Michael Lovato used a 2:10:29 bike split to win the Amica Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island by a very narrow margin over Richie Cunningham and Cam Brown. Michellie Jones took the women's race with a bit more of a cushion.
The men
Overnight winds had moved some of the swim course markers and the start of the race had to be delayed by 25 minutes. Long time Hawaii resident James Cotter didn't seem to be too bothered by the cold and choppy waters and he managed to finish the swim first. Richie Cunningham was next and he was followed by a small group that contained Cameron Brown, Dion Harrison and Wolfgang Guembel.
Cunningham soon moved into the lead on the bike, with Brown not that far behind. Michael Lovato had missed out on the front group in the swim and pushed hard on the bike to make up time. And make up time he did. By the time the men reached the end of the bike, Lovato was in the lead by 30 seconds, thanks to his 2:10:29 bike split. Cunningham was next to arrive in T2 and he was followed by Brown a few seconds later.
Out on the run Lovato had quite a task at hand trying to hold off speedy runners Cunningham and Lovato. Early on Lovato managed to keep the Aussie and the Kiwi at bay, but as the closing miles of the run started, Cunningham had reeled Lovato in and Brown was right there too. An exiting finish became apparent and all 3 athletes showed up in the finish chute virtually together. Lovato though proved to be the strongest and crossed the line first. Cunningham was second and Brown rounded out the podium.
"Anytime you can cross the line ahead of Richie Cunningham, who is one the world's best 70.3 racers, and a legendary athlete like Cam Brown, it's a good day," said Michael Lovato to slowtwitch. "My goal for the season was to race more short races in the first half of the year, so I could go into my Hawaii training fresher, fitter and faster than ever. I feel like I'm right on track with that goal!"
The women
In the women's race Michellie Jones cruised through the swim and was more than 2 minutes up on her pursuers as she started the bike. Although things had been relatively quiet for the 2006 Ironman Hawaii champion in terms of racing the last 18 months, Jones looked like she hadn't lost a step.
As Jones tackled the bike segment, she managed to ride a very good pace and would have had the fastest bike split had it not been for Heather Jackson. Jackson's 2:23:55 split bested Jones by 5 minutes, but due to a slow swim Jackson reached T2 about 2 minutes behind Jones. Desiree Ficker was next in transition and set off to pursue the 2 women ahead. Jones slowly eased away from Jackson and by the halfway point of the run Ficker had moved into second place with the fastest run split among the women. But Jones was never in danger of being caught and crossed the line first in a time of 4:23:55. Ficker was next and Jackson hung on to third place.
Amica Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island
Providence, RI / July 12, 2009
Top 10 men
1. Michael Lovato (USA) 3:54:38
2. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:54:49
3. Cameron Brown (NZL) 3:54:52
4. Wolfgang Guembel (CAN) 3:58:01
5. Christopher Thomas (USA) 4:02:55 *AG M35-39
6. Nick Frank (USA) 4:03:11
7. Patrick Evoe (USA) 4:03:31
8. Matias Palavecino (USA) 4:04:10 *AG M25-29
9. Andrew Hodges (USA) 4:04:26
10. Christopher Martin (USA) 4:06:06
Top 10 women
1. Michellie Jones (USA) 4:23:55
2. Desiree Ficker (USA) 4:27:20
3. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:33:38
4. Kim Loeffler (USA) 4:36:52
5. Amy Farrell (USA) 4:39:35 *AG F30-34
6. Brigitte McMahon (SWI) 4:39:45
7. Cindi Bannink (USA) 4:39:55 *AG F30-34
8. Lisbeth Kenyon (USA) 4:40:10 *AG F40-44
9. Sylvie Dansereau (CAN) 4:40:18 *AG F40-44
10. Suzanne Zelazo (CAN) 4:40:56
