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2008 Ford Ironman Florida
11/01/08 - 09:48 PM
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Stephen Gunter - bio

Panama City Beach, Fla:

It’s that time again for Ford Ironman Florida!

This is the 10th year of the event in Panama City Beach.  So, for 10 years, it’s been making guys like me feel more and more out of shape!

Over 25-hundred contestants took the plunge in the gulf making two loops around the one point two mile swim course behind Board Walk Beach Resort.

Roughly 11-hundred of the tri-athletes are first time competitors in this year’s event.

After getting out of the water, the tri-athletes made the transition from the wet suits over to the biking outfits.

Then they set off for the 112-mile bike portion of the event.

It took them from Front Beach Road, then up Highway 79, over to Highway 20, and then down Highway 231, back across Highway 388 back down 79 and then back across the home stretch to the Board Walk Beach Resort.

Canadian Tom Evans set a bike record of 4:21:00.

Then, the transition from the bike outfits over to the running shoes for the final event of the triathlon, the 26.2 mile run.

The competitors headed east on Thomas Drive all the way to State Park Circle.

They had to make two loops in the run to complete the 26.2 miles.

After a grueling 8:07:59, Tom Evans, a 40-year-old dentist from British Columbia, Canada is your men’s champion.

He shattered the old course record of eight hours and 21-minutes.

“The best part of the whole race is the run because you have people going both ways. You don’t just have fans encouraging you, you have other racers. I have a lot of friends racing this race. There are a lot of other Canadians here. So, there are fans and competitors. There is the support crew and everybody is so supportive out there and it really helps,” said Evans.

Not long after Evans crossed the finish line, the women’s champ came strolling across.

Bella Comerford from Switzerland won her fifth Ford Ironman Florida with a time of 9:07:48.
“Once upon a time I only dreamt about things like that. I never thought it was possible. I’ve made it possible for myself. It’s unbelievable. I am absolutely exhausted. It feels hard to sit here,” said Comerford.

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