I received two boxes of the new Wheaties box featuring Chris McCormack, ahead of sales to the general public. Lucky me! This new Wheaties box will be available in stores in March 2011. I gave one box to a friend at work who is training for his first Ironman in 2011, along with his girlfriend. I hope that the Macca Wheaties will bring Scottie and Jennifer good luck. Scottie put this on his Facebook, so I guess that means he liked it 🙂
“Macca whaaaaaaat?!!!”
The Wheaties Fuel box, I kept for myself. I had never even heard of the Fuel variety of Wheaties before. I ate some right before hopping on my roller trainer to watch Ironman Kona on TV. The Wheaties Fuel tasted like regular Wheaties, sweeter, and with a crunchier, granola-like texture. They were delish! And I greatly enjoyed the Kona action – especially seeing the epic Ironwar between Macca and Raelert.
I’m going to write another blog post about my trainer roller ride. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime., please read on for the Wheaties news…
Australian Triathlete Chris McCormack First Ironman Wheaties and Wheaties FUEL Boxes Unveiled
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — (December 14, 2010) — After swimming, cycling and running his way to victory at the Ford Ironman World Championship, the world’s most challenging endurance event, Wheaties is proud to unveil Chris McCormack as the first Ironman World Champion to appear on Wheaties and Wheaties FUEL boxes. The boxes featuring the 140.6 mile champion will hit store shelves in March, and the Wheaties FUEL-sponsored 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii debuts on NBC on Saturday, December 18.
“Chris McCormack is an inspiring athlete, and we are proud to recognize the multi-sport endurance triathlon events and competitors that Chris represents by featuring him as our first Ironman champion to grace Wheaties and Wheaties FUEL boxes,” said Wheaties FUEL Marketing Manager Dan Stangler. “Wheaties FUEL, designed to fuel athletic performance, is a great nutrition source for athletes looking to jumpstart their morning as they pursue excellence on and off of the race course and Chris is certainly a perfect example of that journey.”
McCormack battled against extreme heat conditions, heavy rain fall and melting lava roads to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in Kona this year. He has triumphed under equally-challenging conditions at nearly every major short course on the global triathlon calendar from Chicago to San Diego and New York City to Los Angeles. In addition, he has captured first place at Ironman distance races from Australia to Germany, as well as the Olympic Distance World Championship, and his Ford Ironman World Championship win marks his fifth top-10 finish. McCormack finished the grueling 140.6-mile Ford Ironman World Championship race in just over eight hours, at 08:10:37 to break through the finish line tape first out of approximately 1800 of the world’s top professional and age group athletes competing in the 2010 championship event.
“Breakfast is such an important meal of the day for any athlete. Given the long hours I train, I really need a nutrition source with a blend of simple and complex carbohydrates that can help fuel me,” said Chris McCormack. “I never miss breakfast, and I include whole grains and B vitamins to provide the long-lasting energy I need to endure a grueling workout, so I can’t think of a bigger honor than being on a Wheaties box and representing the accolades of being an Ironman. I know my kids will get so excited to see my face in the cereal aisle.”
McCormack’s appearance on the Wheaties box will be accompanied by the cover of the Wheaties FUEL box, which was the official cereal and sponsor of the Ford Ironman World Championship because it provides balanced nutrition that helps athletes prepare to win. Wheaties Fuel provides a blend of carbohydrates: simple carbs for rapid supply of energy, complex carbohydrates from whole grain to provide long-lasting energy and help fuel working muscles, and fiber to help curb hunger while limiting feelings of fullness. B-vitamins help unlock the energy contained in the carbohydrates. Wheaties FUEL also contains an excellent source of iron. Iron helps transport oxygen to working muscles. The cereal was developed by a team of elite athletes in the various sports of triathlon (Hunter Kemper), decathlon (Bryan Clay), basketball (Kevin Garnett), baseball (Albert Pujols) and football (Peyton Manning), and a leading sports nutritionist (Dr. John Ivy, University of Texas) to help fuel wins. Proper nutrition is critical to reaching the highest levels of athletic performance. Each of us strive for our own wins every day. Wheaties FUEL can help you prepare for any challenge.
“It is a great day for the sport, and for triathletes everywhere, to have Chris McCormack featured on Wheaties and WheatiesFUEL boxes as the first ever Ironman to receive this great honor,” said Ben Fertic, chief executive officer, Ironman. “He joins an elite list of athletes, and it’s exciting to see the sport – and its accomplished athletes – receive this recognition by such a highly regarded brand as Wheaties.”
Not only is McCormack the first Ironman World Champion to be featured on a Wheaties box, he will also be the first athlete featured on the cover of the Wheaties FUEL box outside of the cereal’s elite co-creators.
Wheaties FUEL recently unveiled Wheaties FUEL Prepare to Win nutrition tips from Ironman competitors all over the world. The first three videos in the series are available to view on the Wheaties Facebook page. The latest addition features nutrition tips from McCormack. The brand is challenging Ironman athletes from around the globe to submit their nutrition tips via video submissions to the Wheaties Facebook page in order to share their personal learnings with other athletes.
About Wheaties
Born out of a fortunate mistake in 1924, original Wheaties was created when a health clinician accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove. The result was tasty, crispy wheat flakes that became known as Washburn’s Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes. A year later, the cumbersome name was shortened to Wheaties. Baseball legend Lou Gehrig was the first athlete featured on a Wheaties Box, when he appeared on the back cover in 1934. In 1958, American champion pole-vaulter Bob Richards was the first person to appear on the front of the package, jumpstarting the phenomenon of “being on the Wheaties box,” which has since been graced by some of the greatest athletes of all time, including Bruce Jenner, Walter Payton, Mary Lou Retton, and many others. To view a complete timeline of Wheaties Champions, visitwww.wheaties.com.
About Wheaties FUEL
Wheaties FUEL is a lightly sweetened, crunchy whole wheat flake with crispy rice and a touch of cinnamon and honey and it represents the evolution of the iconic 85-year-old Breakfast of Champions. Wheaties FUEL is the first-ever cereal designed to help meet the nutritional needs of today’s athletes and was created with the help of Peyton Manning, triathlete Hunter Kemper, Kevin Garnett, gold medal-winning decathlete Bryan Clay, Albert Pujols and sports nutritionist Dr. John Ivy. The ready to eat cereal provides long-lasting energy from whole grain to help keep you going, and 100% of the Daily Value of five B-vitamins to help the body release energy from food.
For more information on Wheaties and the Wheaties FUEL evolution visit www.Wheaties.com. And, become a Breakfast of Champions fan on www.Facebook.com/Wheaties to receive exclusive content and more.
About Ironman
World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a Tampa-based company recognized for athletic excellence, distinguished events and quality products. WTC’s ever-growing portfolio includes the Ironman, Ironman 70.3, 5150, Iron Girl and IronKids brands, which have a combined total of more than 100 events worldwide each year. Supported by partners including Ford, Timex, Foster Grant and PowerBar, Ironman is the No.1 user-based sports brand in the world and has been a respected name in triathlon since its inception in 1978.
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The Breakfast of Champions, Wheaties and Wheaties Fuel are registered trademarks of General Mills.
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View Comments
Wheaties fuel rocks. love it!
oh, total brain fart, I meant Mirinda. She rocked that race.
I'd like to know why they didn't put Chrissy on one of the boxes!! Instead they give both Wheaties and Wheaties Fuel to the guy. I'm not some big feminist but c'mon...
ya, i know, that sucks that they left out Mirinda. But I think Wheaties target market is males, so that's why they picked the male winner. next time you're in the grocery store, look at the wheaties boxes, all male athletes on there!