Vitor Meira Competes In World Class Triathlon in Southern Chile


PUCÓN, Chile January 24, 2010—Vitor Meira had to leave his No. 14 ABC Supply Indy car at home for his most grueling race of the season: his first world class triathlon, the Ironman 70.3 Pucón Sunday morning. Pucón is located in southern Chile, about 500 miles south of Santiago, the country’s capital.



Meira, who will turn 33 in March, finished 40th out of nearly 100 competitors in his age group of 30 – 34-year-old men; he was 179th overall of 750 competitors. It was a strong showing for the amateur competing against many professional triathletes.


A triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling and running in immediate succession over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed "transitions" between the individual swim, bike, and run components.


Promoted as “the most beautiful race in the world,” this Half-Ironman competition incorporated Pucón´s most scenic areas, including panoramic views of the spectacular Villarrica Volcano and Palguin Hot Springs. The two-loop 1.2 mile/1.9km swim took place in Villarrica Lake while the two-loop bike course (56 mile/90km) took athletes on the International Road with several amazing backdrops. Athletes completed three laps for a total of 13.1 miles/21.1kms on the run course with tough ascents to Pucón’s very demanding peninsula before they reached the finish line in Pucón’s downtown center.


“It was definitely the best triathlon race that I have done so far,” said Meira whose aggregate time for the triathlon was 5 hours, 10 minutes and 43 seconds. “The running was very hard... it was very, very hilly course, so for the last 7km of it I was completely done!”


Brazilian Reinaldo Colucci, 24, won the race with a record-setting time of 3 hours, 52 minutes, 28 seconds.


Meira had a team sponsor commitment for ABC Supply in North Carolina on Wednesday (Jan. 20) which meant he couldn’t leave for Chile until Thursday night. He arrived at the southern tip of South America after a 10-hour flight from Miami to Santiago and another short hop to Pucón on Friday, two days before the competition.


“The travel was not a problem,” Meira said. “What affected my performance a little was the fact that I got there Friday afternoon so I did not have any time to go through the course beforehand because on Saturday it was closed to competitors.”


When asked why he would fly 10 hours to put himself through such a grueling physical competition, Meira replied, “What I gain is that any time I’m training, it reflects on my driving, and having a commitment to compete in an Ironman pushes you to train even more!”


And the best part of the weekend?


“The best part was definitely to see the finish line and enjoy the meal after the race! Not that it was really good, but I was just really hungry!”