Michael Raelert’s 1:11:14 half marathon blew away five Australian men and Melissa Rollison continued her dominance of the half Ironman distance on a day drenched by tropical rains at the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championships at Laguna Phuket.
Raelert, fast-regaining his dominant Ironman 70.3 form that was interrupted by a lingering hip injury for most of 2011, came out of the water one second behind Great Britain pro Daniel Halksworth and just seconds in front of a pack that included Matt Reed, David Dellow, Paul Matthews, Faris Al-Sultan, and Richie Cunningham. During the bike, heavy rains hit and demanded some quick adjustments, ““Everyone went into safety mode when that rain started,” Michael Raelert told Ironmanlive. “I have never before raced in such conditions today. It was definitely an experience. We pushed. But conservatively.”
At 80k, the road to Layan became waterlogged as the men approached. “Everyone started looking around wondering what to do,” said Raelert.
Raelert’s 2:14:17 split led into T2 a tight pack of five Aussies (all within 7 seconds) that included Paul Ambrose, David Dellow, Paul Matthews, Richie Cunningham and Joshua McHugh.
In the cool for Thailand conditions, Raelert moved out front early and increased his margin to the end. “Running here was interesting,” he told Ironmanlive, “I was not hot because of the rain, but I still needed to drink. Usually I would be wearing a jacket and trying to stay warm in such conditions.”
Raelert asserted the foot speed that made him dominant in 2009 and 2010, posting a 1:11:14 split that brought him to the line in 3:51:36 with a 5:40 margin over runner-up Richie Cunningham, who posted a 4th best 1:16:44 run. Matthews ran a 1:18:02 that brought him home 3rd in 3:58:24, while Timothy James Reed ran a 2nd-best 1:13:29 that overcame his 5-minutes slower bike and advanced him to 4th place, three ticks under 4 hours.
Raelert’s win was his second on the comeback trail as he took 2nd at Sebastian Kienle at Miami 70.3, won Austin 70.3, and faded to 6th at the ITU Long Distance World Championship before conquering the Asia-Pacific 70.3.
In the women’s contest, Amanda Stevens led the women out of the swim with a 24:12 time, followed by third-best Radka Vodickova (26:13), Emma-Kate Lidbury (26:47), Belinda Granger (27:29), Rollison (27:32) Janine Sax (27:53), and much later by the 6-time Ironman World Champion Natascha Badmann.
Rollison passed Stevens on the first hill and established an 8-minute lead after a second-best 2:26:39 bike. But conditions made it a challenge. “It was a bit crazy out there today and I don’t think my bike skills on the TT bike are quite up to scratch,” Rollison told Ironmanlive after her race-best 1:19:43 run finished off a race-record overall time of 4:17:01.
Rollison thus capped off a remarkably dominant 2011 which included Ironman 70.3 wins at Muncie, Vineman, Steelhead, and the World Championship at Las Vegas before her Laguna Phuket triumph. Rollison also scored wins at the famed Olympic distance Noosa Triathlon and at the Nepean Triathlon.
If performances were age graded, 44-year-old Natascha Badmann of Switzerland’s 2nd place finish among the pro women, 13 minutes 41 seconds back of Rollison, was the most impressive performance of the day. Coming back from 30:00 swim that put her six minutes behind swim leader Amanda Stevens and 2:28 back of Rollison, Badmann unleashed a women’s best 2:26:01 bike in the pouring tropical rains that brought her into T2 in 2nd place, 2 minutes back of Rollison and ahead of all the rest. Badmann then defended her runner-up position with a 1:30:57 half marathon.
Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic’s 2nd-best 1:26:25 run overcame a 2:39 bike split that gave away 13 minutes to Badmann and Rollison and 4 or 5 minutes to her closest pursuers to take third place woman in 4:34:50.
Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship
Laguna Phuket, Thailand
December 4, 2011
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Michael Raelert (GER) 3:51:37
2. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:57:16
3. Paul Matthews (AUS) 3:58:24
4. Timothy James Reed (AUS) 3:59:57
5. David Dellow (AUS) 4:01:11
6. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 4:01:54
7. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 4:02:18
8. Matt Reed (USA) 4:05:14
9. Joshua McHugh (AUS) 4:06:04
10. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 4:07:18
Women
1. Melissa Rollison (AUS) 4:17:01
2. Natascha Badmann (SUI) 4:30:42
3. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 4:34:50
4. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 4:36:09
5. Tamsin Lewis (GBR) 4:36:14
6. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:38:27
7. Katja Rabe (GER) 4:40:34
8. Belinda Granger (AUS) 4:41:10
9. Janine Sax (USA) 4:42:57
10. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:45:41
