Paul Ambrose of Australia won the 2011 Spirit of Racine 70.3 by 5:42 with a sizzling 2:04:50 bike split. Fellow Australian Christie Sym’s well-balanced race gave her a 4:32 margin over the next female finisher.

Aussie Brad Kahlefeldt sprinted to the win at the Dextro Energy World Championship Series race in Hamburg, Germany. Brit William Clarke finished second and David Hauss from France third.

Josiah Middaugh edged Seth Wealing by 19 seconds; Shonny Vanlandingham topped Melanie McQuaid by 3 minutes at XTERRA Mountain Championship in Beaver Creek

The 33-year-old from San Francisco had a spectacular first professional year in 2010 – then survived two salt-related disasters this year before recovering and winning at Rev3 Portland

This week we came across the Saucony Hattori racing flats, the Oakley Pitbull shades, the Powerbar Beta Alenine, the Stomach of Anger Hoogerland t-shirt and the Gama Go Karate Chopper.

I was the lone industry observer invited to the wind tunnel testing of the finished S5 product. I took copious notes, in order to describe the mechanics of the wind tunnel process.

Double Ironman World Champion Normann Stadler underwent heart surgery at the Heidelberg University Hospital on July 4th to repair a failing heart valve and a nearby aortic aneurysm.

Dirk Bockel finished 8th at the 2010 Ironman World Championships and wants to move up a few more places this year. So tunnel time it is for the Luxembourger.

Graham O’Grady and Meredith Kessler were the 2011 Rev3 Portland champions and Eric Wynn was there to capture a stunning gallery of images.

A Timothy Carlson photo gallery of the San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island / ITU Pan American Cup / round three USA Triathlon Elite Racing Series.

Janelle Morrison was badly injured in a head-on collision in late November of 2010 when another car turned right in front of her. The road to recovery has not been easy, but Morrison has a lot of determination.

Timothy O’Donnell and Annabel Luxford took the top spots at the 2011 Boulder Peak 5i50 race. Results and an image gallery by Randy Sadler.

Ronnie Schildknecht reeled in Mathias Hecht and held off a hard charging Alonso Clemente to win the 2011 Ironman Switzerland for the 5th time. Karin Thürig also defended her title and now looks to close out her career in Kona.

Graham O’Grady led from start to finish to win the 2011 Rev33 Portland race just ahead of Richie Cunningham and Jordan Rapp. Meredith Kessler put together a great race after a couple DNFs to win the women’s title.

Andreas Raelert stormed to an amazing 7:41:33 at the 2011 Challenge Roth in Germany and Chrissie Wellington went 8:18:13, finishing well clear of all other females and 5th overall. Both athletes went well faster than the previous best times for this distance.

Matty Reed and Sarah Haskins were the champions of the 2011 Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis and Eric Wynn captured images from the happenings there.

Matthew Sharpe, a 19-year-old longshot, topped the men’s field and Sarah-Anne Breault an equally long-odds Canadian, won the men’;s and women’s titles at San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island

Matt Reed rediscovered his bike speed and outlasted a hard-charging Andy Potts. He wins the Life Time Fitness Tri in Minneapolis, and Sarah Haskins returns to the series to take her 3rd Toyota Cup win of the year.

Ben Hoffman crushed the bike with a 2:01:11 split and stormed to a win at the 2011 Ironman 70.3 Muncie. Melissa Rollison passed longtime leader Leanda Cave on the run to take the win.

Alistair Brownlee took the win at the GP Lyonnaise des Eaux in Paris just ahead of his younger brother Jonathan. Emma Moffatt and Emma Jackson took the top two spots in the women’s race.

An unmarked Mercedes Sprinter van loaded with custom blueseventy Helix wetsuits and various other items was stolen after the British Gas Great Swim in London and has disappeared.

Trying for a Kona three-peat, Craig Alexander ran his best-ever 2:41 marathon – but finished 4th. After turning 38 and weathering a debilitating virus, Alexander set a record at Coeur d’Alene and says his best Kona race is yet to come.

In early May we hung out a day with Jan Frodeno in Germany and shared a picture gallery of that outing. Jan though spends quite a bit of time in Stellenbosch, South Africa and here is a video day feature of him there.

Maik Twelsiek has proven a few times what a threat he is on a bike and his run is getting quicker too. He just recorded a 4:29:10 in Coeur D’Alene but got run down by 2-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander for the win.