Continuing through the heavy schedule of triathlons this summer, The Motor Tabs Triathlon Squadron is dominating at all course lengths, continuing to establish a name for themselves in Southern California Triathlon events. This past Sunday, July 26th due to heavy surf, the Pacific Coast Triathlon turned into a Duathlon (No Swim); "The Show Must Go On" ... this is the 2009 USAT National Championships, the strong swimmers had to suck-it-up!

MT Squadron comes through with a sold showing, placing three racers on the podium and two more in the top ten age groups.

The Man on the Mountain was "The Gamble" Kenny Rogers shutting down his rivals and putting him on the top step of the Podium.

Lifeguard and swim specialist Todd Menzel lost his advantage in the water but was a solid performer nonetheless coming in 2nd place.

Longtime surfer Kirk Fitzek also lost the advantage without a big surf swim, also racing strong for another 2nd place finish.

Very strong showings by Miguel Ramos 8th and Tom Stepp 7th respectfully in their age groups rounding out the MT Squadron efforts.

Famed triathlete Michellie Jones tears up the competition again! Here is a race report directly from her. We are very proud to sponsor Michellie and provide her with a sports drink that gives her the essential electrolyte balance to get through such a harsh competition! Congratulations Michellie, we look forward to more successes in the future!



"It had been quite a while since I had competed in a 70.3 Ironman distance so I was definetly looking forward to seeing how it would turn out. It would also be interesting to see if all the short course racing I had been doing over the last few months would help.

Race morning the biggest challenge apart from having to get up at midnight California time for a 6am race start was that the swim course bouys had been blown all over the water because of the storm the night before. It also meant a very choppy swim was ahead.

Also the prospect of getting up so early almost made me wish I was a coffee drinker...No not really.:) I always find it quite amusing to watch other athletes the morning of the race frantically looking for there morning coffee fix.

The swim start was delayed a little as the life guards straightened out the course. Which just meant being nervous a little more longer.

Once the start gun finally fired I pretty much did not see anyone until the first turn around on the run as I had a pretty decent swim in the choppy waters and lead out of the water.


Once on the point to point 56mile bike I was passed by a few Pro Men early as I had past them in the swim even though they had a 2 minute head start on the women. I had "Eye of The Tiger" in my head entire bike route. I had absoluetly no idea where anyone else was during the bike.

So as I transitioned from the bike to the run I had to wait another 7 miles on the run before I knew where anyone else was. Finally I got a split as the first turn around and I had over 3 minutes and was feeling strong. The run course was a pretty tough 2 lap course which had a 7% climb each lap. Navigating the 7% climb seemed a lot easier than the pounding your quads got on the way back down.

With the steps of the Rocky movie as the back drop of the finish line I had grand thoughts of running straight through and up the stairs Rocky Balboa style but my legs had other ideas so I settled for just the finishline tape. As they say winner are grinners and I was v ery happy to take the victory. Desiree Flicker had a strong run to finish 2nd while Heather Jackson rounded out the podium


Top five professional women’s results are as follows:
1. Michellie Jones, 4:23:56
2. Desiree Ficker, 4:27:21
3. Heather Jackson, 4:33:39
4. Kim Loeffler, 4:36:53
5. Suzanne Zelazo, 4:40:57

A special Thanks to BrandyB's Mum Patti for looking after us all weekend :) "