Craig Alexander's weblog

Sports Performer of the Year Awards : Craig Alexander Nominated

11/18/2008

THESE are the finalists in the most prestigious prize in Australian Sport. Now you decide the Performer of the Year and the winner of five other exciting categories.

The winner will get $50,000, courtesy of Colonial First State, and you could win $5000 just for voting. Follow the link below to vote and be entered into the prize pool.

http://sportsawards.smh.com.au/index.php

The awards, in their second year, are already becoming the most exciting publicly voted sports awards in Australia, and the winners will be announced at a gala night at Crown casino in Melbourne on November 26. Apart from the Performer of the Year, there are five other awards - for team, coach, international, disabled and young performer of the year.

The finalists have been chosen by a panel of Herald, The Age and Fairfax Media online and radio experts. You also get to vote for the winners of these categories, and the winners will be announced on the night.

To view a brief overview of Craig Alexanders amazing Hawaii Ironman World Championships Winning performance follow this link.
www.saltstick.blogspot.com

This incredible race will be shown on US NBC
December 13th 2008 from 2:30 - 4:30 pm EST.

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 2:55 am

GU Energy Gel featured Athlete: CRAIG ALEXANDER

10/28/2008

http://guenergy.com/athletes/profile_alexander

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 3:16 pm

SaltStick Hawaii Ironman Winner 2008 Video Link

www.saltstick.blogspot.com

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 3:11 pm

U Tube Link, Pro Male Presentation

10/19/2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7m2jW1EW7w

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 4:10 pm

Craig Alexander Awards speech

10/18/2008

Firstly, I want to thank Diana, Linda Jane and the local organizing committee for all their tireless, often behind the scenes work in getting the race up and running smoothly. I particularly enjoyed the temperature gauge at the Energy Lab reading 108oF, that was a nice touch!

To the volunteers, you are the heart and soul of this race and every race. I really hope you know how much you mean to athletes and how much your efforts are valued.

To Ben, Blair and WTC, thank you for giving us all the opportunity to race on such a grand stage. It is every athletes dream to one day be crowned a World Champion and I have been lucky enough to experience that twice now because of you.

On a personal note, I would like to say a huge thanks to all of my supporters and sponsors. Your commitment to my family and my career is extremely humbling and means more than we can say. I am so lucky that I am involved with the best companies and people in our sport and get access to all the best equipment, products and advice.

To all the people who helped me in preparing for the Ironman - and there are many of you – thank you! Your assistance was always totally appreciated and very much needed. In particular, I want to thank Carmichael Training Systems and especially Nick White. Your knowledge, input and feedback about training was crucial. On a side note, Nick coaches Joe Marinucci who was the last finisher in 16hr.58mins. Joe and I are now apparently known as the “book ends”. I also want to pay a special debt of thanks to Dave Scott. I would see Dave almost daily in Boulder and he was always so generous with his time and more than willing to share his vast experience and knowledge. He also made me look good whenever we would go to the gym together!

The Ironman in Hawaii is such a special and unique race for so many reasons. It is the World Championships but I think the reasons extend beyond this. Someone once said to me that this race and this place always draws people back. It is unbelievable when you are at the swim start and you see Paula Newby Fraser, Heather Fuhr and Scott Tinley all paddling lead skis. Dave Scott, Mark Allen, Simon Lessing and Peter Reid were all spectating on the course and I also saw Greg Welch and Michellie Jones at the finish area. And of course, Scott Molina was racing. These are some of the all-time greatest athletes of our sport and are still involved in this race.

Believe me when I tell you that I fulfilled a dream by winning in Kona. It is a huge honour and privilege to be added to the list of winners and something I will remember forever. It is also a very big responsibility and I will endeavour to be a good ambassador for this race and for our sport.

As an athlete, you are moulded and influenced by a lot of different factors. One of these is your competition, who constantly make you strive for more and more improvement in order to reach the pinnacle.

Finally, I want to dedicate this race to my family. They are the source of my inspiration everyday. I would not be here today if it weren’t for their never-ending love and support. At 6am on the morning after the race, our daughter, Lucy, came running into our bedroom. She climbed into bed, gave me a hug and said, “Mummy and I are so proud of you for doing that whole big race all by yourself.” That was reward enough for me!

Thank you, take care and I’ll see you all again.
Craig

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 1:27 pm

Craig Alexander and Welchy Pre race interview video link

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-9DS53CHZys&feature=user

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 2:54 am

Crowie WINS the Hawai’i Ironman World Championships

10/14/2008

Some people wait and hope for the fates to collide for their dreams to come true. Others combine studied dedication, intense effort and pure passion to craft their dreams into reality. Craig Alexander is most certainly the latter of the two, his victory at the Ironman World Championship a dream-turned-real of epic proportion.

Craig had been my number one pick for this year’s Kona race ever since his stunning second place debut in 2007. That foreshadowing of victory was only strengthened when I saw Craig for a last minute good luck wish prior to the swim start. He gave me a hug, graciously thanked me for my support and then quickly smiled and said, “It’s going to be a great day.” I could tell he felt good – really, really good – and he was ready to get his game on!

There were no real surprises during the swim, with Olympic-distance phenom Andy Potts leading the pros out of the water. Once the men found their rhythm on the bike, the likes of Torbjorn Sindballe and Chris Lieto leapfrogged in front, followed closely by two groups bearing all the major contenders. Crowie rode strong with these leaders, but never made a move to breakaway or assert himself too early. I’m sure some spectators questioned whether he had the extra oomph needed for the win. But I’m also sure Crowie was riding within himself, disregarding the challenge of the other men and focusing instead on the pace dictated by his body and his predetermined race plan. And of course, saving his oomph for the run.

Heading out on the marathon course, Craig was 8:30 back from the race leader, Sindballe. In between the two were several threateningly strong runners, including Eneko Llanos, Cameron Brown and Faris Al-Sultan. But Crowie is nothing if not lightning-fast on his feet, and by the time he reached the GU rental house, approximately 5 miles into the run, he had cut 4 minutes out of that lead. A few miles later, as he flew past me on his way out of town, he had tightened the gap to only 2:30. The next several miles were a flurry of text messaging, as I relayed the quickly shrinking splits to Craig’s wife Neri, sent to me by a friend watching on ironmanlive.com. I could barely type an update fast enough before there was another report, each time favoring Craig as he picked off his competitors one by one. He made a final pass for the lead and continued his hard-charging pace, ultimately opening up 3 minutes on his closest rival.

As I waited in the finish stands for Craig to make the final turn onto Ali’i Drive, I alternated between watching him on the jumbo-tron and watching Neri take several deep calming breaths and wipe away tears. His 3-year-old daughter Lucy was held aloft by Greg Welch, and, after catching a glimpse of herself on the big screen as the camera panned the finish area, she winked repeatedly and twirled her gorgeous curls, primping for Daddy’s arrival.

Watching Craig over the last bit of the run, it was obvious that two things were driving him with infallible determination to the line. The first, of course, was his competitive nature fused with impeccable preparation. But even more motivating, what contributed to this man’s passion and success above all else was the family waiting to embrace him - his beautiful, endearing wife Neri, his ever-proud mother Michele, his fiery daughter Lucy and their soon-to-be second child. If you know Craig at all, you know that his family is his truest love. His fervor to finish was a tribute to his family, his desire to make them proud and reward their endless support with the utmost accomplishment and celebration.

Crowie soaked in the crowds lining the finish chute, beaming with emotion and pride. He then collapsed in a fetal position, followed to the ground by Neri, who embraced him in a pile of hugs and tears. Lucy quickly followed, and in the midst of the media flurry of photographs and interviews she stayed glued to her Dad’s side, playing with his discarded running shoes and even trying to help put them back on his overworked feet. Craig struggled in the balance between composed champion and totally spent uber-athlete, doing his best to answer interview questions without passing out cold. There was no doubt he gave his all during the race, leaving everything he had out in the brutal lava fields of Kona. Everything, that is, except the one thing that matters most – his family’s embrace.

Congratulations to a new and true World Champion!!!

Holly Bennett

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 4:45 pm

Hawai’i Ironman World Championships 2008

10/11/2008

Crowie is ready to go for it tomorrow in Kona.
His preparation has been fantastic, no stone left unturned. He heads into the race a little nervous but with total confidence in his own athletic ability and the form he has attained in his training.
Craig is Number 2.
The race can be followed on line at www.ironman.com

Stay tuned and follow closely……

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 12:37 am

Muskoka IM 70.3

9/28/2008

After a great summer of training and racing in Colorado, it was time to pack up house. We all headed north to Canada for Craig to race the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, just north of Toronto.
This was to be his final race before Kona. It was a very tough course and the race had attracted a great field, so it was going to be a good test of his fitness leading into Hawaii.
In cold and wet conditions, Craig was able to pull off the win 5 mins clear of second place, the ever consistant Richie Cunningham.
Triathlon legend Simon Lessing was also in the top 5, as was Canada’s Brent McMahon.
The race in Muskoka was held on the site of the 1992 ITU World Championships, and was an extremely beautiful and scenic course.
From there on the Monday it was off to Kona……

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 11:35 pm

Countdown to Kona…

8/29/2008

Wow, Kona is just 7 weeks away and my training is right on track !!! I have been training here in Boulder, Colorado with TJ Tollakson, and we have been putting in the long miles required in the early stages of the Kona prep.
I actually leave Boulder and fly to Canada for the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 race in 2 weeks then fly on direct to Kona for my final month of preparation. It will be good to do a race and see how it’s all going, and be able to have a bit of a taper week after all the overloading we’ve been doing.
Hope everyone else is on track and that your season is progressing nicely.
See you out on the lava very soon,
Craig

Filed under:

General

by admin @ 3:47 am



Sports Performer of the Year Awards : Craig Alexander Nominated 11/18/2008 THESE are the finalists in the most prestigious prize in Australian Sport. Now you decide the Performer of the Year and the winner of five other exciting categories. The winner will get $50,000, courtesy of Colonial First State, and you could win $5000 just for voting. Follow the link below to vote and be entered into the prize pool. http://sportsawards.smh.com.au/index.php The awards, in their second year, are already becoming the most exciting publicly voted sports awards in Australia, and the winners will be announced at a gala night at Crown casino in Melbourne on November 26. Apart from the Performer of the Year, there are five other awards - for team, coach, international, disabled and young performer of the year. The finalists have been chosen by a panel of Herald, The Age and Fairfax Media online and radio experts. You also get to vote for the winners of these categories, and the winners will be announced on the night. To view a brief overview of Craig Alexanders amazing Hawaii Ironman World Championships Winning performance follow this link. www.saltstick.blogspot.com This incredible race will be shown on US NBC December 13th 2008 from 2:30 - 4:30 pm EST. Filed under: General by admin @ 2:55 am Comments Off GU Energy Gel featured Athlete: CRAIG ALEXANDER 10/28/2008 http://guenergy.com/athletes/profile_alexander Filed under: General by admin @ 3:16 pm Comments Off SaltStick Hawaii Ironman Winner 2008 Video Link *www.saltstick.blogspot.com* Filed under: General by admin @ 3:11 pm Comments (0) U Tube Link, Pro Male Presentation 10/19/2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7m2jW1EW7w Filed under: General by admin @ 4:10 pm Comments (0) Craig Alexander Awards speech 10/18/2008 Firstly, I want to thank Diana, Linda Jane and the local organizing committee for all their tireless, often behind the scenes work in getting the race up and running smoothly. I particularly enjoyed the temperature gauge at the Energy Lab reading 108oF, that was a nice touch! To the volunteers, you are the heart and soul of this race and every race. I really hope you know how much you mean to athletes and how much your efforts are valued. To Ben, Blair and WTC, thank you for giving us all the opportunity to race on such a grand stage. It is every athletes dream to one day be crowned a World Champion and I have been lucky enough to experience that twice now because of you. On a personal note, I would like to say a huge thanks to all of my supporters and sponsors. Your commitment to my family and my career is extremely humbling and means more than we can say. I am so lucky that I am involved with the best companies and people in our sport and get access to all the best equipment, products and advice. To all the people who helped me in preparing for the Ironman - and there are many of you – thank you! Your assistance was always totally appreciated and very much needed. In particular, I want to thank Carmichael Training Systems and especially Nick White. Your knowledge, input and feedback about training was crucial. On a side note, Nick coaches Joe Marinucci who was the last finisher in 16hr.58mins. Joe and I are now apparently known as the “book ends”. I also want to pay a special debt of thanks to Dave Scott. I would see Dave almost daily in Boulder and he was always so generous with his time and more than willing to share his vast experience and knowledge. He also made me look good whenever we would go to the gym together! The Ironman in Hawaii is such a special and unique race for so many reasons. It is the World Championships but I think the reasons extend beyond this. Someone once said to me that this race and this place always draws people back. It is unbelievable when you are at the swim start and you see Paula Newby Fraser, Heather Fuhr and Scott Tinley all paddling lead skis. Dave Scott, Mark Allen, Simon Lessing and Peter Reid were all spectating on the course and I also saw Greg Welch and Michellie Jones at the finish area. And of course, Scott Molina was racing. These are some of the all-time greatest athletes of our sport and are still involved in this race. Believe me when I tell you that I fulfilled a dream by winning in Kona. It is a huge honour and privilege to be added to the list of winners and something I will remember forever. It is also a very big responsibility and I will endeavour to be a good ambassador for this race and for our sport. As an athlete, you are moulded and influenced by a lot of different factors. One of these is your competition, who constantly make you strive for more and more improvement in order to reach the pinnacle. Finally, I want to dedicate this race to my family. They are the source of my inspiration everyday. I would not be here today if it weren’t for their never-ending love and support. At 6am on the morning after the race, our daughter, Lucy, came running into our bedroom. She climbed into bed, gave me a hug and said, “Mummy and I are so proud of you for doing that whole big race all by yourself.” That was reward enough for me! Thank you, take care and I’ll see you all again. Craig Filed under: General by admin @ 1:27 pm Comments (0) Craig Alexander and Welchy Pre race interview video link http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-9DS53CHZys&feature=user Filed under: General by admin @ 2:54 am Comments (0) Crowie WINS the Hawai’i Ironman World Championships 10/14/2008 Some people wait and hope for the fates to collide for their dreams to come true. Others combine studied dedication, intense effort and pure passion to craft their dreams into reality. Craig Alexander is most certainly the latter of the two, his victory at the Ironman World Championship a dream-turned-real of epic proportion. Craig had been my number one pick for this year’s Kona race ever since his stunning second place debut in 2007. That foreshadowing of victory was only strengthened when I saw Craig for a last minute good luck wish prior to the swim start. He gave me a hug, graciously thanked me for my support and then quickly smiled and said, “It’s going to be a great day.” I could tell he felt good – really, really good – and he was ready to get his game on! There were no real surprises during the swim, with Olympic-distance phenom Andy Potts leading the pros out of the water. Once the men found their rhythm on the bike, the likes of Torbjorn Sindballe and Chris Lieto leapfrogged in front, followed closely by two groups bearing all the major contenders. Crowie rode strong with these leaders, but never made a move to breakaway or assert himself too early. I’m sure some spectators questioned whether he had the extra oomph needed for the win. But I’m also sure Crowie was riding within himself, disregarding the challenge of the other men and focusing instead on the pace dictated by his body and his predetermined race plan. And of course, saving his oomph for the run. Heading out on the marathon course, Craig was 8:30 back from the race leader, Sindballe. In between the two were several threateningly strong runners, including Eneko Llanos, Cameron Brown and Faris Al-Sultan. But Crowie is nothing if not lightning-fast on his feet, and by the time he reached the GU rental house, approximately 5 miles into the run, he had cut 4 minutes out of that lead. A few miles later, as he flew past me on his way out of town, he had tightened the gap to only 2:30. The next several miles were a flurry of text messaging, as I relayed the quickly shrinking splits to Craig’s wife Neri, sent to me by a friend watching on ironmanlive.com. I could barely type an update fast enough before there was another report, each time favoring Craig as he picked off his competitors one by one. He made a final pass for the lead and continued his hard-charging pace, ultimately opening up 3 minutes on his closest rival. As I waited in the finish stands for Craig to make the final turn onto Ali’i Drive, I alternated between watching him on the jumbo-tron and watching Neri take several deep calming breaths and wipe away tears. His 3-year-old daughter Lucy was held aloft by Greg Welch, and, after catching a glimpse of herself on the big screen as the camera panned the finish area, she winked repeatedly and twirled her gorgeous curls, primping for Daddy’s arrival. Watching Craig over the last bit of the run, it was obvious that two things were driving him with infallible determination to the line. The first, of course, was his competitive nature fused with impeccable preparation. But even more motivating, what contributed to this man’s passion and success above all else was the family waiting to embrace him - his beautiful, endearing wife Neri, his ever-proud mother Michele, his fiery daughter Lucy and their soon-to-be second child. If you know Craig at all, you know that his family is his truest love. His fervor to finish was a tribute to his family, his desire to make them proud and reward their endless support with the utmost accomplishment and celebration. Crowie soaked in the crowds lining the finish chute, beaming with emotion and pride. He then collapsed in a fetal position, followed to the ground by Neri, who embraced him in a pile of hugs and tears. Lucy quickly followed, and in the midst of the media flurry of photographs and interviews she stayed glued to her Dad’s side, playing with his discarded running shoes and even trying to help put them back on his overworked feet. Craig struggled in the balance between composed champion and totally spent uber-athlete, doing his best to answer interview questions without passing out cold. There was no doubt he gave his all during the race, leaving everything he had out in the brutal lava fields of Kona. Everything, that is, except the one thing that matters most – his family’s embrace. Congratulations to a new and true World Champion!!! Holly Bennett Filed under: General by admin @ 4:45 pm Comments (0) Hawai’i Ironman World Championships 2008 10/11/2008 Crowie is ready to go for it tomorrow in Kona. His preparation has been fantastic, no stone left unturned. He heads into the race a little nervous but with total confidence in his own athletic ability and the form he has attained in his training. Craig is Number 2. The race can be followed on line at www.ironman.com Stay tuned and follow closely…… Filed under: General by admin @ 12:37 am Comments (0) Muskoka IM 70.3 9/28/2008 After a great summer of training and racing in Colorado, it was time to pack up house. We all headed north to Canada for Craig to race the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, just north of Toronto. This was to be his final race before Kona. It was a very tough course and the race had attracted a great field, so it was going to be a good test of his fitness leading into Hawaii. In cold and wet conditions, Craig was able to pull off the win 5 mins clear of second place, the ever consistant Richie Cunningham. Triathlon legend Simon Lessing was also in the top 5, as was Canada’s Brent McMahon. The race in Muskoka was held on the site of the 1992 ITU World Championships, and was an extremely beautiful and scenic course. From there on the Monday it was off to Kona…… Filed under: General by admin @ 11:35 pm Comments (0) Countdown to Kona… 8/29/2008 Wow, Kona is just 7 weeks away and my training is right on track !!! I have been training here in Boulder, Colorado with TJ Tollakson, and we have been putting in the long miles required in the early stages of the Kona prep. I actually leave Boulder and fly to Canada for the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 race in 2 weeks then fly on direct to Kona for my final month of preparation. It will be good to do a race and see how it’s all going, and be able to have a bit of a taper week after all the overloading we’ve been doing. Hope everyone else is on track and that your season is progressing nicely. See you out on the lava very soon, Craig Filed under: General by admin @ 3:47 am Comments (0)	messages: General Archives: November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 Links American Interbanc Carmichael Training Systems Computrainer Continental Tyres Eyeline FIZIK GU Newton running Oakley Orbea USA Orca Profile design Retul Salt Stick Shimano Tri all 3 Tri buys.com X-LAb Zipp Other: Login RSS 2.0 Comments RSS 2.0
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