Richie Cunningham threw down the days fastest run at the Rev3Tri Half at the Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, Connecticut. His 1:15:28 was fast enough to best James Cunnama and Joe Gambles both of whom ran just a half-minute slower than Cunningham, and that was the difference.
Mirinda Carfrae won a crackerjack race against Heather Wurtele. Carfrae dug deep with a 1:21:29 half-mary to finally haul in Wurtele, who was in front for most of the race. Carfrae's 4:27:42 was just 17 seconds clear of Wurtele at the finish.
Five male riders—the three men mentioned above along with Jesse Thomas and Paul Matthews—were close as the bike leg finished. On paper, it would seem advantage-Thomas. But the athlete with the best running pedigree did not have it on the day, with his 1:16:35 good enough to net him only 4th at the finish. The fastest run of the day went to—no surprise—Kaleb VanOrt. His split was 1:15:05.
In the women's race, the battle of the bike hammers—Angela Naeth and Heather Jackson—was won handily by Naeth. Her 2:30:42 bike split was two minutes clear of the next closest split, which did not belong to Jackson, rather to Wurtele. Naeth was never able to reel in Wurtele, however, and Wurtele soloed into T2 with a handful of time on Naeth, and a three minute lead on Carfrae.
That's not enough time to have in hand over the diminutive Aussie, who is no longer just a runner, but who rides her Felt DA to fast splits these days. Her 2:34:40 was fourth split on the day, and her half-marathon split was, of course, the fastest.
Related image gallery
2012 Rev3 Quassy race gallery
Rev3Tri Quassy
Middlebury, Connecticut
June 3, 2012
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Men
1. Richie Cunningham, 4:00:32
2. James Cunnama, 4:00:46
3. Joe Gambles, 4:01:02
4. Jesse Thomas, 4:03:25
5. Paul Matthews, 4:05:01
6. Matty Reed, 4:07:17
7. Kaleb VanOrt, 4:09:50
8. Viktor Zyemtsev, 4:13:14
9. Rich Allen, 4:14:14
10. Kirk Nelson, 4:18:07
11. Tim Deboom, 4:18:44
12. Chris McDonald, 4:20:30
Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae, 4:27:42.0
2. Heather Wurtele, 4:27:59.9
3. Angela Naeth, 4:28:24.6
4. Heather Jackson, 4:34:07
5. Laurel Wassner, 4:34:08
6. Kelly Williamson, 4:36:18
7. Madeleine Oldfield, 4:41:03
8. Michelle Bremer, 4:41:17
9. Malaika Homo, 4:42:02
10. Jessica Meyers, 4:42:20
