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Michellie Victorious in Ironman Debut
Michellie Jones made a stunning
Ironman debut recently in Panama
City, Florida, dominating the
race and capturing first place in
the grueling Ironman Florida
competition. The sport's most
successful short-distance triathlete
ever who has won two world
championships, the 2000 Olympic
silver medal, eight world-championship
medals and has finished
in the top three of 97 percent of her
races started her Ironman
career with a bang.
Considered one of the
most physically demanding
events in all of sports, an
Ironman Triathlon consists
of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-
mile bike and a complete
marathon (26.2 miles) all
completed in succession.
Athletes have 17 hours to
complete the event.
 It was an outstanding
opening for Jones, as the
transplanted Aussie and
Holofiber spokesperson
who lives in California
most of the year won
Ironman Florida in 9
hours, 28 minutes, 52
seconds.
Jones, 35, made the
leap from the roughly 32-
mile Olympic distance to
a 140.6-mile Ironman with
ease after drastically
changing her training
routine to prepare for the
race. While she used to
ride 150 miles a week and run 25
miles "going as fast as you can,"
she altered her routine to cycling
300 miles and running 40 miles a
week at a steadier pace.
Said Jones after the race, “I
never thought I would ever do
an Ironman, but as they say,
never say never. So to come out
and win an Ironman at my firstever
attempt was an amazing
feeling. Little did my competitors
know that I had a secret weapon
Holofiber. Not only did it help
me recover from my training
which almost tripled from my
normal triathlon training it made
racing the Ironman distance a
little easier.”
Jones' goal at Florida was to
finish in the top five and qualify
for Hawaii in 2005. Instead, she
dominated the race, building a
25-minute lead over secondplace
finisher Bella Comerford
off the bike before experiencing
digestive problems on the run.
After failing to earn a spot on
the Australian Olympic team in
early 2004, Jones elected to
branch out, racing her first half-Ironman in 10 years and winning
the Ralph’s California Half
Ironman at Camp Pendleton in
April. The win encouraged Jones
to train for the Ironman Florida,
which she went on to win. Back to main page |
