A month after taking the runner-up spot at the Soma Half in Arizona, Durango resident Ben Hoffman battled a very tough field at the 2008 Ironman Arizona enroute to a 6th place finish there. Slowtwitch had a few words with him.

Hawaii resident John Flanagan posted some wicked fast swim times at the 2008 Ironman Hawaii and the 70.3 Clearwater Worlds with his 47:02 and 21:44 times respectively. He shared some of his thoughts with slowtwitch.

Normann Stadler thinks a better fit for his new Scott race bike will eliminate the problems that plagued his 2008 Kona effort. So this week he checked in with his old Tri Dubai race director Franko Vatterot in Boulder and got measured by Retul technology.

Our look at lightweight trainers for Spring 09 continues. In Part I we looked at shoes from Nike, Saucony and Asics. Now we move to Adidas, New Balance and Mizuno.

Austrian pediatrician and Ironman triathlete Dr. Andreas Zoubek recently earned a slot in the Hawaiian Ironman, but he’s since been accused of running a doping ring. Read about triathlon, EPO, envy and intrigue.

Simon Lessing will be coaching 2-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington in 2009, and this news comes just weeks after the announcement that Cliff English would be her new coach.

24-year old Aussie Tim Berkel recently captured the 2008 Ironman Western Australia title and earned the distinction to be one of the youngest male Ironman champions in the sport’s history. The man also known as “Slim” talked to Slowtwitch.com.

After not making the German Olympic team for Beijing, Andreas Raelert put his focus on longer distances. With wins at 70.3 Monaco and Ironman Arizona, plus a runner-up spot at 70.3 Worlds in Cleawater, this looks to be a pretty good move.

Persistence pays for two Aussies – Richie Cunningham wins on his fifth try, Belinda Granger wins on her sixth attempt; six hundred entries show up despite some civilian unrest, temporary closure of international airports.

Aussie Tim Berkel captured his first Ironman title as he won the 2008 Ironman Western Australia in 8:07:05. Kiwi Gina Ferguson held off a tough challenge from defending champion Charlotte Paul enroute to the women’s title.

Part 2 of Timothy Carlson’s 2008 Ultraman World Championship images.

Timothy Carlson captured the spirit of the 2008 Ultraman World Championships. Part 1 of 2.

This is the first of several articles looking at lightweight technical running footwear, and eventually all important models in all categories of running footwear, offered for sale for the Spring 09 season.

The lure of Ironman has caught Danish ITU speedster Rasmus Henning and in 2009 we will see him compete in a few selected longer races. The new Dextro Energy ITU World Championship series apparently did not manage to hold him.

Rudyard Kipling might have been thinking of the triathletic warriors of Ultraman when he wrote of the code of the brave soldiers of the British Empire. Catastrophes and glory await both on their disparate journeys.

Rahsaan Bahati has been on the controversial Rock Racing team for quite some time now and rocked to a US Pro Crit Champion title despite nursing injuries this year. He checked in with Slowtwitch.

After a long period of beta testing, kicking tires, taking pulses, and consulting entrails, we are proud to announce the newest addition to the Slowtwitch family, our workout training log at training.slowtwitch.com.

In the second and final part of this series, we look at how remote bike fitting aids the retailer who’ll invest the time, and thought, and energy to the display of the tri bikes he inventories.

Inside Triathlon returns as a coffee table book, every other month. It’s exceptionally well done, and Competitor Group’s risky gambit may prove out.

Les McDonald’s two-decade presidency of the International Triathlon Union has come to an end, tearfully for some, none-to-soon for others. Spain’s Marison Casado succeeds him.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) announced today that Dextro Energy will be the title sponsor for the new World Championship series, plus they also offered some details on where the eight events will be.

Ky Hurst beat out Grant Hackett to get the Australian 2008 Olympic 10k open water swim spot. When he is not competing in open water swimming races, he is racing Ironmans, but not the M dot variety.

The Brazilian star adds a blazing 6:15:32 double marathon to a Day 2 lead to win the 24th Ultraman World Championship in the third fastest time ever; Shanna Armstrong finishes her 5th win with an 8:17:32 double marathon.

Ribeiro’s near-record 7:20:41 split for the 171.4-mile Day 2 course gives the Brazilian a 10 minute lead over O’Keefe and 31-minute cushion over legendary double marathoner Peter Kotland going into Sunday’s finale.