Igor Amorelli of Brazil and Sarah Haskins of the U.S. cruised to comfortable margins of victory at the Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico in San Juan.
According to unofficial results, Amorelli finished in 3:54:59 with a 5:25 margin over Chris Leiferman of the U.S. and 7:22 over 3rd-place finisher Cedric Boily of Canada.
In her very first Ironman 70.3 effort, Haskins led wire-to-wire in 4:21:31 with a 7:19 margin over Dede Griesbauer and 10:23 over 3rd-place Jackie Hering – making it an all-U.S. women's podium.
The race was marred by a shootout near the bike course from which stray bullets wounded two age group triathletes. A third triathlete crashed during the shooting, but was not hit by the gunfire. According to San Juan news website PrimeraHora.com, the triathletes were caught in crossfire between occupants of two cars near the course at Puente Dos Hermanos. According to PrimeraHora, the injured age group triathletes were a male doctor from Puerto Rico and a woman from the United States. Both were taken to the Centro Medico emergency room and are in stable condition. According to another San Juan news report, a man in a Toyota minibus was found shot dead after the incident.
Men
David Kahn of the U.S. led the swim in 23:44, 51 seconds ahead of Frank Silvestrin Souza of Portugal, 1:09 ahead of Igor Amorelli of Brazil, 2:12 on Justin Metzler of the U.S., 2:15 on Mike Hermanson of the U.S., 2:16 on Cedric Boily of Canada and 2:20 on Ironman Boulder winner Justin Daerr of the U.S.
After an estimated 2:10:00 bike split, Amorelli led a big pack of contenders into T2 by over a minute. Patrick Evoe of the U.S. led the chasers at 1:10 down, followed by Boily (+1:18), Chris Leiferman and David Kahn of the U.S. (+1:30), Metzler (+1:34), Sousa (+1:42), Daerr (+1:53) and Matt Russell of the U.S. (+3:05).
Halfway through the run, Amorelli extended his lead to 6 minutes and then cruised home with an estimated race-best 1:20:12 half marathon split to finish in 3:54:59. Chris Leiferman closed with a 1:20:14 run to take 2nd, 5:25 down to the Brazilian. Cedric Boily of Canada took the final spot on the podium, 1:59 back of Leiferman.
Women
Sarah Haskins led the swim in 25:44, followed by four fellow U.S. competitors - Laurel Wassner (26:19), Dede Griesbauer (26:33), two-time Puerto Rico 70.3 champion Kelly Williamson and Jackie Hering. (25:55). Maja Nielsen of Denmark was next in 30:29.
After an unofficial race-best 2:21:46 bike split, Haskins led Griesbauer (2:22:27 bike split) by 1:30 at T2. Further back were Hering (+7:44), Nielsen (+9:50), Wassner (+11:13) and Julie Patterson of the U.S. (+11:24).
Haskins then cruised to a win in her first Ironman 70.3 in a time of 4:21:31 with a 7:19 margin on Griesbauer and 10:23 on 3rd place finisher Hering.
Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
March 15, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Preliminary Results
Men
1. Igor Amorelli (BRA) 3:54:59
2. Chris Leiferman (USA) 4:00:24
3. Cedric Boily (CAN) 4:02:23
4. Frank Silvestrin Souza (BRA) 4:03:03
5. Matthew Russell (USA) 4:03:53
6. Justin Daerr (USA) 4:04:53
Women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 4:21:31
2. Dede Griesbauer (USA) 4:28:50
3. Jackie Hering (USA) 4:31:54
4. Maja Nielsen (DEN) 4:34:38
5. Sarah Cameto (USA) 4:35:53
6. Laurel Wassner (USA) 4:37:21
