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March 17, 2012

Lavaman Keauhou replaces Lavaman Waikoloa as BOUS Qualifier

For years, Aloha State athletes have qualified early in the season, at the spectacular Lavaman Wailoloa race. The race was often the first on the BOUS calendar, sometimes (like this year) second to Florida. With the 2012 BOUS Championship now moving

2013 Championship Athlete Information Page

Welcome, Qualified Athletes! We look forward to meeting you and your families, and showing you the triathlon time of your life!

Destination With Chicago as your destination city, we are optimistic that athletes from all corners of the U.S. will be able to find convenient and cost-effective flights. This is the first weekend after Memorial Day and summer has unofficially begun, so bring the family and enjoy all that Chicagoland has to offer. Everybody knows about the Windy City, but you'll be delighted with all that Northwest Indiana has to offer...from noisy casinos and concerts to serene sand dunes and bird sanctuaries...to make this your most memorable triathlon travel ever.

Airports Chicago Midway (MDW), Chicago O'Hare (ORD) or possibly Gary/Chicago International for regional connections (GYY)
See maps at bottom of page

Host Hotel
You and your family will zone out, zen out or just catch some relaxing zzz's, with the help of the Radisson's indoor pool and waterfall, relaxing outdoor pool and spa, or on your personal mattress firmness selection [all rooms feature Sleep Number beds, standard]. On-site breakfast cafe, Starbucks, fitness center, and TJ Maloney's Irish pub. Trust us, TJ's reuben rolls are not to be missed [and we didn't think we even liked sauerkraut!]. TJ's been kind enough to provide a 20% off offer for BOUS families for Saturday June 1....we recommend you make it part of your plans!

Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza
800 E. 81st Avenue
Merrillville, IN 46410

BOUS Group Rate $99 per night, for either a Standard King room or Double Queen (regularly $169/night)

To Reserve Call 219-769-6311 ext. 1 and ask for Best of the U.S. Group Rate

Sharing Athletes who would like to share accommodations can cannect on Facebook at Best of the U.S. Triathletes

Race Registration You are entering Leon's Triathlon via a special Best of the U.S. division registration link.
Entry fee is $135 and will not increase for BOUS athletes. Course maps

Where to go
Best of the U.S. Hospitality Center will be in the Cabanas in the Radisson's Atrium Area. This is Hang-out Central, as well as your packet pick-up area.

Weekend Schedule
Hopefully you can fly in by Friday and have a leisurely time getting to know the area...but if not, do try to be there by early afternoon Saturday. There is a mandatory pre-race meeting and reception Saturday afternoon. Exact time and location are yet to be determined. Typically this session is around 3 or 4 PM...late enough to allow for travel logistics, but early enough to not interfere with your pre-race dinner and evening rituals. We'll notify you via email when the specifics are nailed down. Race time is Sunday morning, presently scheduled for 7 AM, although that could adjust by 10 or 15 minutes either way, depending on final number of competitors for both BOUS and Leon's citizen's race. All BOUS competitors race head-to-head in a single gender wave, regardless of age, and return some 2 hours later to much adulation, cheers and fanfare.

Post-race amenities and awards will happen on-site at the Pavilion post-race, but you'll want to stick around. A special BOUS group excursion is planned for Sunday afternoon...details will be forthcoming soon.

Get your bearings

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A closer look
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Bike Support
As-good-as-it-gets bike support is being provided by Urban Tri Gear. Urban has two locations in the greater Chicago area. With Owner Preston Bokos and Head Mechanic Luke, urbantrishop your bike will be in the best possible hands for shipping, assembly and all manner of fit and mechanical needs. Urban Tri Gear's reputation is such that races around the country hire them to bring their trailer and their expertise.

Bikes shipped to them will be delivered to the venue on Friday, May 31. Their trailer will be manned Friday through Sunday, pretty much around the clock.

Make arrangements with them by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with subject line: Leon's Tri - BOUS for prompt attention.
urbantri_logo

September 10, 2011

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

holly_wins Gulf Shores, AL / September 10, 2011––A perfect day at the sugar-sand beaches of Gulf Shores / Orange Beach, Alabama set the matt_wins 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.

August 08, 2011

The new face of Team Alaska

team_alaska_crop By Race Director Andy Duenow
It was a rain soaked morning for the race… 47 degrees and wet all over! But some solid races by some of Alaska’s best!

For the men… With a string of SIX 2nd places already this year to a couple of the state’s best… It was Jason Lamoreaux’s race to lose with both Jens [Beck, 2010 National Champion] and Will Ross unable to play! True to form, Jason blitzed the bike to come into T-2 with former BOUS racer Fred West… then ran away with the victory. Fred hung on for 2nd, with Luke Kiskaddon, Michael Wheatall and Andy Kirk rounding out the top 5.

For the gals… similar to the men… with Shannon [Donley, 2nd place at 2010 Championship] out of the mix.. it was going to be a race between Amber Stull and Lori Deschamps. But with the wet, windy conditions… any feeling in feet for the start of the run was only just a fantasy!! Blocks of ice to run on was the norm for all racers today… and the combination proved too much for Lori as she had to drop out after the bike with severe hypothermia. Amber had race-best bike and run splits to take the win unchallenged… with Larrell Lockard* [consistently strong performances at the Championship], Katy Povolo [raced the Championship for Mississippi in 2006], Suzanne Wheatall and Janna Miller rounding out the top 5.

*Missing from photo is Larrell; she couldn’t stay at all… probably needed a hot tub!

WOMEN
Amber Stull, 33, Anchorage
Larrell Lockard, 37, Anchorage
Katie Povolo, 35, Anchorage

MEN
Jason Lamoreaux, 33, Anchorage
Fred West, 42, Anchorage
Luke Kiskaddon, 37, Anchorage

July 15, 2011

Big CRs for mid-season frontrunners

St. Paul, Minnesota's Dan Hedgecock and Worcester, Massachusetts' Catherine Sterling are arguably the most dominant amateurs in American triathlon right now. Each raced to course-record-smashing victories last Saturday at the 10th anniversary edition of the Life Time-Minneapolis Triathlon.