Florida Running Events

ANOTHER RECORD YEAR FOR
ST. ANTHONY’S TRIATHLON

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 29, 2007) – The 24th annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon kicked off another milestone year with a record number of more than 4,000 amateur and professional athletes from 46 states and 15 countries. The first wave of the Olympic-distance race began when the professional male competitors entered the calm 77-degree waters of the Tampa Bay at 7 a.m.

Once completing the 1.5K (0.9-mile) swim, athletes transitioned into the 40K (24.8-mile) bike portion throughout downtown St. Petersburg and final 10K (6.2-mile) run. Spectators lined both sides of the finish line to cheer on athletes at the end of their almost 32-mile competition.

After a third place finish in the 2006 St. Anthony’s Triathlon, Matt Reed of Boulder, Colo., maintained his lead in this year’s race to become the professional male champion with a finish time of 1:46:10—breaking the previous record set by Rasmus Henning of Denmark (1:46:14) in 2006.

“This is a nice way to come back,” said Reed, 32, a native of New Zealand. “I planned to ride hard, have a big lead and hold it. The course was fast all the way around. Once in front, it was out-of-sight, out-of-mind.”

The record breaking triathlon continued when the top two female professional athletes—Michelle Dillon and Sarah Haskins—broke a 14-year record set by Donna Peters (1:59:00) with a 1:57:45 and 1:57:49 finish, respectively. Surprised by her record win, Dillon, 34, said it was a difficult race. “I was 40 seconds down on my run. It was a matter of pushing myself.” Dillon is an Olympian from Great Britain. Haskins, 26, also finished second in last year’s St. Anthony’s Triathlon. “I had a big lead, but I’m happy with second place and my bike and swim.”

Australians Greg Bennett, 35, and Craig Alexander, 34, rounded out the top three professional male. Bennett had a finish time of 1:46:30 and Alexander had a finish time of 1:48:07. Bennett was the 2005 St. Anthony’s pro male winner. Julie Diebens completed the race in under two hours to place third with a time of 1:59:06. As one of the nation’s premier multi-sport events, St. Anthony’s Triathlon, sponsored and produced by St. Anthony’s Health Care, is known for attracting high-caliber, world-class athletes to its scenic course along the waterfront of downtown St. Petersburg.

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St. Anthony’s Health Care is a 395-bed hospital founded in 1931 as a ministry of the
Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and is the first and only faith-based hospital in Pinellas County.
As one of the leading not-for-profit hospitals in the Tampa Bay area, St. Anthony’s continues
reaching out to make adult health care more easily accessible to meet the growing health care
needs of the community. Last year, St. Anthony’s celebrated 75 years of innovation, compassion
and dedication to improving the health of the community.