Ralphs California Half Ironman
Oceanside, California
Saturday, April 5, 2003
1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
$25,000 purse, 20 Ironman Hawaii slots, 125 slots to Ironman North America events
www.ironmancalifornia.com
Complete Results

Below:
Women's winner Heather Fuhr
Photo by Gabor Kloczl

OCEANSIDE, Calif.-Two-time Ironman World Champion Tim DeBoom (Lyons, Colo.) showed why he is considered one of the top triathletes in the world by besting a strong men's field in winning the Ralphs California Half-Ironman title in Oceanside on Saturday.

DeBoom posted the second fastest overall times in all three legs of the event (swim, bike, run) for an overall time of three hours, 58 minutes and 42 seconds. The 32-year-old DeBoom has had success in the Oceanside/Camp Pendleton event, winning Ironman California back in 2001.

DeBoom topped a field that featured six athletes who had claimed Ironman titles in their career, as well as defending Ralphs California Half Ironman champion Torbjorn Sindballe of Denmark.

Belgium's Rutger Beke posted the fastest run on the day (1:13:23) to finish second overall in 4:00:05. Sindballe was third in 4:02:31, with Paul Fritzsche (Boulder, Colo.) fourth in 4:09:48 and
Michael Lovato (Boulder, Colo.) fifth in 4:09:58. Fuhr, who stands second all time in total Ironman victories with 12, used a strong run to claim the women's title at the Ralphs event.

Fuhr, who also claimed an Ironman California title back in 20000, posted an overall time of 4:39:29 to win the Ralphs event. The 35-year-old Fuhr, who is considered one of the strongest runners in the sport, rallied from five minutes down after the bike to edge second-place finisher Andrea Fisher (Austin, Texas) by two and a half minutes. Fisher who posted the top female bike time, was second in 4:42:17, with Nicole DeBoom (Lyons, Colo.) third in 4:42:59.

Andrea Ratkovic (Norman, Okla.) posted the fastest female run time (1:24:53) to finish fourth in 4:43:17, while Lauren Jensen (New Berlin, Wisc.) was fifth in 4:43:28. 1,665 athletes started the event, which featured competitors from 14 countries and 46 states. Athletes were competing for 20 qualifying spots to the Ironman World Championship as well as a $25,000 pro prize purse.

Below:
Tim Deboom (top) and Torbjorn Sindballe
Photos by Gabor Kloczl