Athletes at Altitude: ‘Twas a Wonderful Season

As the holiday season continues to march on and 2016 steadily approaches, I was thinking back to IRONMAN 70.3 San Juan, one of the first races I covered for this new adventure in working at ColoradoTriathlete.com. I had no idea what to expect as I covered each weekend of races and solicited quotes and pictures from Colorado’s pro triathletes, most of them probably asking themselves, “Who the heck is she?”

Whether they asked that question or not, the pros came through and graciously answered questions and discussed their races in detail, giving me some great insight to report. With that, thank you to all of the Colorado pros, their loved ones, and those who read my articles this past year! I appreciate your keeping me posted on who was new in town, who was racing where, and reminding me of some of the smaller races that might not be supported by a major triathlon company. Thanks to all of you, I will be back in 2016, where we will be ramping it up with video interviews and exclusive coverage of your favorite Colorado pros.

Here’s a little year-end wrap up, in no particular order, of some of the great things that our Colorado pros accomplished throughout 2015.

Rachel Joyce continues her podium dominance and places second at the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona.

Tim O’Donnell breaks through in Kona and podiums with a third place at the IRONMAN World Championships.

Kiwi Callum Millward beats a tough crowd to take the crown at IRONMAN Boulder 70.3, along with a second place finish at IRONMAN Coeur D’Alene.

Dede Griesbauer wins the inaugural IRONMAN Taiwan and finishes top-25 in Kona.

Andy Potts scorches the field by almost 20 minutes at IRONMAN Coeur D’Alene and finishes fourth in Kona for the second straight year.

James Hadley makes his post-knee-surgery comeback this year and places second at IRONMAN 70.3 Los Cabos and fourth at IRONMAN 70.3 Austin.

Robbie Wade finishes fourth at IRONMAN 70.3 Dublin.

Tyler Butterfield shines in Kona with a fifth place finish.

Mirinda Carfrae takes second at the Des Moines Triathlon and third at Vineman 70.3.

Justin Daerr takes second at IRONMAN Mont Tremblant and third at IRONMAN Canada.

Tim Don wins four 70.3 races including the North American Championship in St. George, and finishes 15th in his first-ever time racing at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.

Patrick Evoe finishes second at IRONMAN Taiwan and third at IRONMAN Japan (without missing the birth of his first born).

Mary Beth Ellis wins the long course World Championships.

Cameron Dye wins St. Anthony’s and Challenge Knoxville.

Flora Duffy wins the XTERRA World Championships.

Craig “Crowie” Alexander wins IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong.

Leon Griffin wins Challenge Melbourne and takes second at IRONMAN 70.3 Auckland.

Liz Blatchford wins IRONMAN Cairns and finishes third at the IRONMAN World Championships.

Jodie Swallow wins IRONMAN South Africa.

Alicia Kaye wins IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder and places fifth at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships.

Bek Keat wins Challenge Shepparton.

Danielle Mack wins IRONMAN Canada.

Ben Hoffman finishes eighth at IRONMAN Texas and fifth at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.

Richie Cunningham wins IRONMAN 70.3 Pucon fourth at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.

Jeanni Seymour wins her first 70.3 distance race in Austin.

Davide Giardini finishes fourth at IRONMAN 70.3 Texas.

Michelle Menhert finishes eighth in the ITU Sprint Triathlon Asia Cup.

Paula Findlay grabs ninth at Toronto Pan American Games.

Josiah Middaugh wins XTERRA World Championships.

Branden Rakita finishes 20th in the XTERRA World Championships.

Nikki Butterfield balances motherhood and triathlon and qualifies for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships.

Lauren Goss brings home several 70.3 wins including the inaugural Challenge San Gil.

Rudy Von Berg wins Challenge San Gil.

Kathy Rakel finishes 10th in a tough IRONMAN 70.3 Austin field.

Drew Scott finishes sixth in a loaded field at IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel.

Paul “Barney” Matthews finishes sixth at IRONMAN 70.3 Austin.

Sam Appleton puts on a show and brings home some victories including IRONMAN 70.3 Austin.

Tim Van Berkel wins IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast and takes second at both IRONMAN Melbourne and IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines.

Chris “Big Sexy” McDonald finishes fifth at IRONMAN Canada and sixth at IRONMAN Mallorca.

Lesley Smith outruns the field with the fastest run splits in her races including her third place finish in IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.

Greg Bennett finishes sixth at IRONMAN 70.3 Texas.

Laura Bennett finishes podiums with a third place finish at the Des Moines Triathlon.

Joe Umphenour finishes 13th at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.

Matt Chrabot wins IRONMAN 70.3 St. Croix and turns in five second-place finishes.

Kevin Collington wins Challenge Williamsburg and takes second IRONMAN 70.3 Monterrey.

Chris Leiferman finishes second at IRONMAN 70.3 San Juan and ends the year as a newlywed.

Justin Metzler finishes seventh at Challenge San Gil.

Mark Bowstead finishes third at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.

Jimmy Seear finishes 15th at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder and competes at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships.

Paul Ambrose wins IRONMAN Australia.

Sean Daugherty finishes 12th at the New York City Triathlon.

Uli Bromme finishes seventh at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.

AJ Baucco finishes eighth at Challenge Knoxville..

Christine Hammond finishes second at Challenge Ixtapa.

Matt Russell finishes second at IRONMAN Cozumel.

Ellie Salthouse finishes sixth at the New York City Triathlon.

Katy Blakemore finishes second at IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.

Steven Zawaski finishes 13th at IRONMAN 70.3 Texas.

Valentina Carvallo finishes second at IRONMAN 70.3 Pucon.

Colin Laughery joins the pro field this year and finished 19th at IRONMAN Arizona.