Press release:
Full pre-race interview with Gerrit Schellens
Gerrit, what has brought you to Lanzarote?
- Most of all the good temperature because in Belgium it is always bad weather and I like a good temperature of around 25 degrees.
Last year you won the Ironman distance race in Almere, can you win here?
- I can't say I will win, but if I have a good day, I have a chance to be one of the first three I guess.
This is possibly the most challenging Ironman course in the world. You raced in Ironman Germany and Switzerland. Do you have to do anything differently because the course is so difficult?
- No, when I participate in long distance, I always do the same training before the contest. I don't change anything so when I feel good it is good!
Who are the people you need to worry about?
- Most of all Thomas Hellriegel, and a couple of Frenchmen, I don't now them all but Thomas is the favourite and he is strong on the bike, and I am not, so I must go for the running because that is my strongest discipline.
Last year at Ironman Switzerland you missed qualifying for the Ironman World Championship by one spot. How important is that for you in the race on Saturday to try and get a qualifying spot?
- It is very important to me! I want to do it because I am 37 years old and it might be one of my last years to compete. Maybe I go on for another 2 or 3 years, but I also want to do Hawaii next year. So you can see it is quite important to me.
Many of the people you are racing against are actual pros, and you are not really. What do you do when you are not training for triathlon?
- I am always training and besides that I work 40 hours a week. Before and after my work I train 25 or 30 hours a week and my results are very good. I can't live from triathlon so I need to go to work. I like to participate with the pros because I think I can do it!
What do you think of the island of Lanzarote?
- It is beautiful, and I like it a lot. It is a heavy contest on Saturday and I think that is very good!
On 17 May 2003, Gerrit Schellens finished 4 th , behind Thomas Hellriegel (1 st ), Kiril Litovtsenko (2 nd ) and Félix Javier Martínez Rubio (3 rd ). Gerrit was the fastest runner and set a new record on the run course, with 2:44:38. His total time was 9:05:30
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