Riptide Elite team member, Cyrus Severance, represented the Riptide team well on February 7th at the San Francisco Half Marathon, where he finished 21st place overall in a P.R. time of 1:16:09. Cyrus, who had been doing lots of base work throughout the winter to try and ‘get his run back’ was very excited to race in San Francisco and described the course as “one of the more beautiful half’s that I have ever run”. On the 13.1 mile course of rolling hills, Cyrus averaged 5:40 pace through the 10 mile mark before turning into a strong headwind for the final 5K of the race. On the heels of Jones’ and Dannwolf’s outstanding performances at last month’s Austin 3M half-marathon this is yet another indication of the great year ahead for the Riptide Elite Team.

Registration for the 2010 Littlefoot Triathlon is officially open!  The sprint-distance event will be held on Sunday, May 16th at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado.  The race is great for triathletes of all levels, from the first-timer to the seasoned professional.  Amateurs compete for great age-group prizes, and elites will wrangle for $1200 prize purse.

Visit the Official Littlefoot Triathlon website for more information.

Jones and Dannwolf post-race

Team Riptide had very promising results over the weekend at the Austin 3M Half Marathon held in Austin, TX.  The race is one of the largest half marathons in the country with over 4,000 finishers and is also one of the most competitive.  Jordan Jones finished 11th overall with a personal best time of 1:09:08 (5:16 per mile pace).  Amy Dannwolf was the 16th female finisher in 1:24:36 (6:27 per mile pace), also a personal best.

The team is excited to post such strong run performances during the swim focused winter season and these bode well for the coming triathlon season.

Combined start of the 5 and 10 mile races

Team Riptide posted strong results on Saturday, January 16th at the Frosty’s Frozen 5 and 10 mile races.  In the 5 mile race, Jordan Jones won in 26:32, his second win of the Winter Distance Series.  Amy Dannwolf won the women’s race in 33:37.  Josh Merrick finished second in the 10 mile race with a credible 56:52.  The two races combined for 755 finishers.

Blaise Snowberg and Fiona Dretzka traveled to Tuscon, Arizona last weekend to compete in the IronKids National Championship.  IronKids’ mission is to inspire and motivate youth through the sport to lead an active, positive and healthy lifestyle.  IronKids has produced many great athletes, including Lance Armstrong, Hunter Kemper, and Riptide’s own Jocelyn Petrella.

Blaise finished 10th among 9 year old boys and Fiona placed 2nd among 13 year old girls.  Each athlete has shown tremendous improvement over the course of the year.  Blaise improved his mile run time from 10:44 to now running 8 minutes and change — not bad for a 9 year old!

Congratulations, Blaise and Fiona!

For full race results click here.

To learn more about IronKids click here.

Bethany Handley raced in Mission Viejo, California this morning at the Best of the U.S. Amateur Triathlete Competition.  The event brings the state champions from each state together to battle it out over an Olympic distance race.  Bethany, representing her current home state of Oklahoma turned in the fastest female time by 2 minutes!  She competed the 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run in a personal best time of 2:06:53.

This was Bethany’s last race as an amateur, and now she has the formidable task of mixing it up with some of the best pros in the sport.

For full race results click here.

Jocelyn Petrella finished 4th at the Westchester Triathlon this morning in Rye, New York.  The technical bike course and slick road conditions made for a challenging event.

Jordan Jones, returning from a fractured tibia, crashed on a downhill section about 8 miles into the bike leg.  He suffered only cuts and scrapes, but was unable to finish the event due to a blown out tire.  Jordan is expected to return to competition in late October at the Austin 70.3.

Results will be linked once they are posted on the event website.

Josh Merrick traveled to North Carolina this weekend to compete in the ITU Duathlon World Championships, held at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  Merrick entered the race with redemption on his mind: just weeks before last year’s World Championships in Rimini, Italy, he suffered a torn hamstring during a team track workout.  Today was no doubt vindication for the new father and Mile High Duathlon Series Champion.

Josh was the second American across the line, behind 2008 US Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker who finished first overall.  Josh finished the 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run in 1:50:10, splitting 31:35, 1:02:25, and 14:54 respectively.

For full race results click here.

Branden Rakita, Riptide’s off-road triathlon specialist competed today in the Xterra US National Championships in Ogden, Utah. Rakita bolstered his reputation as one of the strongest swimmers on the Xterra circuit, exiting the water in 3rd place. He finished the .93mi swim, 18.9mi bike, and 6.34mi swim in a total time of 2:32:30 — an impressive showing on a course known for its technical challenges.

Branden has just under a month to make his final preparations before the Xterra World Championships on Maui on October 25th.

For full results click here.