Ukranian Victor Zyemtsev, Britan Spencer Smith and American Michael Lovatoâ€”gave chase a further two minutes behind Lieto.

But as the chase wore on (driven by occasional Boulder training partners Lessing and Lovato), the all-star group thinned out. Brown and Bell, experiencing flat days, fell off pace (with Bell dropping out), and Smith being assessed an unknown standdown penalty that took him from the closely-monitored chase group at the 40-mile mark of the bike. Playing his only card, Andersson rolled into T2 with a four-plus-minute buffer on Lieto and eight minutes on Lovato and Lessing, hoping it would be enough. As the run wound through Disney's Osprey Ridge Golf Course, the 90-degree F temperatures combined with a rolling cement cart path wore the Swede down.

Behind, Lieto closed on Andersson, while Lessing, with Lovato in tow, closed on Lieto. In a leapfrog, Lieto assumed a short-lived lead, as Lessing, with his long stride, took the race reigns with from Lieto with just over two miles left in the race.

Lessing extended to a five-plus minute win over Lieto, while Lovato pushed past Andersson to take the final podium spot from the intrepid Swede. German Uwe Widmann held off Kiwi Brown to take fifth.

2004 Florida Half Ironman

May 23, 2004, Orlando, Florida

1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run

Men

1. Simon Lessing (GBR) 25:10 2:11:03 1:13:21 3:52:02

2. Chris Lieto (USA) 25:42 2:07:01 1:19:04 2:54:19

3. Michael Lovato (USA) 25:45 2:10:38 1:16:26 3:55:06

4. Bjorn Anderssen (SWE) 25:24 2:02:43 1:23:59 3:55:23

5. Uwe Widmann (GER) 26:21 2:10:41 1:17:28 3:56:39

6. Cameron Brown (NZL) 25:43 2:12:43 1:17:11 3:57:51

7. Victor Zyemtsev (UKR) 26:02 2:12:31 1:20:28 4:01:10

8. Spencer Smith (GBR) 25:39 2:20:00 1:14:19 4:02:14