Australians line up for Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene Triathlon in Idaho

Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene Race Preview

Shawn Skene previews this weekends Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene.

Ironman.com  for full race preview

Sunday will mark the eighth year the communities of Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Hayden Lake have hosted athletes participating in Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene.

These Idaho communities have embraced this race and there is good evidence that Ironman has been adopted into the identity and culture of the host communities. Ironman banners hang from street-posts and the local businesses. Welcoming signs and daily Ironman related articles pop-up in the local papers days before the race. An increasing number of local volunteers return the following year, shedding the volunteer t-shirt and exchanging it for a race number. And, yearly over 3,000 enthusiastic volunteers from the community proudly cater to the needs of the athletes on race day……

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Chris MacDonald has a couple of Ironman titles to his name and a blue-collar-like work ethic when it comes to training and racing. He races hard, he races often and the 32-year-old is only getting better.

Luke Bell has over two dozen podium finishes at the 70.3 distance, in which 12 are outright wins. The Australian also has four second place finishes to his credit in Ironman races along with two top-ten finishes at the Ford Ironman World Championship. He is overdue for his first Ironman title.

Other podium potentials are first year professional, Meredith Kessler, who recently finished second at the Ford Ironman St George and Hawaii’s Bree Wee.

Go to  Ironman.com to see full race details.

Race coverage will commence on Friday with the IronmanLIVE Pre-Race video show, photos, athlete features and reports on the events leading up to the race.

IronmanLIVE race day coverage will commence at 6:00 am (Pacific). The professional race will start at 6:25 am and the age group race will start at 7:00 am. We will be providing text updates, photos, live timing and athlete tracking along with live video.

Shawn Skene can be reached at: SSkene@Ironman.com

Pro Men:
Tom Evans
Michael Lovato
Andy Potts
Chris McDonald
Luke Bell
John Flanagan
Scott Curry
Courtney Ogden
Torsten Abel
Blake Becker
Dallas Cain
Jonathan Caron
Andres Latorre
Billy Edwards
Patrick Evoe
Jemani Francis
Adam Jensen
Jerzy Kasemier
Matt Lieto
Jason McMillian
Raul Pereira
Oliver Piggin
Juan Carlos Ramirez
Gavin Scott
Matty White
Keegan Williams
Rob Johnson

Pro Women:
Gina Crawford
Hillary Biscay
Desiree Ficker
Haley Cooper-Scott
Linsey Corbin
Rachel Kiers
Meredith Kessler
Kelly Williamson
Miranda Alldritt
Jacqui Gordon
Lauren Harrison
Malaika Homo
Janelle Morrison
Nicole Ward
Bree Wee
Fiona Whitby
Jocelyn Wong