Life Time Fitness Triathlon
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Saturday, August 2, 2003
Start List, 2002 Results

TV Airing - NBC TV @ 2pm ET Saturday

Prize Money for top 5 finishers
1 - $250,000
2 - $50,000
3 - $35,000
4 - $25,000
5 - $20,000
Race pays 12 deep for men and women, with 6^th place in each gender receiving $7,000 and 12^th place receiving $1,500.

The world's top triathletes couldn't ignore a $500,000 prize purse, including $250,000 for the overall winner, and are headed to the Life Time Fitness Triathlon on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The large prize purse isn't the only thing that makes the Life Time triathlon unusual. The race also pits men against women using an equalizer format. Shortly before the race, a head-start time will be determined for the women triathletes. This time will be based on past Life Time Fitness Triathlon course results, as well as the outcomes from a number of world and American international-distance events.

Last year, Barb Lindquist (Victor, Idaho) won the overall title and the first prize of $50,000. She finished 10 seconds ahead of U.S. teammate Becky Gibbs Lavelle (Cupertino, Calif.) and 15 seconds ahead of Australia's Craig Walton. In that race, the women started about 9 minutes, 30 seconds ahead of the men.

This year's race will be draft illegal and the elite athletes will do a 0.75-mile swim, a 21.3-mile bike and a 4.7-mile run. The swim will be in Lake Nokomis with the bike and the run taking place on the streets around Lake Nokomis Park. The large prize purse has drawn athletes from both International Triathlon Union racing and from the world of Ironman.

It will be interesting to see how Australia's Greg Bennett, ranked No. 1 in the world at the Olympic distance, does against two-time world Ironman champion Tim DeBoom (Lyons, Colo.). Other men to watch are Australia's Chris Hill, ranked second in the world, and New Zealand's Bevan Docherty, ranked third.

Eight of the top 10 women in the world will be in Minneapolis: Lindquist (No. 1), Laura Reback (No. 2; North Palm Beach, Fla.), Sheila Taormina (No. 3; Livonia, Mich.), Jill Savege (No. 4; Canada), Loretta Harrop (No. 5; Australia), Sandra Soldan (No. 7; Brazil), Carol Montgomery (No. 8; Canada) and Liz Blatchford (No. 9; Australia).

The race is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. in Minnesota, and will be shown on NBC at 2 p.m. EDT. Former ITU world champion Siri Lindley of the United States will be doing commentary.