Joe Gambles and Mirinda Carfrae took top honors at the 2008 Battle At Midway Triathlon, held on Saturday June 14, 2008 in Midway, Utah.

Gambles took control of the race six miles into the bike ride (fastest of the day) and held onto his lead to the finish. Gambles won by nearly four minutes.

Carfrae won the women’s race by six minutes, topping Utah resident Malaika Homo and Jocelyn Petrella. Carfrae had the fastest bike and run split of the day.

Click on the following names for audio interviews:

Joe Gambles
Mirinda Carfrae
Malaika Homo
BJ Christenson
Heath Thurston

See below for top finishers. Click HERE for complete results.

Top Men

Joe Gambles 1:45:24
Chris Foster 1:49:13
David Thompson 1:49:49

Top Women

Mirinda Carfrae 2:04:56
Malaika Homo 2:10:57
Jocelyn Petrella 2:12:48

Popularity: 47% [?]

Winner #1 of the Battle At Midway, ‘08 Goals contest is Adriel Bracken. Below is Adriel’s story and ‘08 goals. Stay tuned for winner #2 of 4.

My name is Adriel Bracken and 08 will be my 3rd tri season. Three years ago I weighted 225 lbs, and at 5′8″ that made for one FAT boy. My boss and I decided to have a Biggest Loser Contest to lose the weight. I started running and planned to run a 5K. One of my buddies told me of a triathlon here in Cache Valley. I was nervous of the swim so I talked some buddies into a relay team. Well the gun went off and I was hooked. I immediately started looking up every race in Utah and planned out my next years schedule starting with Saint George. If I would have know what I was in for maybe I would have thought twice. I’m glad I didn’t because SG has become my favorite race. It’s more of a love hate relationship. My brother heard of my crazy ambition for self inflicted pain and signed up with me. The family came to watch and were sucked into the excitement and energy that we have all come to know as the spirit of triathlon. Whether it was watching a smiling 70 year old grandma, a 300 lbs guy gritting it out, or the tall streak known as B.J. Christenson, they have inspired us all.

So what are my goals for 08? Well it has been two years since I finished my first triathlon and since then my Dad, 5 brothers, 4 sisters, an Aunt, and my wife (who I am most proud of) have all signed up or finished a tri. My goal is get my whole family and as many people as I can to sign up for a tri, so they can also feel that sense of accomplishment and to better there lives. I love to see the change that happens when you push your body to new limits. When you can accomplish something you thought you couldn’t do. I have noticed a difference in my life and I can see the changes in others. Triathlon is my drug and I will push it as much as I can.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Battle At Midway

July 1, 2007

Midway, Utah

Olympic Distance

Men

Craig Walton 1:53:06

Marcel Vifian 1:55:35

Stephen Hackett 1:56:35

Women

Emma Snowsill 2:01:52

Lauren Groves 2:09:15

Pip Taylor 2:10:01

Popularity: 8% [?]

City of Residence - Sandy

Occupation - Environmental Scientist

Years in Triathlon - May 2000 was my start, Evanston Triathlon. I was not involved in Endurance Sports before then.

Favorite Discipline? - Favorite discipline is the bike, although, it’s the one that scares me the most. There are so many things outside your control on the bike that can affect your performance. You can get a flat, drop a chain, crash, not consume the proper nutrition, etc, and it will completely kill your race. But it’s also the dicipline where I feel I’m nearly as fast as the non-Clydesdale age groupers my age. Especially when I’m not climbing. So, the bike is a tale of good and bad for me. Lots of anxiety, but also lots of catching and passing going on as well.

Pre-race rituals - . . . I don’t seem to have anything consistently regular, other than I generally consume a gel before I enter the water, take my time putting on the wetsuit, and try to find someone I know to fist bump before I take off. Honestly, my pre-race rituals change pretty much every race.

Favorite “Local” Race - . . . other than BAM (Rob’s the Race Director). . . would be Spudman. Most Memorable would be Jordanelle 2001. It was so cold at the start, we had to wait for some two hours after the swim start for the fog to clear and temps to warm up enough to melt the ice on our bikes.

Being a Race Director is… - Being a race director is a very difficult way to give something back to the sport I love. It’s entirely rewarding, but also very difficult. It’s much easier to pay my money and show up to race.

Training time has become a premium now that I am in the full swing of race directing. Time spent working on race details takes a lot of time out of my day. Forces me to train late at night or lunch time. I think all race directors love to race, so we all have trouble getting out to train enough to satisfy our needs.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Click here to listen to Rob Leishman talk about the inagural Battle At Midway.

Popularity: 13% [?]