Debut in Kona for Michael Raelert – Brothers from Rostock want to join in the fight for the victory
Kailua-Kona. The Raelert-Brothers are waiting for the start of their race of the year, Andreas and Michael Raelert compete on October 13th at the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona. "The most important week of the year is running", the two brothers say. They belong to the favorites of the Ironman Hawaii 2012. Andreas Raelert has raced three times in Hawaii, and he has already achieved a position on the podium in his Kona debut in 2009. In 2009 he was third as well as in 2011, in 2010 he was runner-up. This year Michael Raelert gives his debut race in Kailua-Kona.
On Saturday the Raelert-Brothers start together at the Ironman Hawaii for the first time. "We are very excited and looking forward to the fact that we can be here together", the two brothers say, "for this race we've been working the whole year." The goal of the Raelert-Brothers for the first joint appearance in Kailua-Kona is clear: "We want to join in the fight to win."
On Saturday at 6:30 am (6.30 pm CET), the 50 top-ranked athletes in the Kona Pro Ranking start at the pier of Kailua-Kona into the 2012 Ironman World Championships. More than 1.800 agegroup athletes fight for their finishes in this hard race as well. The Ironman is a competition, which is a myth due to its harsh conditions and his incomparable ambience. "The Ironman Hawaii is difficult to describe in words", Andreas Raelert says, "it is physically, but especially mentally extremely challenging." 3.86 km swim in the Pacific are only the prelude, which is followed by a challenging bike course of 180.2 km through the lava fields. After that the athletes are ahead of a marathon of 42.195 km in the heat. "The climatic conditions, the unpredictable wind and especially the athletes make this race unpredictable", Michael Raelert looks forward to his debut race in Kona.
Besides the Raelert-Brothers many other outstanding athletes are listed for the World Championships. Defending champion Craig Alexander is a three-time Kona winner and a favorite like his Australian compatriot Chris McCormack, who could already celebrate two victories on Hawaii. Other stars of the Ironman Hawaii are Marino Vanhoenacker from Belgium, Pete Jacobs (Australia), Eneko Llanos (Spain), the US-Americans Tim O'Donnell, Greg Bennett and the fast swimmer Andy Potts and as well many other successful athletes. From the german point of view the list includes last year’s fifth Timo Bracht, 2005-champion Faris Al-Sultan, Andreas Böcherer and the reigning Ironman 70.3 World Champion Sebastian Kienle. "The pro field is certainly one of the best in recent years", Andreas Raelert says.
Before Andreas and Michael Raelert came over to Kona, the Raelert-Brothers have recently prepared in California for the Ironman Hawaii. "We are in a very good shape", they explain. Andreas Raelert had a six-week training camp in the Swiss Alps before the headed to California – with this high altitude training he wanted to set new accents in his summer training. Michael Raelert has mainly trained in Germany, and in August he won the Ironman 70.3 European Championships in Wiesbaden. "We are ready and excited to race", Michael Raelert says. "Our dream is that the name Raelert once is part of the winners list of the Ironman Hawaii - regardless of the first name." On Saturday the Raelert-Brothers want to fight for the fulfillment of that dream. You can watch the race live on the internet: www.kona.ironman.com. There is also a live coverage at www.raelert-brothers.com.
http://kona.ironman.com
The Raelert-Brothers in brief - The fastest brothers in the world of endurance Triathlon:
Andreas Raelert is the world’s fastest athlete on the Ironman distance. He holds the world record since July 10th 2011 - when Andreas won the Challenge Roth in 7:41:33 hours. He moved over to the Ironman distance in 2008 after a successful career in Olympic distance races. Andreas is a two-time Olympian: He reached 6th place at the Olympics in Athens 2004 and 12th place at the Olympics in Sydney 2000. Andreas won his debut over the Ironman distance at the Ironman Arizona in 2008. In 2009 he gave his debut at the legendary Hawaii Ironman and finished third. In 2010 he won the Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt and finished second at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. 2011 he won the Challenge Roth in world best time on the bike (4:11:43 hours) - and was again third in Hawaii. In 2012 he won the ETU-European Championships on the middle distance at Challenge Kraichgau. Andreas Raelert was born on August 11th 1976 in Rostock.
Michael Raelert is the world’s fastest athlete on the Ironman 70.3 distance. Since November 14th 2009 he holds the world record - when Michael won the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater in 3:34:04 hours. The two-time German champion over the Olympic Distance (2005/2008) joined the Ironman 70.3 distance for the first time in 2009 and remained undefeated over this distance for more than a year. In 2010 Michael celebrated the double: winning the European and World Championship in Ironman 70.3. In 2012 he had a successful Ironman debut - being runner-up at Ironman Regensburg. He won the Ironman 70.3 European Championships 2012 in Wiesbaden. Michael Raelert was born on August 29th 1980 in Rostock.
The Raelert Brothers are proud to mention that they are ambassadors for the children's charity organisation Help-for-Hope since the beginning of 2012. They support the project Mike Möwenherz in their hometown Rostock. Michael Raelert has dedicated his Ironman debut in Regensburg to this project.
