Written by André Karsai | 07.08.2010 @ 09:50

TriStar111 Estonia 2010 is about to start in 10 Minutes. 274 individual athletes will compete in the new Triathlon format focused on fun, environmental protection and social responsibility.

16 male professionals and 8 female professionals will be swimming 1km, cycling 100km and running 10km and trying to win today's race. 72 teams of 3 will start 11minutes after the individual athletes, and we'll find out at the Finishline if the teams will manage to make up the difference.

Enjoy times coming in in the RANKING tab, and enjoy a full day of triathlon fun!

Written by André Karsai | 07.08.2010 @ 07:23

It's Race Day morning in Estonia and the waters of Lake Pühajärv are still flat and calm. Athletes commence checking in their bikes and transition bags and get ready for the race entailing 1km of swimming, 100km of cycling and 10km of running. We'll post photos, twitter updates (from our spotters) and quick updates throughout the day. Use the LIVE RANKINGS tab in order to get access to the information coming in from the timing.

In the LIVE RANKINGS tab, you'll find three links: Current Race Results, Results per Split and Personal Results. Try it out and you'll see it's pretty straightforward.

Enjoy the day - Yes, you can!

Written by Andre Poopu | 06.08.2010 @ 21:08

On This Weekend Triathlets Will Compete Also On Roller Skates

SEB 4th Tartu Rulluisumaraton and TriStar111 Estonia triathlon invite you to put your abilities to test on a common challenge. So athletes can swim, run, ride a bicycle and roller skate all in one weekend choosing 11,1km or 111km distances on triathlon and 15km or 36km course on inline skating marathon.

The joint event means that the results of both races will be combined and best competitors in overall standings will be awarded. This brings the winner of England Ironman competition Philip Graves and the best woman in Hawaii Ironman competition Desiree Ficker to the track as well.

Kert Keskpaik predicts several runaway attempts. „I believe that on this year there will be no group finish and someone will make a decisive move on the track. I will go to the competition with the hope of winning, because so far I haven’t succeeded in winning of Tartu Rulluisumaraton, now it’s time to do that,“ says Keskpaik.

Written by André Karsai | 06.08.2010 @ 18:20

What a program! Friday was great in Otepää today. The sun welcomed everyone who managed to wake up, and all day long temperatures kept climbing. After the rain yesterday, many people might have thought it would stay cool... with water temperatures above 24°C and air around 30°C now all participants KNOW it will be a hot day of racing tomorrow.

Today's activities included the Star&Co Village welcoming athletes for race package pick-ups. During the day, our two announcers Margus and Riho entertained and informed all visitors.

At 15:00, the horn was blown for the start of the TriStar11.1 race. 116 kids and adults who wanted to get an idea of triathlon began with 100m of swimming, followed by 10km on the bike and 1km of running. First at the Finish line was Gunnar Kruus from Oti Spordiklubi with a total of 26:53:07. You can find all results here.

At 17:00 it was time for the race favourites to present their race strategies and motivating, inspiring words to the public at the press conference. Race director Ain-Alar Juhanson admitted "I will check in my bike so I can race if everything's going well. Should need be, I will stay on site and help instead of participating myself."

Chris McCormack thinks "Tomorrow will be a tough day! Maybe I brought the wrong bike with me - when Ain told me there were 1100m of climbing altitude I must have understood 1100feet".  (= approx 330 meters)

Tour the France multiple stage winner Jaan Kirsipuu who will participate in a relay team is convinced "It's important to transport the image of Estonia to the World, and Sports is a great vehicle to do so. When I raced in France, people did not have the slightest clue where Estonia was." His landsman Andrus Veerpalu, two times gold medalist in cross country skiing, thinks that Estonia is a great country for sports with the "real four seasons", as he put it.

Desiree Ficker says she's impressed by the venue and likes it a lot to have chosen to race in Estonia - a country she's never been to before. Philip Graves, "the monster on the bike" as Macca called him during the press conference, was attracted by the new format in triathlon focussing on the cycling leg of the race.

Jürgen Stilgenbauer likes the venue and thinks it will be fun, although he's not sure whether the zipsliding yesterday did him any good. Beating Philip on the zipslide is one thing, and he's eager to find out how he'll be doing tomorrow.

After the race briefings, now the Energy Party is underway on the terrace of the SPA Hotel just a stone's throw away from the Finishline. For a change to many other events, athletes can stay up a little longer tonight as the race tomorrow starts at 11 only, and not in the dawn.

Written by André Karsai | 06.08.2010 @ 09:35

The sound quality is not very good, still we'd like to share what Desiree has to say!

Written by André Karsai | 06.08.2010 @ 09:24

Today is a day full of program here in Pühajärve! The Star&Co Village opened about 20 minutes ago, and athletes are lining up for registration. While Macca went cycling with a group, the setup if being finalized - the stage for the concert is done, the Finishline Arch is being setup while I am typing. At 15:00 in the afternoon, the first ever TriStar11.1 will take place. 100m of swimming, 10km of cycling and 1km of running attracted more than 70 kids and 50 adults! It will be definitely a fun race to get in the right mood for tomorrow!

After the Awards Ceremony for the TriSstar11.1, briefings will be held for the TriStar111 athletes in English and in Estonian. A complete briefing has been published last weekend, so athletes at TriStar111 Estonia are well informed ahead of the race so they can enjoy their stay here in Otepää even more!

At 19:00, doors (and the terrace!) of the SPA Hotel will open for the Energy Night in a relaxed athmosphere... before heading off to bed early and getting a good rest before tomorrow's race day.

Written by André Karsai | 05.08.2010 @ 22:00

Written by André Karsai | 05.08.2010 @ 21:09

Written by André Karsai | 05.08.2010 @ 20:50

Thursday night was adventure night in Otepää! Pro athletes were up to a special Challenge in the Otepää Seikluspark with zipslides connecting two mountains.

Desiree Ficker, Thomas Hellriegel, (coaching this time! :-) ), and Jürgen Stilgenbauer followed Ain-Alar's call to compete off the beaten path, while great athletes from other sports like Erik Nool (EST; decathlon Olympic Champion Sydney 2000; European Champion 1998, today in the orange polo shirt) and Vassili Rotchev (RUS, cross-country skier with a bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Olympic winter games; gold medal at the FIS Nordic Wold Ski Championships in 2007 and wearing red socks - very aware of the triathlon-fanatic's favourite colour around these days around lake Pühajärv) were adventurous enough to participate in the fun event.

Rotchev took away the victory in this competition today with a new record of 2mins and 12 seconds for the two slides and the flight of stairs up the mountain. Winner in the "pro triathlete category" was Jürgen Stilgenbauer.

Congratulations to all of you, and looking forward to seeing you have at least as much fun on race day as you've had today!

Check out the gallery in the Photos tab

Written by André Karsai | 05.08.2010 @ 19:49

"Each year an average of 20 malignant tumours are diagnosed with Estonian children. These children often need in addition to chemotherapy a special surgery in the form of complementary medicine. All over the world medicine programs use these expensive medicines but the Estonian Health Insurance Fund can only cover it partially. Therefore it is not always possible to use it in Estonia as the program requires in addition to the amounts paid by health insurance fund an added payment of 10 000 to 20 000 Kroons (= 650 to 1.300 Euros)." explains Janek Mäggi, from the council of Tallin's Children's Hospital.

Join us and support the Tallinn Children’s Hospital with your personal contribution so these children can get the help they desperately need! On site or online: every donation counts! Donate now for the chance to win a free entry in TriStar111 Estonia and maybe even become the TriStar LIVESTRONG™ ambassador in TriStar111 Monaco. (including a transferable free entry, flight + accommodation for two nights and a LIVESTRONG™ race dress)
www.lastehaigla.ee