RECORD IRONMAN FIELD CAN'T SLOW DOWN HARJU HE TAKES THE LEAD DURING THE BIKE PORTION AND HOLDS ON DURING THE RUN; NICOLE DEBOOM IS THE TOP FEMALE.(SPORTS)

Byline: Nick Zizzo Wisconsin State Journal

As the Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon keeps getting bigger, it's becoming apparent the increase in size means only one thing to Dave Harju.

There are just more athletes to beat.

Harju, a 35-year-old part-time teacher from Hull, Quebec in Canada, defended his title Sunday in a time of 8 hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds, this time outlasting a North American Triathlon record 2,188 competitors.

The Ironman held its first competition in 1978, and the previous high of 2,173 was set two weeks ago in Canada.

Nicole DeBoom, 30, was the top female finisher, winning her first Ironman in 10:05:40.

Like last year, Harju pulled away during the biking portion of event, which began with a 2.4-mile swim in Lake Monona. A 112-mile bike ride through Madison and Dane County and a 26.2-mile marathon that finished between Monona Terrace and the Capitol followed.

"I know the rolling hills suit a powerful guy like me on the bike so I figured I'm going to put in on the line on the bike and see what happens," said Harju, who came out of the water in 19th place but took the lead for good about 30 to 40 miles into the bike race.

"If they go with me maybe they're going to blow up, if they don't I'm going to have a lead and they're going to have to catch me on the run."

Harju got a run for his money from runner-up Petr Vabrousek of the Czech Republic, who trailed Harju by 11 minutes after the biking. But Vabrousek made up ground during the marathon.

"He was 6 minutes (behind), then 4 minutes, then 3 minutes," Harju said of Vabrousek. "But then with 5 (or) 6 miles to go and (a lead of) 3 minutes, I was able to hold it there.

"It looked like his legs were going ... I seen him and I said he's no fresher than I am and he's not going to catch me."

Vabrousek finished 3:08 behind Harju.

"Last year, I was 22 minutes behind Dave after the bike," Vabrousek said. "This year it was 14 but it's still not enough so I need to work a little bit more on my biking."

For DeBoom, it meant she could add another title to her household. Husband Tim, who was monitoring his wife's progress via Internet back home in Lyons, Colo., is a two-time world Triathlon champion.

"I don't know if I can compare to what he's done but it feels good to have two Ironman champs in the family," DeBoom said.

Three riders got off the bikes ahead of DeBoom, with New Berlin's Lauren Jensen close behind. But DeBoom, who suffers from asthma, assumed the lead about 9 miles into the run. She's just not sure where.

"It must be the bar section downtown because the roads were kind of sticky," DeBoom said. "There was a turnaround and I saw Andrea (Fisher) coming back toward me.

"She was in the lead at the time and I just knew if I went nice and easy and brought it up to her, I had the feeling I would be able to make the pass."

Jensen finished second, nearly 8 minutes off DeBoom's pace. Fisher took third.

University of Wisconsin chemistry professor Thomas Brunold, was fifth in the men's race at 9:12:29. He took the long way home to his N. Hamilton Street apartment, which is near the start-finish line, in bettering last year's finish by three spots.

Brunold, 35, made up time after swimming a minute slower than last year.

"You can't really control competitors, all I can really control is my race," Brunold said. "I'm very happy. I'm 20 minutes faster despite my rather weak swim. It was a good race for me."

Cash cow

It was also a good race for Madison merchants. From Thursday through Sunday, $2.2million was taken in from competitors and fans between the arrival and departure of the event, said Kim Straka, the director of communications and public relation for the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"This is a huge event for the community," Straka said. "I think they said that the first Ironman (in 2002) we had 50 local (and) Dane County athletes that participated. This year it's over 250.

"What that means to me is that this is an event that the community supports wholeheartedly."

Contact Nick Zizzo at nzizzo@madison.com or 252-6167.

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Jaron Berman for the State Journal

New Berlin's Lauren Jensen leads her son across the Ironman finish line Sunday. She was the second-fastest woman and was 41st overall.