Neil Bayer, 50, of Pinecrest, secured a spot in the Super Bowl of triathlons, the Ford Ironman World Championship, on Oct. 11 in Kona, Hawaii. He was selected to compete during the event's annual lottery draw.
Bayer has never completed an ironman (2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run), and this will be his debut in the world championships. He is a member of the Ndorphin Triathlon Team. Of the team's 12 members, half have finished Kona, and Bayer wants to be the next.
Bayer was one of 7,127 athletes who entered their names in this year's lottery, the most in the program's history. Only 205 athletes were selected.
Last year, nearly 1,800 competitors from 49 countries and 45 states participated. Most qualify through the Ironman/Ironman 70.3 Qualifying Series worldwide. More than 90,000 athletes enter qualifying events annually.
This year, the ironman race lottery awarded 150 slots to U.S. citizens, 50 slots to international athletes and five slots to physically challenged athletes.
• Rene Mayer, 47, of Clermont, won the women's title during the Mack Cycle Tri-Miami Olympic Duathlon on May 4 at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne.
Mayer covered the one-mile run, 24.8-mile bike and 6.2-mile run in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 46 seconds. Lake Worth's Natalie DiFranco, 40, was second in 2:14:36, followed by Adriene Sullivan, 41, of Pembroke Pines in 2:20:24.
Joe Corcoran, 31, Cambridge, Mass., placed first in the men's race in 1:50:12. John Walker, 43, of Hollywood was second in 1:53:04 and Tim Nicholls, 49, of Pembroke Pines in 1:53:27.
In the Mack Cycle Tri-Miami Olympic Triathlon of the Ameriprise Financial Tri Series, Jenny Fletcher, 33, of Miami Beach won the women's title, completing a 0.93-mile swim, a 24.8-mile bike and a 6.2-mile run in 2:20:35. Kassianna Rosso, 29, of Key Biscayne finished second in 2:21:46. Gina Donato, 39, of Palm Beach Gardens was third in 2:24:14.
Boris Fernandez, 35, of Key Biscayne placed first in the men's field in 1:59:16. Miguel Tellez, 37, of Sunny Isles was second in 2:01:53 and Miami's Elliott Mason, 30, was third in 2:06:32.
In the Mack Cycle Tri-Miami Sprint Triathlon of the Ameriprise Financial Tri Series, Miami's Michelle Garner, 38, topped the women's division (quarter-mile swim, 12.8-mile bike, 3.1-mile run) in 1:07:33. Catharine Pieck, 30, of Basalt, Colo. was second in 1:08:54. Monica Rossi-Montero, 39, of Miami took third in 1:09:43.
Carlos Dolabella, 47, of Key Biscayne won the men's race in 58:34, followed by Michael Nunez, 32, of South Miami in 1:00:54 and Robin Vandekreeke, 40, of Coral Gables at 1:02:08. Visit multirace.com.
• Less than a week after finishing the Boston Marathon, Hollywood's Patricia Soden of Team Amino Vital completed the Olympic distance event at the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg. She covered the course in 2 hours. 58 minutes.
• The Pan American Championships and Olympic Zone Cup in judo are Friday-Sunday at the James L. Knight Center, 400 SE Second Ave., Miami.
Athletes from 42 nations will compete, with the final chance to qualify for the Olympics in Beijing.
Miami's Anthony Turner, who trains at the USA judo national training site in North Miami, is a member of the U.S. judo national team, competing at 100 kilograms. He is Olympic-bound.
