I had a sub par swim and exited the water in second place about one minute down on a local college swimmer. I was followed closely by Hawaiian Tim Marr, Chad Seymor and Michael Simpson. After a fast transition and out onto the bike I initially struggled to get a good rythm but after about 15-20km I started to feel really strong and began to pull away from the chasers. By the time I hit transition I had 3 minutes on the guys after a 51.51 bike split for the 40km!
I worked hard for the first 5km of the run to maintain my gap as I knew Michael Simpson was a strong runner. I held a solid pace to the line to take the victory in 1.47.24 (a really pleasing time and a non-drafting personal best). Michael Simpson of Canada finished second about 2 1/2 minutes later followed by Hawaiian Tim Marr (who I am staying with here in Honolulu).
I am happy to be back in shape and feeling stronger in my races after a rough month since Ironman Australia. I am looking forward to a good two weeks of training in Kona with Tim Marr leading into the Hawaii IM 70.3 on May 31st.
RESULTS
Honolulu Triathlon, Sunday 18th May 2008
Island of Oahu
1500 Meter Swim, 40K Bike, 10K Run
1st LUKE MCKENZIE 1:47:25
2nd MICHAEL SIMPSON 1:49:47
3rd TIMOTHY MARR 1:50:45
MEDIA:
KHNL News
Hundreds Race in Honolulu Triathlon, HONOLULU (KHNL) -- Swimming, cycling, and running. For some, either one makes for a great workout. But for others, it's just not good enough unless you do all three. read more >>> http://www.khnl.com/global/story.asp?s=8343970
Video Link (KHNL) See Luke's interview here >>>
http://www.khnl.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=2500540&at1=News&h1=Athletes
INSIDE TRI ARTICLE
Title: Luke McKenzie, Bree Wee win Honolulu Triathlon
Last year, the Honolulu Triathlon put on by renowned race director Bill Burke served as the U.S. elite championship, and pros Julie Ertel and Andy Potts took exciting wins. This year, with the U.S. elite championship moved to Hagg Lake in Oregon to ... read more >>>
http://www.insidetriathlon.com/article/71274
XTRI ARTICLE
Luke McKenzie: 1st HONOLULU TRIATHLON - 05/19/08: I am happy to report I had my first win of the 2008 season at yesterdays Honolulu International Triathlon. After spending the Australian summer focusing on the Ironman distance I didn't know if I had done enough speed work to be confident in a good ...read more >>>
http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=4669&CAT=23&xref=xx
