Scotland's Lesley Paterson Powers to 2nd Place in US Ironman 70.3 Debut

    OCEANSIDE, CA, March 31, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Lesley Paterson, who finished her 2009 triathlon season with a stunning second place finish at the off-road Xterra World Championships in Hawaii, has begun 2010 with a powerful second place finish in her US Ironman 70.3 debut at Oceanside, California in the time of 4 hours 24 minutes and 31 seconds.

Riding a top-of-the-line Xenith T2 from her new bike sponsor Jamis Bicycles for the first time, Paterson put in what she considers to be one of the best bike legs she has ever raced, finishing the section fourth fastest overall in the women's field and continually picking off some of the top bike professionals in the world during the challenging 56 mile course.

True to her dominant running form, only eventual race winner, ex-World Champion Mirinda Carfrae ran faster. Both Paterson and Carfrae broke the old Oceanside Ironman 70.3 run course record, with Paterson completing the half marathon 13.1 mile course in a phenomenal one hour 18 minutes and 29 seconds.

Said Paterson, "With the help of my new coach, Vince Fichera, I feel like I'm going from strength to strength and just now coming in to my own as a world class triathlete. While my running continues to improve, a hard winter training on the bike seems to be paying off already."

The 29 year-old Paterson is no stranger to the sport, having been a Scottish and British international since she was 15 years of age and winning a silver medal at the Duathlon Junior World Championships in 2000. After taking a break from triathlon three years ago she has rediscovered her love of the sport in the past two years with a vengeance, and that love is now transferring into podium results almost every time she races, off-road or on-road.

Added Fichera, about straddling the two extremes of the sport, "Lesley loves mixing off-road Xterra triathlons with the Ironman 70.3 discipline, because training for both is for the most part complimentary and contributes to her being the well-rounded athlete she is."

A cross country runner with a 16:30 5km personal record, Paterson is a true Renaissance woman - her main gig is as a writer-producer for films and her production company holds the film rights for the classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front.

Next up for Paterson is the Xterra West Championships in Las Vegas on April 25, where she finished third in 2009.

With the help of her new agent, Sean Watkins of Wattie Ink, Lesley acquired a full roster of high-end sponsors over the winter off-season which is helping her rejuvenated assault on the triathlon world. Aside from Jamis Bicycles for both road and mountain bikes, she has Avia for shoes, Aqua Sphere for wet suits, Spider Tech for injury prevention, Skinfit for apparel, and Rehab United for physical therapy and strength programs.

Contact: Sean Watkins, Wattie Ink Management, telephone: 760-580-7665.

Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment, Inc., is the film production company of writer-producers Ian Stokell and Lesley Paterson. For further information, please contact (310) 699-3021, e-mail at [email protected]

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