Hill Country Running Company News

Despite steamy conditions at the Capital of Texas Triathlon, hometown hero Andrea Fisher held off some strong competition to win Sunday, leading from start to finish, while Mexico's Francisco Serrano passed Austin's Brandon Marsh late in the race for the men's title.

Fisher, one of the best swimmers in the sport of triathlon, took advantage of her strength. She finished the 1,500-meter swim in Lady Bird Lake in 20 minutes, 26 seconds — the eighth fastest time of the day. Scrambling up the banks of Auditorium Shores, Fisher wasted no time in the bike transition, and had at least a two-minute lead over Austin's Desiree Ficker heading into the first of the four 10K bike loops.

Both women, established world-class Ironman competitors, averaged nearly 24 miles per hour on the bike course, which looped around the Capital, came back down Congress Avenue and then did an out-and-back stretch on Cesar Chavez.

Still, Fisher gave nothing up, and headed into the run with a decent cushion on her pursuers, which now included Beaumont's Peggy Yetman.

Both Yetman and Ficker are extremely good runners, and they attacked the 10K run intent on catching Fisher. The run course is two 5K loops, and by the end of the first one, Ficker was closing hard on Fisher.

But Ficker, who ran the Olympic trials marathon just a month ago, may not have been fully recovered. She began to feel the effects of the high heat and humidity four miles into the run, and ended up dropping out with heat stress.

In the final mile, Fisher, who won the event in 2002, began to feel the effects of the temperature and humidity. But she held together, holding off the fast-closing Yetman by 16 seconds to win in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 51 seconds. She then spent about 10 minutes cooling down with ice packs in the medical tent.

"I was just trying to stay cool on the run," said Fisher. "I was dumping water on my head, trying not to overheat, because I know I sweat heavily and lose a lot of salt. My strategy was to keep it at a tempo pace for the first loop, and to hold on for the second loop, because I knew it was going to be brutal."

In the men's race, 2004 and 2005 champ Marsh, looking for his third victory, was first out of the water in 19:13, eight seconds ahead of James Cotter. But Marsh picked up another 15 seconds transitioning to the bike course, and built his lead ever further on the 40K bike course.

Marsh headed out on the run course, about a minute ahead of Serrano, who had the fastest bike split of the day (56:47) passing a struggling Cotter in the process. Serrano averaged 5:39 a mile for the 10K and caught Marsh at around four miles into the run, holding the lead to the finish in 1:55:22. Marsh was second in 1:56:17.

"I knew I had to catch Marsh as soon as I could on the run," said Serrano. "I've been racing pretty well all year long, hoping to make the Mexican Olympic triathlon team. I'm pretty confident I can make it."

Ralph Barrera /AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Jamie Cleveland, left, holding Mollie, and Andrea Fisher, with Venus, opened Hill Country Running Co., which caters to runners as well as their pets.

PAMELA LEBLANC: FIT CITY

By Pamela LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, April 21, 2008

Up and running

Professional triathletes Andrea Fisher and Jamie Cleveland have swung open the doors of their new shop, Hill Country Running Co., at 215 S. Lamar Blvd., Suite E. The store caters to runners, triathletes, adventure racers and recreational athletes (plus their four-legged training partners) with an array of shoes, clothing and gear. It also offers on-site gait analysis to ensure proper shoe fit.

Fisher and Cleveland are the longtime head coaches of Texas Iron Multisport Inc.

"We've dealt with athletes on a regular basis asking us what shoes they should be in," Cleveland says. "We thought it was time in a city like Austin, with so many runners, that they have choices. And choices in shoe fitting are just as important as choices in what brands you're going to be in."

Besides staple brands such as New Balance, the store will stock some brands new to the running shoe market, like Zoot, best known for its triathlon gear, and some that have reinvented themselves, like Avia and Etonic.

"We're trying to get products that have been proven, but maybe not everybody knows about," Cleveland says.

Among those is Skins, which makes tights and socks that utilize compression technology once only used for people with circulation issues but now popular among endurance athletes.

"We're trying to be the complete package. If you're a trail runner, we can fit you for trail shoes, pick up a light, get a hydration pack," Cleveland says. For more information, call 294-2866.

The Grand Opening Party

was a success!

"Austin's Best Mountain Goat" Results

The treadmill was set at 30% incline and 6 minute mile pace!

Our top mountain goat times -

Male

1. Donny Martindale: 15 sec

2. Ben Stevenson: 12 sec

3. Tie - Mike Davis and Jeremy Brady: 8 sec

Female

1. Luisa Scott: 6 sec

2. Tie - Lisa Pohlet and Judy Melchor: 1 sec

Both the male and female Mountain Goat Champions

won 2 free tickets to Rock'n'Restock!

Rock 'n' Restock is a fundraising event at Stubb's BBQ

on May 22nd, with headliners

Superpal Universe and Bob Schneider's Texas Blue Grass Massacre

Fisher, Serrano survive heat, humidity to claim crowns