Podium finish caps off impressive season

November 11, 2007 – Clearwater, Florida – Just four weeks after making her Ironman debut at the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona Hawaii where she finished 8th, Great Britain’s Leanda Cave topped off an impressive season by finishing 3rd overall in a time of 4 hours 12 minutes at the Ford Ironman 70.3 World Championship held this past Saturday in Clearwater Florida.

“After Hawaii I was so incredibly beat up and tired. I thought there was no way I would be able to fully recover in time for the 70.3 World Championship. Since Hawaii was my first Ironman, I had no idea how long it would take me to recover or how I would feel”, said Cave. Clearly, four weeks was enough time for Cave. In her usual style, she used her dominating swim, bike-combination and improving run to stay in contention all day long. After being led out of the swim by fellow Brit Julie Dibbens, Cave quickly took control on the bike and pushed the pace as she had done four-weeks prior in Hawaii. “I felt really good coming out of the water and as soon as I got on the bike I knew I was capable of having a good day. I was pleasantly surprised that my legs decided to come back to life on race day”, commented Cave.

During the last half of the bike and on to the run, the top women traded positions numerous times, but Cave never fell below 4th place. She had managed to work herself up to 2nd place with less than 2 miles remaining but was caught by defending champion Samantha McGlone. “My legs felt great for the first 11 miles of the run but I definitely had to dig deep to hold on to third place. Julie Dibbens was charging hard but once I crossed the final bridge I found another gear and was able to put some distance on Julie”, said Cave.

As she neared the finish line, Cave dropped to knees and proceeded to “roll” herself across the finish line in remembrance of John Blais, a fellow age-group triathlete who died recently from complications associated with ALS. “I met John at this race last year and he had just finished Ironman Hawaii. He was such an inspiration to me and this was just my way of paying tribute to someone who has made a lasting impression on my life and in this sport”, commented Cave.

Cave’s 2007 season has been her most successful season as a pro triathlete, which included victories at the prestigious Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, ITU Long Distance World Championship, Tri-One-0-One in Florida and again in California. Add to that her 8th place finish at Ironman Hawaii (her first attempt at the full Ironman distance) and her 3rd place finish at Ironman 70.3 World Championships and you quickly realize that Cave is among the best in the world at any distance.
http://www.leandacave.com

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