IRONMAN 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain and IRONMAN 70.3 Taupo
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IRONMAN 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain
The Middle East Championship start list is packed with British triathletes. Fourteen British Pros are set to compete, with Philip Graves taking the BIB number 9. Graves became the youngest IRONMAN champion when he won IRONMAN UK at 20 years old 2009 and has gone on to take two IRONMAN 70.3 titles since.
George Goodwin and Ian Dempsey are also race ready. Both competed at IRONMAN 70.3 Staffordshire this year, with Goodwin taking gold and Dempsey being the first age group athlete to cross the finish line.
Thomas Davis will travel to Bahrain after he finished 3rd at Challenge Anhui in October. They are joined on the start list by Ashley Hurdman and Mark Buckingham. Buckingham recently made his marathon debut, taking gold at the Yorkshire Marathon.
The last 6weeks of training have been such fun ! Training with no pain coming through the other side of a injury that had taken me out of 2019 season so I’m so excited to actual say I’m into race week ! Running into the unknown for sure with 70.3 Bahrain but god I’m happy#becausewelovetriathlon #champs https://twitter.com/jodiestimpson/status/1201553053717082112/photo/1
— Jodie Stimpson (@jodiestimpson) December 02, 2019
Female Pros competing in Bahrain include last year’s champion Holly Lawrence, who took gold earlier this year at the IRONMAN 70.3 European Championship Elsinore, beating compatriot Fenella Langridge to the finishing line by three minutes. Double Commonwealth gold medallist, Jodie Stimpson will also test herself at long distance after returning from injury.
Bahrain will be India Lee’s final race of 2019. Lee took gold at IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth in September for the second consecutive year, sharing the podium with Britain’s Claire Hann (2nd), who will also compete in Bahrain.
Elle Twentyman is also set for the start line. Twentyman has acted as guide for PTVI athlete Melissa Reid this year, taking part in her silver medal winning performance at this year’s Valencia ETU paratriathlon European Championships.
Frankie Sanjana earned her first IRONMAN 70.3 title this year in France. She recently also reached the podium in China at IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen. Sanjana competed in Bahrain last year, finishing a strong race in 4th place and will have her eyes set on podium finish this time around. Lucy Hall will also compete.
This 70.3-mile course is also being tackled by relay teams. Amongst those competing is a legends team made up of long-distance swimmer Chloe McCardel (AUS), cyclist Mark Cavendish (GBR) and long-distance runner Sir Mo Farah (GBR).
The Middle East Championships also host a number of British age group competitors including Adam Tanner and Kenneth Heney (M40-44), Phil Murphy and Ben Walton (M35-39), Clare Farrell (F45-49) and Nicola Boud (F35-39).
PRO START LIST AGE GROUP START LIST
IRONMAN 70.3 Taupo
This race begins with a rolling start in the famous Lake Taupo, followed by a cycle across undulating farmland and finished with a three-lap run.
Among the age group athletes taking on the 70.3-mile race in New Zealand are Matthew Brown and Natalie Price who compete in the 30-34 age group division. They are joined on the start line by Thomas Moreton (M35-39) and (M45-49).
