Cave continues her dominant early season form

June 9, 2008 – San Francisco, CA – Just three weeks after capturing her first win of the season at Florida 70.3, Leanda Cave proved she is a force to be reckoned with at any distance by defending her title at the prestigious Accenture Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. Against a stacked women’s pro field that included reigning 70.3 World Champion Miranda Carfrae, Ironman World Championship runner-up Samantha McGlone and Olympic hopeful Becky Lavelle, Cave posted a winning time of 2:15:37 on the challenging Alcatraz course. Caves’ early season performances have been nothing short of dominant with back to back wins at Alcatraz and Florida 70.3, 2nd place at the Avia Wildflower Triathlon and 3rd at California 70.3.

In her own words:
I’m jumping out of my skin right now as I just WON THE ACCENTURE ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ triathlon for the 2nd year in a row! Really, I can’t believe it. I’m sitting down writing this race report as if it were any other Sunday afternoon... only difference is, I’m smiling from cheek to cheek!

It all started with a great team who work to help me behind the scenes. First there is my boyfriend/coach/training partner, Torsten Abel who also coaches a number of San Francisco/Bay Area triathletes. He has been there day in, day out, on all the good days and bad; He was even kind enough to rub my legs down last night before the race. Then there is a fantastic swim coach, Phil DiJirolamo, who has a very supportive masters group out at Terra Linda High School where I have been training since February. I can’t forget my masseur, Paul Whiting who is also from Mill Valley - best massages I have ever had (and believe me, I’ve had a few), and he is British to boot! My bike mechanic and sponsor, Chad Nordwall, another Mill Valley local who owns and runs Above Category on Millwood Ave and lastly, the man who runs the business side of my career, Chris McCrary, a Bay Area resident who owns and runs Katalyst Multisport Management.

So the race went well from the gun. There is nothing like the shock of the cold Bay water to wake you up and throw you into 5th gear from the get go! It was a choppy swim but I came out with 3 other girls (while mixing it with the men). I came into T1 with Linda Gallo, Becky Lavelle and Mary-Beth Ellis, however, it was Ellis who set the pace on the bike. She was so strong and I was killing myself just to keep here in sight. Then the most unfortunate thing happened - she crashed while descending down from the Legion of Honor. That was it - I was out there on my own (still mixing it with the men!!) and still killing myself. There are so many hills to climb and the downhill sections are so short and fast that there is no letting up.

I came into T2 in the lead and I was psyched but after such a hard bike, I had to keep killing myself to get through the run. Becky Lavelle came into T2 about 1minute behind, but she was gaining on me. As we headed up the brutal sand ladder, my lead was down to 8 seconds - but that was as close as I was going to let the gap get. I let lose on the downhills; scary with so many athletes coming up (and I apologize for anyone who I came a little too close to). Bombing down the hills worked to my advantage, as I gained a good 20 seconds on Becky. I managed to maintain it all the way along Chrissy Field to the finish. There were so many of my friends there waiting to cheer me in and it made the victory all the more rewarding.

So once again to all my sponsors and support crew, THANK YOU!! WE nailed it again!!

P.S. If anyone is watching the news in the Bay Area - Monday night on CBS5 and ABC, then Tuesday night 'live' on KRON4 at around 6.40pm.

A HUGE thank you to all of my wonderful sponsors: K-Swiss, Pinarello, Power Bar, Reynolds Wheels, Blue Seventy, Nuun, Above Category, Oakley, Giro, Nathan Hydration, THANK YOU!

About Leanda Cave:
www.leandacave.com

• Champion – Accenture Escape From Alcatraz 2008
• Champion – Florida 70.3 2008
• 2nd place – Avia Wildflower Long Course Triathlon
• 3rd place – California 70.3 2008
• Champion - ITU Long Course Championship - 2007
• Champion – Accenture Escape From Alcatraz 2007
• Champion – Tri One-0-One Florida 2007
• Champion – Tri One-0-One California 2007
• 3rd place – Ford Ironman 70.3 World Championship 2007
• 8th place – Ford Ironman World Championship 2007

About Katalyst Multisport Management:
www.katalystmultisport.com
Founded on the most basic principals of integrity, experience and creativity, Katalyst is committed to
extending the reach and influence of the multisport lifestyle.