Sunday, September 23, 2007

Fun With Press Releases



Webb Brothers & Merritt Johnson Take 2nd at LA Triathlon

September 9, 2007 (Los Angeles, CA) – Merritt Johnson and brothers Craig and Scott Webb combined efforts to take 2nd overall and 2nd in the coed relay divisions of the Los Angeles Triathlon held recently from the surf of Venice Beach to the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown LA. With a finishing time of 2:13:46 the WebbRacing.com team finished only 5 minutes behind the winning coed Team Gladstones, 3 minutes ahead of the 3rd overall (and top male) Santa Monica Fire Department team, and over 12 minutes ahead of the next coed team. 74 relay teams in all (34 in the coed division) tackled the Olympic Distance course, consisting of a 1500 meter swim, 40 kilometer bike and 10 kilometer run.

Merritt Johnson kicked off the race shortly after 7:00 am with another stunning ocean swim performance. Braving the Pacific surf and reaching the transition zone in 24 minutes flat, Johnson’s time not only put the team in first place in the coed division by nearly a minute, but her outstanding effort would have placed her 9th among Professional female triathletes and 1st in the Elite female category. This in only her second triathlon!

The 40 kilometer bike course traversed many of Los Angeles’ most famous boulevards and passed by several Hollywood landmarks before finishing downtown at the Staples Center. Despite recovering from injury and trying the sport of triathlon for the first time, Craig Webb, who normally rides for SC Velo (www.scvelo.com), mashed the pedals of his TT bike to finish with a time of 1:02:59; good enough for 2nd overall among the relay team competitors and 2nd in the coed division. This time also would have put Webb 18th in the Professional male category and 6th among those competing in the male Elite division.

Next on the agenda was a two-loop 10 kilometer run featuring two trips up the steep hill to the Disney Concert Hall before finishing in front of West Hall at the convention center. Scott Webb completed the course in 43:47, a top-20 elite male division time, and maintained the team’s 2nd place overall and coed division positions as he crossed the finish line. Complete LA Triathlon relay results can be found online at:
http://www.latriathlon.com/Results/07results/olympicrelays.html
A finish line video can be viewed at:
http://triathlons.accenture.com/LosAngeles/tracking/Video.aspx?bib=1950

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