Major League Triathlon Atlantic City

The offseason is over for Major League Triathlon! The league — now in its third season — made its 2018 debut over the weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Nine mixed relay teams competed on Saturday, as the two men and two women from every group each took on the 300-meter swim, 3.2-mile bike, 1-mile run course.

The Carolina Gliders — comprised of the talented Ben Kanute (Phoenix, Ariz.), Tommy Zaferes (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Chelsea Burns (Seattle, Wash.) and Lindsey Jerdonek (Cleveland, Ohio) – crossed the tape first in 1 hour, 23 minutes, 22 seconds on their way to the top of the season standings and a $7,000 prize. The Gold Coast Tritons (Emma Jeffcoat, Ryan Fisher, Brandon Copeland and Jaz Hedgeland) and San Diego Stingrays (Taylor Spivey, Matt McElroy, Chelsea Sodaro and Seth Rider) rounded out the podium in second and third place, respectively.

Battled through the storm with the #CarolinaGliders (@cburns0, @benkanute & @lindstegrams) and we took over the #AtlanticCity boardwalk! Stoked for my first and only @majorleaguetri experience and to be part of the winning team was pretty sweet! You can watch the race replay of the hectic conditions we battled through on Major League Tri’s FB Page 😎🤙 #FindFaster #IAmSpecialized #OneDegreeBeyond 📸: @tkspivey

A post shared by Tommy Zaferes (@tzaferes) on Jul 21, 2018 at 6:42pm PDT

The competitive juices are flowing again! Since #mltac was my 1st race this season after injury, my excitement level equaled that of my nerves in wanting to pull my weight for the #carolinagliders. Once I got on course, though, the athlete brain took charge and now the churning ocean and slippery boardwalk only seem like a blur. Read MVP @tzaferes’s recap for how the race unfolded. 1) swim 2) bike 3) run 4) win. photos from: @majorleaguetri 🎨: #tzphotography #majorleaguetri #swimbikerun

A post shared by Lindsey Jerdonek (@lindstegrams) on Jul 23, 2018 at 5:30am PDT

2nd for the #GCtritons in the first round of @majorleaguetri yesterday in Atlantic City! Awesome job by @jazzyyh @ryanfisher20 @emmajeffcoat to put us in a position to take out the race but unfortunately the conditions and a rush of blood caused a pair of stacks for me on the bike course. Lesson learnt and will be better in Vail in 2 weeks time! Can’t thank @cityofgoldcoast and @triaustralia enough for this awesome opportunity!

A post shared by Brandon Copeland (@brandoncopeland_) on Jul 22, 2018 at 2:32pm PDT

For complete results from the Major League Triathlon Atlantic City, click here.

XTERRA Beaver Creek

XTERRA was back in Beaver Creek, Colorado Saturday for a 2018 XTERRA World Championship qualifying event. The men’s race brought the same people to the podium as last year, just in different spots. Mauricio Mendez Cruz of Mexico (last year’s runner-up) dethroned Josiah Middaugh (Vail, Colo.) with a time of 2:07:35 on the 1-mile swim, 15.5-mile mountain bike and 5.8-mile trail run course. Middaugh — who had won the previous five titles at Beaver Creek — placed second in 2:08:31, while fellow Coloradan Sam Long (Boulder, Colo.) finished with a time of 2:09:22 to get bronze for the second consecutive year.

Scotland’s Lesley Paterson is now a back-to-back champion in the event in the women’s division, crossing the finish line in 2:34:21. 2016 XTERRA Beaver Creek champion Julie Baker (Sonora, Calif.) took silver with a finishing time of 2:38:16, while Kara LaPoint (Truckee, Calif.) joined them on the podium in third place (2:42:12).

The race had special meaning for a couple of the pro athletes on the podium, as Josiah Middaugh and Sam Long both got to see some of their family members race in the amateur division.

Such a cool experience today watching how excited these two were to race. Overall it was a great day with Sullivan winning the sport race and Porter 4th overall. I finished 2nd in the championship race after a tough battle and some lead changes. So many congrats to go around today to my fellow pros, Middaugh Coaching athletes, and all who were brave enough to tie the line.

A post shared by Josiah middaugh (@josiahmiddaugh) on Jul 21, 2018 at 9:41pm PDT

Such a great experience racing a triathlon with my Dad: much is owed to him for getting me into endurance sports and fostering a love for the outdoors. It’s great to give that back to him and help him with the training/logistics of doing a triathlon. He caught on quick and won his age group earning a spot to the Xterra World Champs. Father son trip...?

A post shared by Sam Long (@samgolong) on Jul 23, 2018 at 3:19pm PDT

Great day for me today at #XterraBeaverCreek! 😃 . All I really wanted to do here was to execute the kind of race where I felt like I completely fulfilled my potential and did what I knew I was capable of. While I’ve had some solid races and good results so far this year, I haven’t quite had that day yet where I felt like I totally “nailed it” all the way around on a personal level... until now! I was finally able to really put it all together out there in a way I am super proud of, and I couldn’t be more thrilled! That landed me 3rd in the pro field, which is a personal best result for me here. Yay! . So, so grateful to be able to bring my best out there today, and even more grateful to the Anderson Fam for being the most AMAZING (and hands down the most fun) support crew ever! I’m so fortunate to have such incredible support. ❤️ . Last but not least, a massive thank you to the partners who help make it all happen: @jlvelo, #TeamUnleashed, @clifbar, @salomonrunning, @wahoofitnessofficial, @trainerroad! 🙌

A post shared by Kara LaPoint (@karalapoint) on Jul 21, 2018 at 8:01pm PDT

For complete results from XTERRA Beaver Creek, click here.

IRONMAN Lake Placid

A dominating performance from start to finish helped Heather Jackson (Bend, Oregon) win the women’s race at the 20^th anniversary of IRONMAN Lake Placid on Sunday. Her time of 9:18:49 on the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run course helped Jackson cross the finish line a full 15 minutes ahead of Canada’s Jen Annett (9:33:48), who took second place. Sarah Piampiano (San Francisco, Calif.) was the other U.S. finisher on the podium, taking third with a time of 9:43:24.

Jackson’s blazing performance nearly won her the overall title, as she finished just 21 seconds behind men’s champion Ed Baker (Cambridge, Mass.; 9:18:28). It was the first IRONMAN race for Baker— a former cross country and track runner at Harvard who just started competing in triathlon this year. Gregory Binns (Woodbrige, Conn.; 9:29:39) and Reid Foster (Oklahoma City, Okla.; 9:34:38) rounded out the podium in the Olympic Village.

Yayyyyy!!!!! So excited! Thank you Lake Placid for another incredible day. Thank you so much to all of my sponsors, my coach @joegambles , my #1 @wattieink , my parents for flying out, and to all of you for all of the support! To the volunteers- THANK YOU! And spectators on course... so incredible. For the record, I actually had 2 bananas 😹😹😹😹 I started out with one and then also grabbed another at an aid station😹 #bananapower #IMLakePlacid

A post shared by Heather Jackson (@hjacksonracing) on Jul 22, 2018 at 3:52pm PDT

Yesterday, I completed my first full IRONMAN in 9:18:28, which (to my surprise) ended up being fast enough to win the entire race. At 6:40am, I hopped into the water with over two thousand other people, and I was pretty nervous because I kept thinking about all of the things that could go wrong over the next 9+ hours. My coach told me to just treat it like a long day of training, which is exactly what I did. The course was beautiful (and challenging!), and the energy from the spectators, volunteers, and other athletes was amazing. There were several times in the last 10 miles when I questioned whether I would be able to finish, but I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t push through to the end. So I just kept telling myself, “I can at least make it one more mile.” I couldn’t have done this without my coach @purplepatchfitness Matt Dixon, my wonderful and supportive (and pregnant) wife @sarahbbaker who takes care of everything with our family while I’m off racing and/or training, my parents who came to cheer me on and support me this weekend, and all of my other family and friends who keep me going with their words of encouragement. I’m now looking forward to going to Kona in October, one month after baby #4 is due! . . . #ironman #ironmantri #imlakeplacid #lakeplacid #imlp #raceday #triathlon #tri #trilife #swimbikerun #swim #bike #run #finishingline #roadtokona #zwift #swimsmooth #purplepatchfitness #fitwerx #woodwaytreadmill #trek #trekbikes #trekspeedconcept #whitefacelodge #asicsrunning #giroaerohead #specializedsworks #harvardtrack #franksoldboys

A post shared by Ed Baker (@uber.ed.baker) on Jul 23, 2018 at 12:05pm PDT

For complete results from IRONMAN Lake Placid, visit ironman.com.