Courtesy: event press release

Chris McCormack, Australia's most popular Iron-distance threat and former ITU World Champion, is going to take on the star- studded field of European greats at Quelle Challenge Roth on July 6th. Though the men's field is stacked with no less than twelve ironman champions, McCormack is setting his sights on one competitor - the hat-trick-reigning Roth champion, Lothar Leder (GER). "I didn't want to go to Ironman Korea and beat other guys. I wanted to come to Roth and beat Lothar Leder; he's the best in the world. If anyone can beat him, I think I can. It's scary because I'm the first non-German top-triathlete to head over to Germany and really race."

Leder, the undisputed king of the Bavarian racecourse, will be attempting his fourth consecutive win and fifth win overall at Roth. While the German champ is ready and willing to defend his title, McCormack is looking forward to trying to knock-off the powerhouse in his homeland. "Half the reason I am coming to Germany to race is the head-to-head battle. It will be a tough race and Lothar will be very, very hard to beat. The way I see it, Lothar and I will step off the bike together and it will become a running race. He's gone under 8 hours at Roth and won it four times, so obviously he has proven he can race. But it is going to be a battle, which is what I'm looking for. When you go to Hawaii, Tim DeBoom and Peter Reid are the guys to beat, but when you go to Europe - to Germany - Lothar Leder is the guy to beat. And to beat someone in their home country, I think you have to be five percent faster than you already are."

Leder claims there's a secret he's learned about racing the course at Roth, but McCormack isn't concerned. "I've never trained on the course at Roth, but I'll know the course come race day. Lothar has everything one needs to be a great Ironman competitor. He's won nine Ironman races and is tied with Peter Reid for more wins than anyone else, but just because he's raced the most and knows the course the best, doesn't mean anything. The ride is still 180 km. I know the course profile. I've spoken with Cameron Brown and a few guys who know the course. Cameron said it was tougher than he thought, so I'm expecting it to be tougher."

McCormack or "Macca" has been on an impressive streak since he's moved to the ultra-distance racing. At one point over the last two years, he recorded 26 consecutive victories on U.S. soil, which included four consecutive wins at the Escape from Alcatraz and a win at the Wildflower Half-Ironman. His 2003 season has started equally as strong - winning Ironman Australia for the second consecutive time and winning the Huatulco Half-Ironman in Acapulco, as well as placing second at the Pucon International Half-Ironman in Chile, and third at Escape from Alcatraz.

"Alcatraz is a race I've owned for the past 5 years, so to say I didn't want to win there would be a lie. But my focus is definitely elsewhere this year. I am looking to Roth to set up my marathon for Hawaii. I fizzled big time in Hawaii last year (recorded a DNF), so my final focus for this season is capturing the world title in October. This doesn't mean I'm looking past Germany. It's important, and I entered the Quelle Challenge to win," says Macca. "I have a formulated plan for the course and the competition. I will use the same process I used to win the short course World title."

He'll spend just 10 days in Roth before the race. "I may do a long-sprint course race in Italy two weeks prior, but then I will start my taper," says fast-talking, speedy-cycling, fleet- footed superstar. "I'd love to run a good marathon after a great ride. I want to ride a low 4:30 bike split and run well under 2:50. Conditions could make it difficult, as the weather has been quite different each of the past few years, but if Lothar can beat me on that time, then he's the man."

McCormack's confidence in his running background is well founded. When he was 20, he qualified for the world junior cross-country championships. "I had aspirations of being an Olympic runner, even a marathon runner - taking after Aussie greats Robert DeCastella and Steve Monghetti." A couple years later he went to the world cross-country championships, but left the experience feeling discouraged after seeing how fast the African runners were. "When you come from Australia, you kind of live in a bubble. And when you go overseas, you kind of see what's really going on. I went home disillusioned and started college, where did I run, but lost the drive."

His start in triathlon came almost by accident, and at the suggestion of one of the all-time greats. "I was just running on the beach one day and ran into Greg Welch," explains McCormack. "At the time, he was making a name for himself by traveling to America and winning races. We started running along the beach together and chatting. It was hot out, so we went for a swim." Welch saw him swim and immediately asked him if he ever thought of triathlon. "I really didn't know what it was and I told Welchie that I didn't know how to ride a horse (laughing)." After Welch explained the concept of triathlon - not the modern pentathlon, McCormack got a bike, entered a local Olympic distance event, and won the junior category with a 31 minute run for 10 km. His prize? A trip to Club-Med. "I had never won anything in my life."

It wasn't long before Triathlon Australia was calling, curious to see if he could do it again. He did, and they soon invited him to the development squad. "I thought it was so cool that I got to travel all over to race and they pay for everything." Completely hooked, he tried to defer two years of college in a row - an idea not shared by his parents. "They wouldn't let me do it, so I went back to finish my degree and dropped out of triathlon in '94 and '95. While back in school, Welch won in Kona and triathlon exploded in Australia, but I was completely out of it. After graduation, I got an accounting job at a bank and couldn't take it. I told my boss I was quitting and told him I wanted to be like Brad Bevin. He told me I was chasing a dream and I was blowing an excellent opportunity at the bank." Within a month, Macca and his girlfriend packed up their stuff, headed over to Europe, and made their home in Gap, France. By 1996, he'd won two World Cup races. "It was like it was meant to be." However, Macca adds, "Triathlon Australia basically forgot about me because I was living in France. But after my first win in Paris, I ran into Les McDonald and he allowed me to enter the World Cup race in Canada. I won $10,000 for the win in Canada - I'd never seen that much money and thought I was the richest man in the world. From then on, I won almost every World Cup race I was in." During one stretch, he won 19 Olympic distance races in a row.

Even with all his success on the ITU circuit, he always was looking toward ultra-distance. "If you win World Cup, no one really cares. For me, I wanted to race Ironman. That's where everyone was - Mark Allen, Peter Reid, and Luc van Lierde. I've been asked why I have turned my back on short-course racing. But for me, it is simple. I have no more goals in short- course." And with his two consecutive victories at Ironman Australia, he's already raised some eyebrows in the world of ultra-distance racing. Of course, the goal of winning it all in Kona is ever present in Macca's mind.

"Last year after Kona, people told me it was my bike, but it was the easiest bike ride I've ever done. When I told Dave Scott I only drank the Gatorade they provided on the course and a couple of Clif Shots, he couldn't believe it. Not long afterwards I headed up to an exercise physiology lab in Sacramento and I learned so much about my nutrition. It was good to learn that my demise in Hawaii was not a conditioning issue. I had an empty tank and still had a 9-1/2 minute lead off the bike. Knowing what I know now, and seeing that those guys were racing perfectly and still were down 9 1/2 minutes to me, I feel I'll be able to take them.

"Nobody goes head-to-head anymore. They're wussies. Dave Scott and Mark Allen used to race head-to-head - that is why they went so fast. Today, these guys take it easy on the bike. They aren't willing to push it to see if certain guys are going to blow up. I'm going to be the guy who is going to take it to them," McCormack says matter-of-factly. "They all think I'm a biker, but they just don't get it. I can run. When they start seeing the pace I'm setting in Kona and then realize I ran 2:45 in Roth, they're going to have to step it up. I'd love nothing more than to go head-to-head with Tim DeBoom, and if he would happen to beat me, then se la vie."

That isn't to say he is looking past the upcoming war in Roth. "I've probably raced Lothar 100 times and I know his strengths and weaknesses. Everything he can do, I think I can do. I can out-swim him and out-ride him. He'll never drop me on the bike. However, his marathon is much stronger than mine, as I've only run a few in my life. But remember, I always wanted to be a marathoner."

While the Aussie's short-term goals are firmly rooted in Roth and Kona, he has a larger vision of what he can become. "There has not really been a global triathlete since Mark Allen. Jurgen Zack came to San Diego and raced here in the states, but he's as close as its come. I live in Switzerland for seven weeks out of the year and people don't talk about DeBoom anywhere in Europe like they do about Jurgen. I really want to race long-course in Europe, my home country in Australia, and here in the U.S. And of course win in Hawaii. My goal is to truly be a global athlete." As for post-Roth, he'll be off to Canada for a World Cup race and then heading to Minnesota for the August 3rd Lifetime Fitness Challenge, where he'll race Leder again. But by no means is it all business this summer. In between racing in Canada and Minnesota, McCormack will head to France to catch a few days of Le Tour de France with some buddies and then return to his homeland to get married and focus on Hawaii. But first, all sights are set on Roth. And spectators' and pundits' sights are set on Macca.

The historically large crowds and the beauty of the Bavarian countryside have already attracted a large number of participants to Challenge Roth. More than 2670 participants from 24 countries - including first-time entries from Egypt and South Africa - will be on the start line for the event. About 380 relay teams have been registered and more than 420 individuals are signed on for the International German Championship. A number of American triathletes from New York and California have registered, among them, three relay teams. Roth officials expect another banner year of spectators at the race that annually sees about 100,000 along the course - more than any other race of its distance in the world.

Quelle Challenge Roth's sponsors include: Quelle AG, Deutsche Post AG, N-ERGIE, DB Regio, Powerbar, Sparkasse Mittelfranken Sud, Philips, Erdinger Alkoholfrei, Arndt, County of Roth, City of Roth, City of Hilpolstein, Coca-Cola, Frankenbrunnen, Zeus Copy, Paladin, Hofmann, Jura Kaelte, Lorenz & Kollegen, Flor & Sohn, Spedition Heinloth, CarbonSports GmbH and BIESTMILCH.com.

For more information on the July 6, 2003, Quelle Challenge Roth and Triathlon Festival, or to participate in the on-line forum, and to receive the event's newsletter, please visit www.challengeroth.com.