Shortis leads Int. Field at Ford Ironman Lake Placid

11th annual Ford Ironman Lake Placid takes place on Sunday

The professional race will have an international flavor at the 11th annual Ford Ironman Lake Placid. The men contending for the title include Australian Jason Shortis, Maik Twelsiek of Germany and American Zach Ruble. The women's field will be led by American Hillary Biscay, Canada's Samantha McGlone and the defending champion Caitlin Snow of the USA.

Shortis (pictured left competing at Ironman Western Australia) is a multiple Ironman Champion including two titles at Ironman Western Australia. He raced to a third place finish at Ford Ironman Lake Placid in 2003 and has been racing competitively on the Ironman scene for over 12 years. Twelsiek won his first Ironman title in 2007 at Ford Ironman Wisconsin and recently finished in fifth place at Ironman Australia. Since turning pro in 2007, Ruble has earned five top-ten Ironman finishes in Wisconsin, Louisville and Florida. His career-best Ironman finish time was at the 2008 Ford Ironman Florida where he completed the course in 8:34.

Biscay (pictured right with Greg Welch) won her first Ironman title at Ford Ironman Wisconsin in 2008 after posting numerous podium finishes since 2006. She finished in third place here at Ford Ironman Lake Placid last year. McGlone won the inaugural Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3 in 2006; she also won the Ford Ironman 70.3 Florida earlier that year. She finished second at the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3 just after she placed second in Kona in her first appearance at the Ford Ironman World Championship, finishing in a time of 9:14:04. Snow had a breakout performance in very challenging conditions last year at Ford Ironman Lake Placid, just a few days after she married fellow professional triathlete Tim Snow.

Ford Ironman Lake Placid will take place for the eleventh consecutive year on Sunday, July 26, 2009. More than 2,200 athletes from around the world are expected to compete in the 2009 event. Athletes participating in the 2009 Ford Ironman Lake Placid will compete for a total professional prize purse of $50,000 and 72 qualifying spots for the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship to be held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii in October.

We'll have live coverage of Sunday's race here on Ironman.com including text and video updates, photos and live timing.