Haley Chura and Matt Hanson won the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene.
Women
After years of earning a reputation as a great swimmer-biker, Haley Chura has proven once again she has a run that can get her to the winner’s circle with an unbreakable late race stand at Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene against a late surge by Jen Annett.
Starting with a 3:02 lead and a 6:11 advantage on race-long rival Jen Annett of Canada after the swim, Chura held Annett to a virtual tie after she lost 6:15 to Annett’s women's-best 2:25:44 bike split. Perhaps a few years ago, Chura might have ceded the win to Annett on the run. But not now. After a win at Ironman 70.3 Buenos Aires this year and victories at Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, Challenge Florianopolis and Ironman 70.3 Fortaleza in 2013 and 2014, Chura can draw upon the confidence she earned with her strong runs.
After 2.3 miles of the run, Chura led Annett by 24 seconds. After 3.7 miles, Chura upped her lead to a minute. Halfway through the half marathon, Chura led the Canadian by 1:21 and no one else was in striking range. Then came the gut check. After 9.8 miles, Chura’s lead remained at 1:17. Would the momentum change? At 11 miles, Chura pushed back and her lead increased to 1:34.
After a women’s second-best 1:26:03 run split, Chura finished in 4:27:16 with a 1:57 lead on Annett (1:28:27 run) and 6:27 over 3rd place Linsey Corbin (women's-best 1:25:00 run).
Men
Andy Potts led the swim in 24:33, which gave him a 1 second lead on Christian Kemp of Australia, 22 seconds on Aussie Tim Reed, 1:27 on Nicholas Granet, 1:31 on Stephen Kilshaw of Canada, 1:33 on Derek Garcia, and 1:36 and 1:38 on Matt Hanson and Alex Libin.
After 35 miles of the bike leg, Hanson led a tightly packed group of five including Potts, Reed, Kemp and Garcia – all within 7 seconds. Pushing hard to a race-best 2:10:33 bike split, Hanson led at T2 by 44 seconds on Reed, 1:22 on Potts, 1:24 on Kemp, and 2:05 on Garcia.
Employing his well-known foot speed, Hanson unleashed a race-best 1:11:20 half marathon that brought him to the finish in 3:51:16 with a 2:42 margin of victory on Reed (1:13:19 run) and 5:47 on 3rd-place Potts (1:15:39 run).
Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
June 25, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Haley Chura (USA) 4:27:16
2. Jen Annett (CAN) 4:29:13
3. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:33:43
4. Skye Moensch (USA) 4:35:13
5. Jessica Smith (USA) 4:39:35
Men
1. Matt Hanson (USA) 3:51:16
2. Tim Reed (AUS) 3:53:58
3. Andy Potts (USA) 3:57:03
4. Christian Kemp (AUS) 3:58:14
5. Alex Libin (USA) 4:02:59
