McCormack and Jones Reach Victory
at the 2006 Ford Ironman 70.3 Honu

 Today, Australia's Chris McCormack crossed the finish line in first at the 2006 Ford Ironman 70.3 Honu. A seven-time Ironman champion, McCormack makes a successful debut at Honu and crosses the line with an official finish time of 4:03:18. Another Australian, Michellie Jones captured a win today, leading the women's race throughout the day. Olympic medallist and ITU World Champion, Jones finished with a time of 4:29:06.

       While McCormack did not lead out of the water, he quickly took over on the bike shortly after mile five. Chris Hauth, last year's winner captured second place today with a time of 4:09:35 with James Cotter, 24, placing third at 4:11:16. Last year's second place winner and local pro, Tim Marr took home a fourth place win with a time of 4:13:56 while John Cornish captured fifth today at 4:15:34.

     Jones, who posted a second place finish on the Big Island of Hawaii at last year's Ford Ironman World Championship, dominated the women today with the second place winner more than 20 minutes behind. Rachel Ross, from Honolulu, HI, crossed the line second at 4:50:07 with another 29-year-old, Jennifer Johnson following in third at 4:54:21. Today's fourth place female was Amber Monforte finishing at 4:59:53 and Amy Bennett from Kailua, HI placed fifth with a time of 5:03:05.

     Today's race brought more than 850 athletes to the starting line, ranging in age from 21 to 79 years of age. Weather conditions were favorable for athletes, with high's not reaching above the mid-80's.

     Today's race served as a qualifying event for both the Ford Ironman World Championship on October 21 in Kona, Hawaii and the inaugural Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3 on November 11 in Clearwater, Florida.