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Top 5 Things of '09

Cliff — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:19:29 +0000

Was 2009 a good year for you? Did you accomplish what you want? What are your fondest memories of this past season? I’ve taken some time and put together a short list of my favorite multi-sport accomplishments of the past year.

Chrissie is Number 1 Again and again and...

5 – Chrissie Wellington demolishes the Ironman course record in the Quelle Roth Challenge. She was all smiles crossing the finish ling in 8:32. Good luck ladies, that record is going to be hard to beat!

Put a shirt on buddy

4 – The World Championships in Clearwater 70.3 saw a stacked field of athletes. In the end only Germany’s Michael Raelert and Great Britain’s Julie Dibens emerged victorious. What was so spectacular was the times the overall winners produced; 3:34:04 for Raelert and 3:59:33 for Dibens. Both shattered course records by minutes.

Pedaling in the rain

3 – Maybe I’m biased because this next individual is a Canadian who really kicked bum in ’09. Magali Tisseyre was somewhat of an unknown until she took her first overall win in Ironman 70.3 Boisi, Idaho. She followed this up with a slew of podiums and capped it off with a 3rd place finish at the World Championships.

Simon takes first in a great photo finish

2 – After a string of second places, at the Des Moines ITU Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon Simon Whitfield made up for it winning triathlon’s single day biggest payout of $200,000. Whitfield said, “First thing I’m doing is buying this amazing toy house for my daughter Pippa. She’s been running round the front yard at home and really inspired me.”

Was there any doubt who was number 1?

1 – In ITU racing there is one name who simply dominated 2009. That name belongs to a 21 yearold Alistair Brownlee. He raced a perfect season winning every race he entered including the World Championships. In fact, he was rarely challenged as he sped away from his competitors in his fast finishing trademark running style. Watch for him to repeat this performance in 2010.

LMS Athlete Graduates!

Cliff — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:36:38 +0000

The smallest of our group but just got a little smarter. Two weeks ago Figs officially graduated from Puppy school. As a proud owner I knew he could do it. Week after week he pawed, sniffed, fell, and yipped his way through. Not even being ganged up on in the first few classes could stop this pup from accomplishing his first milestone.

Where to now? Figs has his eye on giving Basic Training a go. For now though he just wants to enjoy his time being a puppy.

Thanks to the many who helped him get there.

LMS

2008 LMS Awards

Cliff — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:55:15 +0000

You spoke, we listened. Here are your favorite athletes and things for 2008.

Athlete of the Year: Micheal Phelps. Close vote with Usain Bolt but Phelps showed his true colour, gold, at the Beijing Olympics with 8 gold medals.

Male Triathlete of the Year: Craig Alexander. Yeah it takes guts to win an Ironman and it takes a lot of guts to win the Kona Ironman.

Female Triathlete of the Year: Chrissie Wellington and Emma Snowsill. The first won Kona and the second an Olympic gold medalist.

Canadian Triathlete of the Year: Simon Whitfield. He didn’t settle for fourth place instead making one of the most exciting finishes to a triathlon capturing a silver medal in Beijing.

Just another world record: Kenenisa Bekele. Lowered the marathon record (his own) a little more.

Most Improved Triathlete: Evan Pemberton. He never did a lake swim before this year and won a triathlon, enough said.

Fattest athlete who could still win a time trial: Jan Ulrich. Known to have an eating disorder this guy could still power his bike past his local pastor in any time trial (except maybe an uphill time trial).

Best previous doping athlete return to his/her sport: Tyler Hamilton. From the ashes of doping this cyclist rose up and won the US National Road Racing Championships.

Surprise of the year: Lance Armstrong. Coming back for another shot at the Tour de France.

The No Surprise of the Year: Stefan Schumacher. Beating Cancellara in the time trial at the Tour de France and then failing a doping test (no %$^#).

Best Bike Brand: Cervelo. No brainer here.

Best Wheel Brand: Zipp. You want the best ride the fastest wheels available.

Best Sneaker Brand: Asics. Little biased since Gairns is sposored by them.

Food: Beer. Is that really a food?

Thing I’d like most like to try next year: Ironman. Good luck to all of you!

From all of us at LMS have a happy New Year! Keep it fun for 2009!

LMS

LMS Awards Gone?

Cliff — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:16:38 +0000

Heck NO!

Yes it’s been a little while since our last award but, BUT we have good reason. Here at LMS were building a list of our favorites for the year. I mean that’s what December is for right (what, Christmas is 3 weeks away?!)? This month is all about taking the time to reminisce about the year: was it good, bad or down right ugly? Were optimistic at LMS so were thinking it was a good year.

So stay tuned and send your nominations for your favorite athlete! You can vote as many timeas as our e-mail account will take (livemultisport@gmail.com).

Thanks Y’all!

LMS

A Little Late But Whose Counting…

Cliff — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:52:41 +0000

On November 8, 2008 the last Ironman 70.3 race was held in Clearwater, Florida. All the athletes who qualified throughout the year congregated on the shores. This event has become a part of the Floridians year that it is in their travel guide under “what to do in November”.

Under blue skies and a hot 30 degree sun the racers were off to swin in the Gulf of Mexico. This race has been known to be fast and it didn’t disappoint. Records were shattered and where there is destruction (of course records) there is the LMS award!

Winning the day was Terenzo Bozzone. Although he had his work cut out for him, beating the fastest men ever at Ironman 70.3 racing. Leading the way at the start of the day was defending men’s champion Andy Potts, who led out of the water and through most of the first half of the bike. At that point, though, he was joined by a group that included many of the race favorites. Oscar Galindez powered to the front at that point, but wasn’t able to stay there as the fast-riding group.

It was a quick transition that put Bozzone in front starting the run and no one could catch him from there on in. To say he was thrilled would be an understatement.

“Third time lucky,” he laughed. “The competition here is so awesome. Craig Alexander won the first year, Andy Potts the next. They’re both unbelievable athletes – this is definitely the crème de la crème of Ironman 70.3. I probably overdid the first couple of years doing everything I could to win. Today I was going for the perfect wave and today I found it.”

Bozzone’s day wasn’t without a bit of a scare, though, as Germany’s Andreas Raelert put together a blazing run split to close to within 32 seconds by the finish line. The German put together a 1:10 run split, but ran out of real estate as he gained on Bozzone. Richie Cunningham put together yet another top finish here in Clearwater to claim third, followed by Oscar Galindez and another 23-year-old, Reinaldo Colucci.

After two years of seemingly not racing to his potential here in Clearwater, Bozzone tried a slightly different tactic – one which worked like a charm:

“Coming from the ITU racing, everyone runs fast there,” he said. “This year I held back a bit on the bike and gave it all on the run.”

You can’t win the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 if you aren’t a great swimmer, cyclist and runner. Today we saw once again that putting it all together and being strong on the run can make all the difference. Just ask the man who held off the best in the world today to claim a world championship, Terenzo Bozzone (borrowed from IronmanLive).

I was their first hand to witness the carnage albeit from an hour behind these guys (silly wave starts!). Knowing how hard I’ve worked to get where I did and still get beat by almost 40 minutes is staggering. Someday…

Hats off to Tereno Bozzone. He deserves the cash and the most prestigious award in sports (LMS award given to the individual who pushes their limits and exceeds their own expectations). Maybe our paths will cross in the future.

LMS

Two Historic Milestones This Week

Cliff — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:29:45 +0000

There were two separate culturally historic milestones this week. One of which is a huge moment in world history and slightly over-shadowed the other, but not here at LMS headquarters. This week, they both get the coveted LMS Award for over-coming boundaries, fighting prejudice, and breaking color lines…(and, of course, they are both living athletic lifestyles)…

After 2 Years, It’s Finally Over

During the original LMS Adventure , from January to April of this year, there was one thing that dominated the US media, news, and headlines. The weird thing is, as both of us are back in the US this week, 10 months later, that same thing is dominating the news! Guess it’s fitting that as we are back here to see this very long race finally come to an end.

In actuality, it has been more like a two-year quest for one Barack Obama to this point: to be the first black President of the United States of America. In two years, he has come from a relatively unknown US senator from Illinois, to the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. He’s travelled the country almost non-stop giving speeches, meeting voters, and getting to know the people. In the meantime, he won a very long, hard-fought battle with Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination which dragged on from Janurary until almost June. And, know he has won a historic vote for US President in dominating fashion. Now, that is one heck of an endurace event! (go to the end of this post to watch Obama’a inspirational speech).

As millions of Americans, Canadians, and people world-wide watched this historic day of voting unfold it was hard not to feel a sense of importance. As the numbers began to come in on key battleground states, it was a very similar mix of excitment and nervousness that you get watching a sporting event involving your favorite team or athlete. Now matter what your beliefs or who were cheering for, you couldn’t help get that feeling that something very significant was happening.

So, why does he get our LMS Award this week? Well, he is not your typical politician. He is an athlete, a great basketball player, and keeps himself in great physical shape. His workouts have been a item of discussion and quite impressive. Take this example, where he goes to the gym three times during a day in which he also had a busy campaining schedule. Even though he was once a smoker, we’ll give him props for setting a good example and butting out (and ignore fact that he still has the “occasional” smoke).

An Amazing Last-Lap Pass

Needing to move up one position on the final lap, in the final race, of a globe-trotting marathon auto-racing series, against the best drivers in the world is what faced Lewis Hamilton this past Sunday. This daunting task was to secure victory in the overall Formula 1 championship and become the youngest champion ever. By finishing 5th in the Brazilian Grand Prix, the 23 year-old Briton became the youngest and more importantly, the first black F1 Champion! His margin of victory was a single point over Felipe Massa (ironically, the same margin he lost the championship by last year). More info from TSN

But, you might ask yourself, “Why give the award to a car driver? All they do is sit there!”. Well, driving the most high-tech, fastest race cars in the world requires the drivers to be in top physical, and more importantly, mental shape where one tiny mistake can literally kill you! The F1 season is also a test of endurance as the season never really ends. The teams and drivers are constantly testing year-round in a effort to gain a split second over their opponents.

Oh ya, we should mention that Hamilton is also dating Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. Well done Lewis, well done.

We should say that this victory does not carry nealy the same significance as Barack’s big victory, but still is worth noting. I’m sure both guys will cherish their LMS Awards and we hope that Obama will put it up on the mantle in his new white home.

Hamilton’s Last 3 Laps.

Brack Obama’s Inspirational Acceptance Speech
Part I

Part II

A Team Takes the Honors This Week

Cliff — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:32:14 +0000

Here at LMS quarters, we couldn’t single out one deserving recipient of this week’s LMS Award, so we decided to give it to a group of people: the UNB Cross-Country Team! This award is not so much based on performance than it is for the resurgence of the squad as a whole. As mentioned before on LMS (here and here), the team was cut by the university this spring and even the existence of the team was in doubt. But, with the arrivals of some very talented Law and Graduate students, the team has re-emerged much stronger and a force on the AUS scene. The women’s and men’s teams both raced this past Saturday on a very tough course on the University of Moncton campus.

The men raced 10 very hard kilometres in the “Atlantic University Schools (AUS) Cross Country Championship.” This team had the potential to finish 2nd overall which would be the school’s best results since a 2nd place finish in 2003. The boys lived up to their potential against a strong field and nabbed the silver medal. The guys were led by outstanding performances by Matt Pieterson (#97) finishing 3rd, Adam Campbell in 8th (#93), and Shawn Miller in 14th (#96). The team was rounded out by Derek Ferguson in 21st and Peter Gaudet in 28th. Full results: here.

The women chose to race as a team in the “Open Atlantic Cross Country Championships”, rather than field a partial team in the AUS Championship because the entire team didn’t to meet the tough qualifying standard. Heather Bray (#797), Jill Seymour (#802), and Gillian Lockhart (#800) were the top three UNB girls who worked together (photos, from Trackie.ca) the whole 5K to top-10 finishes. While Amber Allen, Fonya Irvine, Sally Both, and Kari Pettinger rounded out the UNB roster which finished 2nd overall in the team event. This group is very new to XC, has come a long way this season, and has the potential to contend with the best in AUS in years to come! Great job ladies, thank you for rescuing a women’s team that had been struggling for members the last few seasons. We are very excited to watch you grow as runners over the next 12 months. Full results: here.

LMS was there with the video camera, so be sure to tune in later this week to check out the movie! Great jobs all, you made us alumni proud!

(all photos from Trackie.ca)

Latest LMS Award Winners

Cliff — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:54:42 +0000

No surprise here, this week’s LMS Awards go to two of our own. Here at LMS headquarters, the board debated the ethics of giving these awards internally, but ultimately decided they had done enough to merit the accolades. So, without further adue, this week’s winners are Antoine Arcand and Evan Pemberton. Both guys were running marathons this weekend (previewed here) with great results!

Antoine had a great day, finishing 3rd overall in the Mount Desert Island Marathon! His smokin’ time of 2:41:30 is very impressive considering the difficulty of the ”scenic” (aka hilly) course. Evan, running his first marathon, had an equally impressive day. His time of 2:50:17 in the Baystate Marathon is an excellent debut. He finished 37th overall in a very deep field that boasted 73 runners under 3:00 and 155 runners going under 3:10!

Great job guys! Be sure and tune in later this week as we will have exclusive race reports, videos, and pics from both guys!

Kona Can Make Your Career…

Cliff — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:57:26 +0000

Dave Scott. Heather Fuhr. Mark Allen. Natascha Badmann. These are names that are now synonymous with Ironman. This past weekend two names left their mark on the Big Island in Hawaii.

Craig Alexander is a first time winner taking the overall mens race and Chrissie Wellington the repeating champion won the females race. Both have won many different triathlons but winning Kona is the biggest, hardest and most satisfying of them all.

Here at the LMS head quarters, we watched all day as all the Ironman competitors fought the wind and heat in the lava fields. We could given all of the 1500+ competitors an LMS award for just having the jublies to compete in such a hard race. Ironman is a race of attrition and those that survived pushed their limits and exceeded their expectations.

However, instead of writing out every name of each of the competitors who so deserve the most prestegious award know to man (the LMS award) we’d like to give it to the male and female winner, Mr. Alexander and Ms. Wellington. They gave us an unbelieveable show.

Thanks for another great year. Let’s hope 2009 is as exciting! I’ll be seeing these guys in 2010!

LMS

PS. It does take 15 minutes to change a cable (Macca). I think someone was having a bad day.

A Plethora of Award Winners This Week!

Cliff — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:08:30 +0000

This weeks LMS award isn’t going to just 1 person, it’s going to 3 individuals and 1 team. These people have shown the spirit of pushing their limits and exceeding their own expectations. Each is very deserving of this prestegious award!

The first two runners are from this years UNB/LMS XC team. Students from UNB, Derrick Ferguson (left, leading) and Shawn Miller (left) both showed that even with out proper funding for the XC team from the University, they can still deliver. I raced with these two last year and was astonished at how far both came then and even more now. It’s truly a shame that running isn’t regaurded as highly as some of the other sports teams (hockey or basketball). Still, these two should be proud of what they accomplished, a solid 14th and 15th finish on a tough XC couse at the St.Marys Invitational. Props also goes out to Adam Campbell who helped guide them to these spots. Great sportsmanship, awesome work and good luck at AUS!

The second award goes to our very first sponsored team! After running the race last year, Tom Rogers was thrilled to bits and immediately signed up for a team for this year. Without a team name he thought it would be a great way to help spread the word of LMS. With a roster of varying talents, they showed great teamwork and athleticism running from Halifax to Lunenburg. The Rum Runners Relay of 2008 will not be forgotten by the folks here at LMS. We truly appreciate you supporting our website.

Lastly, a man that needs no introduction, except for his name is hard to spell and pronounce, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia smashed his marathon world record by 27 seconds, winning the Berlin Marathon in 2:03:59. Gebrselassie, 35, became the first man to win at Berlin for the third time. He said a calf injury had forced him to stop training for a week, but he still managed to set his 26th world record. Can you believe that? I only have one world record and he has 26! Wow!

Great job by the athletes this week. It’s going to be tough to top but stay tuned for next weeks award!

LMS