Although Lisa is primarily regarded as one of the best IRONMAN athletes in the world, Lisa spent the first 8 years of her triathlon “life” racing Olympic distance and raced on several National Elite Teams at the World Championships and at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. Shortly thereafter in 1997, Lisa switched her focus to the IRONMAN distance winning her first long distance event, Strongman Japan, breaking the course record by 19 minutes. From there, she placed 9th in her first IRONMAN World Championships. This began a progressive rank improvement to 3rd place at the 2006 Ironman World Championships and 11 IRONMAN victories on several continents with at least one IRONMAN victory each year from 2000 to 2007.
- 5 Straight IRONMAN Australia Victories – (’02-’06), 3 IRONMAN Canada victories (’03, ’04, ’07), 2 IRONMAN New Zealand victories (’00, ’01), 1 IRONMAN Germany (’05)
- 11 IRONMAN 70.3 victories
- sub 3-hour IRONMAN marathon at IRONMAN Canada and IRONMAN Australia
- 11 races at the IRONMAN World Championships with several top-10 finishes – 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 9th
- 5th in the 1998 I.T.U. World Long Course Championships
- 2nd fastest Ironman debut (9:29:45 – IRONMAN Canada 1997) in history. 2nd to Natascha Badmann
- Represented Canada at the Pan American Games, Argentina, 1995 placed 6th, Canadian women’s team won gold
Articles
2007 Ironman Canada
Lisa Bentley’s third Subaru Ironman Canada title did not come with the apparent ease of her 2003 and 2004 Ironman Canada wins. At this year’s Ironman Australia, Bentley suffered a lower leg injury that side-lined her run training for three months and threatened her chances of even competing in the race.
Bentley came into the 25th Subaru Ironman Canada displaying a different “race face” from previous appearances in the Okanagan Valley. Gone was the subtle confidence usually displayed in her pre-race comments and appearances. Yes, the words, responses, and comments were similar to those of years past, but there was a noted restraint in her tone. It was more of an “I am just glad to be here” attitude.
Throughout April, May, and June, Bentley replaced her seven-day-a-week running program with sessions lying motionless in the hyperbaric chamber, having physiotherapy, active release therapy, acupuncture and injections into the tendon on her heel. Her focus during in her recovery turned to her bike training, which paid off in spades for her in the race.
2005 Ironman Australia
The Forster dynasty of the Ironman Australia triathlon ended yesterday as Chris McCormack and Lisa Bentley confirmed they were the last king and queen of the era.
They won their fourth-straight titles at the mid-north NSW coastal town of Forster, which hosted the day-long event for the last time before it moves north to Port Macquarie.
There is much behind-the-scenes bitterness between the local organizing committee and Ironman Australia promoter IMG over the move away from the town, which first staged the race in 1985.
A huge pack of age-group cyclists also swallowed up the lead women today to emphasize the drafting problem that has dogged the race for many years.
But the outstanding performances from McCormack and Bentley over the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run overshadowed these troubles.
Sydney’s McCormack, 31, became the first four-time men’s winner here since Finnish legend Paul Kiuru dominated the race between 1991-94.
Australian Louise Bonham had also won four titles, but Canada’s Bentley became the first woman to win four successive Forster titles.