Hawaiian Airlines Double Preview

Since 1998 Hawaiian Airlines has sponsored the "Double", awarding cash and free flights to the pro and amateur men and women who can conquer the challenges of the Ironman World Championship and the XTERRA World Championship in the fastest time.

In each of the last three years two-time XTERRA World Champ Eneko Llanos (pictured above) has won the pro men's Double and with another solid showing in Kona this year he's poised to take it again - which would tie the record of four-straight set by Peter Reid from 2002-2005.

Llanos finished 14th at Ironman in 8:37:55, and less than a minute later in 15th was Luke McKenzie in 8:38:38.  The other contender is Michi Weiss.  The Olympic mountain biker from Austria had the third-best bike split in Kona, and the second-best mountain bike split at XTERRA Worlds last year.  He'll come in 18 minutes behind Llanos, having placed 25th at Ironman in 8:55:54.

A pair of Hawaii locals have the lead positions in the amateur double race, with Richard Cochrane of Kailua (Oahu) sporting a four-minute edge on Arnaud Bouvier of France and Amy Eck of Kaneohe with a monster four-hour edge over Kimiko Matsuda of Japan.

THIS YEAR’S DOUBLERS (TENTATIVE)

Pro Men
Eneko Llanos - Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain - 8:37:55
Luke McKenzie - Sunshine Beach, Australia - 8:38:38
Michi Weiss - Vienna, Austria - 8:55:54
Ain Alar Juhanson – Praide, Estonia – 11:17:56

Amateur Men
Richard Cochrane - Kailua, HI - 10:16:10
Arnaud Bouvier - Provance, France - 10:20:32
Reinhold Garnitschnig - Klagenfurt, Austria - 10:29:01
Mark Geoghegan - Honolulu, HI - 11:02:44
Nicholas Kaiser - Honolulu, HI - 11:11:20
Jay Heller - Las Vegas, NV - 13:31:26
Russ Hudson - Dundee, Michigan - 16:08:38

Amateur Women
Amy Eck - Kaneohe, HI - 11:13:01
Kimiko Matsuda - Osaka, Japan - 15:48:47

Past Hawaiian Airlines Pro Double Winners
2008: Eneko Llanos (11:03:39), Sibylle Matter (13:12:08)
2007: Eneko Llanos (11:17:17), Erika Csomor (13:12:50)
2006: Eneko Llanos (11:09:17), Sibylle Matter (13:24:06)
2005: Peter Reid (11:10:09), Kate Major (12:51:01)
2004: Peter Reid (11:27:59), Heather Fuhr (13:18:17)
2003: Peter Reid (11:03:50), Heather Fuhr (12:42:03)
2002: Peter Reid (11:18:23), Arianne Gutknecht (13:30:26)
2001: Cam Widoff (11:54:30), Wendy Ingraham (13:37:04)
2000: Peter Reid (11:05:07), Beth Zinkland (13:15:26)
1999: Olivier Bernhart (11:05:09), Uli Blank (13:09:57)
1998: Peter Reid (10:59:49), Wendy Ingraham (12:58:32)