The 2014 racing season is in the books. I wanted to look back and see how Accelerate 3 athletes did when it comes to racing. How did they stack up to their competition, how did they do on the overall result sheet.
It turns out they did rather well. On the pro racing side of the ledger there were three top 3 finishes in pro field races around the world with the highlight being Nick‘s 3rd overall at Ironman Australia. He also placed fourth overall at Ironman Sweden and Wales. There were some top 10’s overall including Jenny at Miami 70.3 and Challenge New Albany, while James gathered some valuable ITU points with some top 10 ITU Continental Cup finishes.
On the age group side of the ledger, once again no matter which country or distance Accelerate 3 athletes found the podium. 41 times in fact they found themselves in the top 3 overall, often beating pro triathletes in the process. 23 of those times were outright wins. Accelerate 3 athletes won their age group just over a dozen times and placed in the top 3 in their age group another 13 times.
One of the highlights of the season was Jack‘s double Gold Medal performances at the ITU Age Group World Championship winning both the Sprint and Olympic distance races. He was also 3rd in his age group at the USAT National Championships.
Janine had another stellar year, finishing in the Bronze medal position in the W40-44 age group at the IM World Championships. She won her age group at both Oceanside and Galveston 70.3 where she finished 10th and 7th overall and crossed the line as the fastest age group woman each day. She also won her age group at the Phillipines 70.3.
Emily had a stellar year finishing as the second fastest age group woman twice, at Eagleman and Syracuse 70.3 both times winning her age group. She capped her year off with a 4th place age group finish at IM Hawaii in her first attempt at the distance. Look for her in a pro field near you in 2015.
No matter the race, duathlon, triathlon or running, Tom was butting heads and at the front of the field. He set the Nebraska 10k Masters record, finished 3rd in his age group at the USAT National Triathlon Sprint Championship, finished 2nd in his age group at USAT Duathlon Nationals short course and 3rd in his age group at USAT Duathlon Nationals long course. He was also the top age group athlete at Powerman Florida.
Chris had a huge break through race and finished IM Chattanooga inside the top 20 overall, won his age group and beat every age group athlete in the field. He was third overall at the Gulf Coast ,won a duathlon, half iron distance race and qualified to race at both the ITU and Ironman World Championships in 2015.
Yvonne was 5th in her age group at ITU Duathlon Worlds and 2nd in her age group at both USAT Short and Long course Duathlon Nationals. She also won a few other duathlons during the year and even tested the waters at a triathlon.
50% of Accelerate 3 athletes that went to a qualifying race with the express purpose to gain a coveted spot to IM Hawaii did so.
On the bike racing side of things Accelerate 3 athletes won 13 bike races and finished in the top 3 in their category/overall 13 more times. Adam and Lora won the PA and TX State TT Championships for Cat 4 riders.
It was a season that saw fewer Accelerate 3 athletes on the podium in their age group then in previous years. The trade off was that more Accelerate 3 athletes won races outright and placed in the top 3 overall.
