We often hear from Garmin-sponsored triathlete Ben Collins as he shares his training and racing experiences with the Garmin Edge 705 and Forerunner 310XT. This week however, we thought we'd let Ben's race report from the LA Triathlon tell his story.

Two weeks after setting a course record in Kirkland, Washington, Ben Collins placed ninth at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon presented by Herbalife against the most talented field ever to toe the line in the race's 10 year history. Collins posted the fastest bike split of the day, and led the race for over 20km. Swimming with a broken wrist, Collins was unable to lead the swim and instead exited the water at the back of a lead group of 15 athletes. So when he got on the bike and saw other athletes in front of him, he “put the hammer down”. Passing everyone in the first 10 km of the bike, Collins held the lead for about 20 km. At the turnaround a blistering fast Greg Bennett surged past Collins and lead to the end of the 40km bike. Of course he couldn’t stop a very determined Collins from posting the fastest bike split, reminiscent of his non-drafting career. After the race, Collins Garmin Edge 705 recorded an average speed of over 27 mph!

Getting out onto the run, Collins held on for a very impressive 9th place against a very competitive field.
This was a great race for Collins to see how far his fitness has come this year. A few injuries haven’t
stopped him from competing with the world’s best triathletes. Collins trained hard right up to the race, so
his performance in LA is a great indication for what is to come at the final of 2009 Toyota US Open in
Dallas after a week of recovery October 11, 2009.