May 17, 2009 marks the first career Ironman 70.3 victory for blueseventy athlete Dirk Bockel. Dirk led the race from the beginning where his plan was to “…take the swim out really hard in order to keep the group small once we were on the bike.” Exiting first from the water Dirk maintained through the bike and was at the front of the pack in the run with competitor Luke Bell. “It was a bit of a yo-yo game on the run. I threw in a couple of surges and gained ground…In the last loop I knew that I was the stronger one – so it really didn’t have to come down to a sprint at all.” Showing his confidence, Dirk even threw on a pair of Mickey Mouse ears while running to the finish.
This year Dirk placed third at Ironman New Zealand in March and finished 4th at Ironman St. Croix only a couple of weeks ago. Later this summer he will compete in the ITU Long Distance European Championships in Prague and will finish the season at the Ironman World Championships in Kona.
Congrats Dirk!
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