Emma Pallant of Great Britain and Andreas Raelert of Germany prevailed at a swim-shortened Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh.
Photo © Ironman.com
Pallant made up for a 2:31 deficit out of the 950-meter swim and closed to an 8 seconds disadvantage with a 2nd-best 2:40:15 bike split. Pallant then clinched the victory with a women’s-fastest 1:21:56 run which brought her to the finish in 4:23:17 with a 3:15 margin of victory over fellow Brit Lucy Gossage and 8:35 over 3rd-place Sarah True of the U.S.
The win added to Pallant’s excellent 2017 70.3 record after a win at Barcelona, 2nd at Mallorca and 4th at Dublin. In 2016, Pallant had a win and 6 podiums.
The elder Raelert brother started with an 8th-best 13:53 swim which gave him a 46 seconds deficit to swim leader Elliot Smales, then surged to a 5:23 lead at T2 after a race-best 2:22:18 bike split. Raelert then cruised home with a race-best 1:15:11 half marathon which brought him to the finish in 3:55:21 with a 6:54 margin of victory over Alessandro Degasperi of Italy and 7:37 over 3rd-place Yvan Jarrige of France.
The win was Raelert’s first at the 70.3 distance since 2014 in Austria.
Women
Two-time Olympian Sarah True of the U.S. led the pro women's swim in 14:01 which gave her a 1:47 lead on Alice Hector of Great Britain, 2:31 on Pallant, 2:31 on Eleanor Haresign of Great Britain, 3:24 on Gossage and 4:33 on Aine Donegan of Ireland.
After 51 km of the bike leg, Gossage and Pallant ran together and led True by 50 seconds, followed by Hector (+6 minutes) Donegan by 7 minutes and Haresign by 8:40. After a women’s-best 2:39:33 bike split, Gossage led Pallant by 8 seconds at T2, followed by True (+5:05 after a 2:47:45 bike split), Hector (+9:55) and Donegan (+12:11).
Pallant wasted little time in gaining control, leading Gossage by 2:08 and True by 7 minutes at 7 kilometers of the run. After a women’s-best 1:21:56 run, Pallant finished in 4:23:17 with a 3:15 margin of victory over Gossage (1:25:17 run), and 8:35 over 3rd-place True (1:25:25 run).
Men
Elliot Smales of Great Britain led the swim in 13:53 which gave him a 1 second margin over fellow Brit Harry Wilshire, 2 seconds over Martin Bader of Austria, 7 seconds over Stuart Hayes of Great Britain, 8 seconds over David McNamee of the UK, 33 seconds over Fraser Cartmell of the UK, 39 seconds over Jarrige of France and 46 seconds over Raelert.
Once the bike leg began, Raelert broke away by 36 kilometers to a 2 minutes lead on Cartmell and 2:20 on a group of 8 including Toumy Degham of Ireland, Lachlan Kerin of Australia, Jarrige, Martin Bader of Austria, and Britons Hayes, Smales and Wiltshire.
By 36km, McNamee, coming off a win at Mallorca 70.3, suffered a puncture on his bike and withdrew.
After a race-best 2:22:18 bike split, which was 5:23 better than the next-best effort by Alessandro Degasperi of Italy, Raelert arrived in T2 with a 5:23 lead on Kerin, 5:53 on Degasperi, 5:56 on Smales, 5:57 on Cartmell, 6:01 on Wiltshire and Bader and 6:03 to 6:06 on Degham, Hayes and Jarrige.
Halfway through the run, Raelert increased his lead to 6:50 on Degasperi, 6:56 on Jarrige, 7:021 on Bader and 7:20 on Smales.
After a race-best 1:15:11 run, Raelert finished in 3:55:21 with a 6:54 margin of victory on Degasperi (1:16:08 run) and 7:37 on 3rd-place Jarrige (1:16:50 run).
Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland
July 2, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:23:17
2. Lucy Gossage (GBR) 4:26:32
3. Sarah True (USA) 4:31:52
4. Alice Hector (GBR) 4:41:06
5. Aine Donegan (IRL) 4:48:23
6. Anne Ewing (GBR) 4:50:46 * F30-34
7. Alice Jenkins (GBR) 4:51:39 * F25-29
8. Eleanor Haresign (GBR) 4:55:24
9. Lesley West (AUS) 4:56:46 * F30-34
Men
1. Andreas Raelert (GER) 3:55:21
2. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 4:02:15
3. Yvan Jarrige (FRA) 4:02:58
4. Elliot Smales (GBR) 4:04:35
5. Fraser Cartmell (GBR) 4:06:42
6. Martin Bader (AUT) 4:07:20
7. Colin Norris (GBR) 4:07:20
8. Henry Irvin (GBR) 4:09:10]
9. Lachlan Kerin (AUS) 4:09:41
10. Albert Moreno Morins (ESP) 4:11:23
