Kiwis Bevan Docherty and Nicky Samuels won the 2010 Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon that was changed to a 5k run, 40k bike and 10K run duathlon after an apparent tragic incident yesterday. This event was the first stop in the 2010 Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series Race To The Toyota Cup.

Docherty used his amazing foot speed to get away from the competition during the opening 5k run and led on the bike until he flatted his rear disc in the last k of the ride. David Thomson who was riding hard too, caught the now "limping" Docherty and the 2 started the final 10k run virtually together.

"I was still passing age groupers with the flat tire so it wasn't so bad," said Docherty.

The Kiwi though looked very good during the run and won this duathlon in 1:49:11 and now leads the 2010 Race To The Toyota Cup. Thompson crossed the line 36 seconds later to take second place and Tyler Butterfield came home in third.

"It was a last minute decision for me. The way ITU racing is you can go very soft on the bike so the whole ball game was to have a quick hard bike and then hold it together on the run," said Docherty to slowtwitch. "To be honest I was very pleased to hold off David Thompson on the bike. He caught me at the very end. To ride only 30 seconds slower than him was pretty awesome."

In the women's race Nicky Samuels virtually duplicated the efforts of Docherty and also managed a nice lead after the first run. From there she had a solid ride, but Jenna Shoemaker had an even faster bike split and reached the second transition first.

Samuels though had enough in the tank for another fast run and outpaced Shoemaker for the win. Shoemaker crossed the line in second and Nicole Kelleher finished third.

"I would have preferred a triathlon but under the circumstances a duathlon was unquestionable," said Samuels. "The heat was the hardest part. I was looking forward to hanging out in the water a bit before the race to try and cool down before I started but that plan had to be altered and the running shoes had to be put on. On the bike I remember looking down at my legs and thinking I didn't put moisturizer on this morning... wow I didn't know I could sweat so much!"

Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon
Philadelphia, PA / June 27
5k run / 40k bike / 10k run

Top 10 Pro men

1. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 1:49:11
2. David Thompson (USA) 1:49:47
3. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 1:51:32
4. Matty Reed (USA) 1:55:48
5. John Kenny (USA) 1:56:15
6. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:57:18
7. Dirk Heinze (USA) 1:57:58
8. Richard Swor (USA) 1:58:33
9. Ryan Kelly (USA) 1:58:40
10. Jared Woodford (USA) 2:00:06

Top 8 Pro women

1. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 2:02:20
2. Jenna Shoemaker (USA) 2:02:35
3. Nicole Kelleher (USA) 2:07:12
4. Pip Taylor (AUS) 2:09:42
5. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 2:09:54
6. Laurel Wassner (USA) 2:10:43
7. Heather Leiggi (USA) 2:11:36
8. Becky Keller (USA) 2:22:20

Image courtesy and copyright of Rich Cruse of richcruse.com