With a new course and the largest pro field in the 11-year history of the event, the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, held on November 20, made for ideal racing conditions. Both 2003 champions, Australian Simon Thompson and Canadian Carol Montgomery had returned to defend their titles, although both would fall short in the end by only seconds.

In the men's race, Aussie Richie Cunningham led through most of the day, taking the lead on the bike and then out on the run. The heat, lack of wind and shade, and hard charging Thompson and fellow Aussie Craig Alexandar were unforgiveable, and the two chasers soon passed Cunningham to duke it out for first. With less than a kilometer to go Alexandar would prove more dominant on the day, pulling ahead of Thompson and taking the win. Thompson gave all credit to Alexandar, saying "Craig was awesome. He was so strong I just couldn't go with him. I'm really happy with second today." Cunningham finished in third. Peter Reid, who also started today, had to pull out on the bike due to mechanical difficulty.

For the women, Barb Lindquist led out of the water--she was actually the second overall participant out of the water--with Nicole Hackett only seconds behind. The heat soon caught up with Lindquist, who fell a bit behind while Hackett soloed away out front. Montgomery was making up time on the lead, although Hackett still was first to enter T2.

Much was the same for the run, with Hackett leading and Montgomery hard-charging behind. The Canadian didn't have enough to catch Hackett, who took the title. Montgomery finished second, and Lindquist held on for third. Lisa Bentley, who was racing for her first time at Laguna Phuket, came in fourth.

Congratulations Craig and Nicole! from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.

For further coverage of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon, please see Triathlete's March issue. For immediate results and splits, visit www.lagunaphukettriathlon.com.