Jordan Jones led the Riptide Elite Team to an impressive showing at the Littlefoot Triathlon today.  Presented by Riptide Multisports and held within Bear Creek Lake Park, the race is the first triathlon of the year with an open water swim in Colorado.

Jones was positioned in 6th place coming out of the 53′ water, but moved up to 1st by the second lap of the 2-loop bike course.  A  former NCAA Division I Regional qualifier in the 5,000m, Jordan headed out onto the run knowing  his best miles were ahead of him.

Following Jones was Josh Merrick in 3rd, registering the fastest run split of the day.  Elite developmental athlete Ryan Borger followed in 5th, an excellent result for the newest member of the Riptide Elite team.  Dan Mackenzie followed just 5 seconds behind in 6th.  Matt Balzer rounded out the top-10, and Tate Behning finished 11th, Cyrus Severance 15th.

The Riptide Junior Development Team had a great day of racing as well.  Tyler Volz, just 20 years old finished 18th overall, including pros.  19-year-old Chris Athey finished in 23rd, registering the fastest bike split among age-group competitors.

Full results here.

Josh Merrick continued his Mile High Duathlon Series streak of domination on Saturday May 8th.  The first in a series of three races, the Barkin’ Dog Duathlon is held at Cherry Creek State Park in Denver.  Merrick has won the series championship every year since 2007 and looks to be well on his way to repeat in 2010.  Merrick covered the 3 mile run, 34 kilometer bike, 3 mile run course in 1:20:23.

The next race in the series is the Big Sky Duathlon in Bennett, Colorado on Saturday June 12th.

Full results are here.

Amy Dannwolf finishing at Escape from Alcatraz.

Riptide’s newly minted pro, Amy Dannwolf, finished 8th overall at the iconic Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on Sunday May 2nd. Dannwolf positioned herself well on the 1.5 mile swim that starts with a leap off a ferry anchored next to Alcatraz. She lost a couple of places on the bike, but was able to use a strong run to finish in 8th in a star-studded field that included past World Champions and Olympic medalists.

Fellow Riptide athlete, Jordan Jones, finished in 11th place overall, using swift bike and run splits to move up after a lackluster swim. The men’s field featured many Olympians such as Bevan Docherty, Hunter Kemper, and Andy Potts, as well as former Ironman World Champion Chris “Macca” McCormick .

Jordan Jones finishing at Escape from Alcatraz.

The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon is the Boston Marathon of triathlon, with 1800 athletes across the globe all facing the once thought impossible 1.5 mile swim across the San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz. The bike leg is 18 miles of steep, winding hills through some of San Francisco’s most scenic neighborhoods. The run is nearly as infamous as the swim, 8 miles across soft sand, steep stairs, through tunnels, and of course the 2 to 3 minute climb up the “sandladder” – like running up a sand dune with oddly placed wooden beams across it.
Dannwolf and Jones are both looking forward to returning to the race in 2011.
Next on tap for Jones is Riptide’s Littlefoot Triathlon on May 16th. The following weekend he’ll race in Ixtapa Mexico at the ITU Ixtapa Continental Cup. Dannwolf is aiming to race again at the New York City Triathlon July 18th, but first must recover from chondral softening in her knees that should sideline her for the next couple of months.
Also racing last weekend was Matt Balzer and Josh Merrick at the Avia Wildflower Triathlon held in Bradley, California. Merrick finished in 24th place and Balzer 29th. It was Balzer’s first time covering the half-Iron distance of 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. Wildflower is a notoriously challenging course, with steep and long climbs on both the bike and run legs.

Full Escape from Alcatraz Results here.

Full Wildflower Results here.

Team Riptide is prepping to race this weekend after a lull in team racing following the Mazatlan ITU Continental Cup.
Matt Balzer and Josh Merrick will travel to Wildflower for the half Ironman distance race.  They will face one of the most challenging courses in the world on the famed hills of Wildflower.  Not only that, but they will be going up against one of the toughest fields around.
In San Francisco, Jordan Jones, currently ranked 24th in the United States, and Amy Dannwolf will compete on another challenging course at the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon.  The race starts with a jump into San Francisco Bay just off of Alcatraz Island.  From there, competitors must “escape” to the shore of San Francisco where they will bike and run.
We’ll keep you posted in the weekend action in next week’s newsletter.
Also in next week’s newsletter will be a phrase to win a $25 gift certificate to Boulder Running Company at the Denver Tech Center.  BRC’s new Tech Center location opened last year and has quickly become a busy place.  The store is on Arapahoe Rd. just a block west of I-25.  With a Jamba Juice and Chipotle across the parking lot, it’s a great place to stop by after a workout.

Boulder Running Company Denver Tech Center

Co General Manager of the Tech Center store, Brock Quimby, has been a major Riptide supporter for two years now.  Make sure to say hi to him when you stop in.

Another person to talk to at the store if you want incredibly knowledgeable advice is Michael Aish.  Michael is a 2 time Olympian for New Zealand.  He has won the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon in 2:13 and perhaps more impressively has run 13:22 for 5k and 27:46 for 10k, both on the track.

Michael Aish jokes with Riptide's Amy Dannwolf at the Tech Center BRC

More photos of the new Boulder Running Company Tech Center store:

Competitive runners and triathletes will appreciate the selection of racing flats

Men's Shoe Selection

Riptide’s Josh Merrick won the Cat 4/5 division of the Oredigger Classic Lookout Mountain Hill Climb bike race on April 3rd.  Merrick won by over a minute with Riptide’s Jordan Jones in 2nd place and Ryan Borger in 7th.

The race saw blustery winds that slowed riders to times that they often ride in training.  Course record holder, and multiple top 10 Vuelta a Espana finisher, Tom Danielson was nearly two minutes off his record.

Despite the conditions, Merrick still rode 19:53 which would have placed him in the top ten of the professional division.

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.

Building off their teammates’ successes at the Pan American Championships the previous day, the Riptide Elite and Junior teams raced strongly at the Littlefoot Triathlon in Morrison, Colorado. Presented by Riptide Multisports and directed by Sean Wendt, Littlefoot again proved itself as a top-tier early season event.

The team was lead by Jordan Jones on the men’s side and Amy Dannwolf on the women’s, both taking home 2nd place finishes. Both Jones and Dannwolf utilized their much-improved swims to place themselves in the mix from the gun. Jones used the second fastest bike split of the day to move up past teammates Adam Truex and Matt Balzer, and into 2nd place. Dannwolf exited the swim in 2nd place and maintained that position until the finish.

The Riptide Elite Team placed many within the top-10 with Tate Behning in 3rd, Joshua Merrick in 4th, Matt Balzer in 6th, Adam Truex in 7th, Cyrus Severance in 10th, and Cailee Andersen in 14th. Adam Truex had the fastest swim of the day and Tate Behning had the fastest run.

The Riptide Junior Team got their season off to a great start with several impressive finishes. Thomas Hill and Taylor Fogg lead the way with strong placings overall. 14-year-old Fogg was the 5th overall female, including pros and elites!

Taylor Harp and Morgan McCormick again proved themselves as strong up and coming talents taking 2nd and 3rd respectively in the female 16 & under category. Lindsay Schmidt, a perennial leader on the Riptide Team, finished 1st in the 17-19 age group. James Hill, who has shown big improvements in the pool over the winter finished 1st in the 16 & under category.

After some tough outings at early season races, Riptide got the lift it was looking for with outstanding performances at the Barkin’ Dog Duathlon held in Cherry Creek State Park this past Saturday.

After sweeping the Mile High Duathlon Series in 2008, Josh Merrick showed that he is still the class of Colorado duathlon with a dominating course record setting performance.  Taking it hard from the gun, Merrick gained more than a 20 second lead on the first run.  Next behind him were fellow Riptide athletes Jordan Jones at 22 seconds back and Tate Behning at 25 seconds pack.

On the bike Merrick continued his push, putting in the 2nd fastest bike of the day to enter the final run with over a minute lead on the field.  Jones was gapped midway through the bike by Justin Hurd but battled back over the final miles of the 30k bike to enter the final run in 2nd place.

From there Merrick ran the fastest 2nd run of the day to finish in a new course record of 1:11:54, obliterating the previous course record of 1:13:59.  Jones held on to 2nd place, finishing in 1:14:38.  Behning meanwhile was running to the 2nd fastest final run to put himself into 5th place.  From there Riptide had strong performances from Dan MacKenzie in 9th, Matt Balzer in 11th, and Cyrus Severance in 14th.

On the women’s side Jocelyn Petrella showed her fitness with a 2nd place finish.  Petrella started quickly with the 2nd fastest women’s first run of the day.  Onto the bike she held strong, only being passed by eventual winner Uli Bromme.  With a strong 2nd run Petrella earned her podium finishing in 2nd.  Amy Dannwolf also competed with a 12th place finish.  Petrella is primed to race at the ITU Oklahoma City Pan American Championship next weekend along with Riptide athlete Pete Mallett.

With over 400 finishers, the Barkin’ Dog Duathlon is the largest duathlon in Colorado and is consistently the largest duathlon in the Western United States.

Merrick and Jones go 1-2.

Petrella finishes 2nd.

Josh Merrick ran and rode to an excellent 3rd place finish at the Desert Classic Duathlon, one of the most competitive duathlons on the 2009 calendar.

Merrick ran strongly on the first run leg, covering the 5k in 16:49 to start the bike in 2nd place, within 20 seconds of race leader Chris Foster. After losing a bit of ground and coming off the bike in 5th place, Merrick had his work cut out for him to get back on the podium.

Under pressure, Merrick ran remarkably to the fastest final run split in the field and 1:17 faster than 2008 to finish in 3rd place behind race winner Chris Foster and 2nd place finisher Jozeph Major. He beat out such notables as David Thompson (6th) and 2 time Ironman Triathlon World Champion Tim Deboom (10th).

Merrick will next compete at the Powerman Alabama triathlon on April 19th. The Miami International Triathlon on March 15th is next on the schedule for Team Riptide with Amy Dannwolf, Jordan Jones, and Dan Mackenzie competing.

Full Desert Classic Duathlon Elite Results Here

Josh Merrick of the Riptide Multisports Elite Team will compete this Sunday, February 22nd at the Desert Classic Duathlon in Phoenix, AZ.

This is Merrick’s 2nd year competing in this race. In 2008 Merrick was 5th overall, finishing only 0.6 seconds behind Simon Whitfield who went on to garner a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Merrick will face off against 12 other male professionals including David Thompson who finished 3rd last year.

Watch for Merrick to race aggressively this weekend. He had the fastest first run split in 2008 and will likely try to do the same this year in hopes of gaining an edge on Thompson who is noted as a strong cyclist.