Frontpage Championship Info

Matt Payne & Holly Walker are 2011 Best of the U.S. National Champions!

Gulf Shores, AL / September 10, 2011––A perfect day at the sugar-sand beaches of Gulf Shores / Orange Beach, Alabama set the stage for victories on many levels at the 2011 Best of the U.S. Amateur Triathlete Championship. Low humidity, moderate temps and a flat, fast course designed by Team Magic for host race Brett Robinson Alabama Coastal Triathlon contributed to a wetsuit-legal swim in the Gulf and some

seriously all-out fast performances.

Like winner Matt Payne's 27 MPH bike split. "It was one of those times when it all comes together," said Payne.  "Three solid splits, and no epic fails" were enough to stay ahead of Minnesota teammate and friendly nemesis Patrick Parish, whose 33:20 10K was nearly two minutes faster than Payne's. It was also enough to run down Louisiana's 20-year-old Ben Hall, whose bike was fastest of the day (55:07) and who hit the run course in first place but faded to finish fourth. Florida's Colin Riley was second behind Hall at the start of the run and overtook him, but was passed by the speedy Parish and Payne; he held on for third.

Payne, 2010's 30-34  National Champion and a new father, was third at BOUS a year ago.

When you're a teacher/coach, mom to two young children and a triathlete training and racing in Montana, you don't tend to get a lot of notoriety. But when Holly Walker showed up at Best of the U.S. 2009 in tenth place at what was likely the most competitive women's field ever, on the heels of her 9th overall/2nd AG placing at 2008 Nationals, she put the rest of the field on notice that she was in it to win it. Coming back in 2010, she improved to 4th place among women, impressively coming in just behind the likes of Joanna Fiddler (Champion, Oklahoma), Shannon Donley (Alaska) and Suzanne Huelster (Colorado).

After today's swim, Walker had nearly 3 minutes to make up on fast-as-a-dolphin Rebecca (Villers) Carpenter from Georgia (photo, right). Rebecca, in fact, was second out of the ocean, her 19:11 swim second only to Ohio's Ross Hartley's 18:45. (Hartley was 2nd at the '09 Championship.) Carpenter looked sharp as a tack heading out first on the run. But Walker had made up about two minutes on the bike, and her strong 40:09 run was enough to overtake Carpenter and pad her margin of victory with another minute. 

Full Results
The start, 2011 Best of the U.S. Championship, Gulf Shores, Alabama

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