Mark Fretta took a fine win at the 2010 Lifetime Fitness Chicago Triathlon, while Toyota Cup points leader Matty Reed failed to finish in the top five. Sarah Haskins grabbed the women's title with a very dominating performance.
The men
With temperatures in Chicago hovering in the high 90s, jumping into the Monroe Street Harbor most likely was quite welcome, but Cameron Dye made quick use out of that "refreshment" and managed to get out of the water first. His lead though was only a few seconds over a group of Pro men that included Mark Fretta, Kevin Collington and Stephen Hackett. NYC Tri winner Filip Ospaly and series Matty Reed also managed to be right there.
Dye then pushed a hard pace on the bike and recorded the fastest bike split among the men. His time of 55:31 was 11 seconds faster than the time of bike monster David Thompson, 14 seconds quicker than Fretta and almost a minute quicker than Ueberbiker Andrew Starykowicz. Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Minneapolis winner Matty Reed's time was surprisingly exactly 2 minutes slower.
Fretta though looked very fast on the run and soon took the lead. Fastest run of the day though belonged to Collington and he bested Fretta by 39 seconds, but Fretta's fast bike split had given him a 1:13 lead on the Orlando, FL resident and was thus enough to earn him the win. Collington though crossed the line in second place and Ospaly rounded out the podium.
"Three races in eight days and a flight back from Europe on Monday turned out to be a bit much. So coupled with the heat here just detonated on the run. Just one of those days," said long time race leader Dye who did not finish the event.
The women
Hayley Peirsol and Sara McLarty led the Pro women out of the waters of Monroe Street Harbor with Sarah Haskins in hot pursuit 18 seconds adrift and 4th placed Rebeccah Wassner just about 2 minutes down.
Haskins quickly charged into the lead during the bike and used the fastest bike split among the women to get back to T2 first about 30 seconds ahead of McLarty and 2:30 up on Jillian Petersen.
McLarty soon drifted out of the picture in the extremely hot conditions in Chicago. Haskins didn't seem to be bothered too much and recorded the fastest run split on her way to the title. Petersen crossed the line in second and Laurel Wassner finished third.
"I have raced in hotter conditions in a few ITU races; however, the non draft format in the heat was tough," said Haskins to sowtwitch. "We also had an 800 meter run out of the swim and running out of T2 off the bike before the official 10k run, so the extra mile of running took it's toll as well! It was a great feeling to get to that finish!"
Related image gallery
Lifetime Fitness Chicago Triathlon gallery by Eric Wynn
Lifetime Fitness Chicago Triathlon
Chicago, IL / August 29, 2010
Top 10 men
1. Mark Fretta (USA) 1:52:22
2. Kevin Collington (USA) 1:53:05
3. Filip Ospaly (CZE) 1:53:54
4. David Thompson (USA) 1:54:16
5. Chris Foster (USA) 1:55:23
6. Joe Maloy (USA) 1:55:34
7. Matty Reed (USA) 1:55:49
8. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:55:52
9. Jordan Jones (USA) 1:56:45
10. James Hadley (USA) 1:57:56
Top 10 women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 2:02:02
2. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:05:08
3. Laurel Wassner (USA) 2:07:36
4. Nicole Kelleher (USA) 2:08:50
5. Rebeccah Wassner (USA) 2:09:52
6. Jennifer Garrison (USA) 2:11:20
7. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 2:12:28
8. Hayley Peirsol (USA) 2:13:41
9. Abby Geurink (USA) 2:14:52
10. Jocelyn Petrella (USA) 2:18:22
