New Zealanders Mike Phillips and Amelia Watkinson won Ironman 70.3 Taupo which was turned into a 3k run-90k bike-1k run duathlon due to potentially toxic algae in the famous lake.

Phillips combined a tied-for-race-best 9:54 3k run, a race-best 2:09:58 90k bike split, and a second-fastest 1:15:03 half marathon to finish in 3:36:02 with a 2:31 margin of victory over fellow Kiwi Braden Currie and 5:26 over Callum Millward, who completed the 1-2-3 New Zealand sweep of the men’s podium.

Phillips thus improved on his second place finish at this race last year and added to an excellent 2017 season which included a win at Bintan 70.3, 2nd at Vietnam 70.3, and runner-up at Ironman Barcelona.

Watkinson fashioned a victory from a tied-for-second best 11:49 women’s 3k run, a women’s-best 2:22:50 split for the 90k bike, and a women’s-best 1:24:27 half marathon to finish in 3:59:43 with a 1:18 margin of victory over Jocelyn McCauley of the U.S. and 2:41 over 3rd-place finisher Laura Dennis of Australia.

The win was Watkinson’s third of the year after victories at Ironman 70.3 Philippines and Bintan 70.3. With the win, Watkinson completed a hat trick of all podium placings at Taupo – 2nd in 2015, 3rd in 2016, and 1st in 2017.

Men

Phillips and Braden Currie led the opening 3k run with equal 9:54 splits which gave them an 8 seconds margin on Casey Munro, 9 seconds on Millward, 15 seconds on Olly Shaw, 17 seconds on Simon Cochrane, 20 seconds on Dylan McNeice, and 21 to 24 seconds on Sam Clark, Tim Rea and Ben Collins of the U.S.

Halfway through the bike leg, Collins took a 17 seconds lead on Millward, 19 seconds on McNeice, 20 seconds on Phillips, and 22 seconds on Currie. After a race-best 2:09:58 bike split, Phillips slid into T2 with a 1 minute lead on Collins, who then had to serve a 1 minute penalty for racking his bike outside his designated spot. Next in line was Millward with a 2:30 gap, McNeice 2:32 arrears, Currie 2:34 back, Tim Rea 2:36 behind, and Casey Munro trailing by 2:40.

At the halfway point, Phillips extended his lead to 2:10 on Taupo 70.3 defending champion Currie, 2:46 on Millward and Tim Rea, and 3:35 on Casey Munro. After 14km, Currie held his deficit to 2:11, with Munro and Rea 5:25 and 5:46 arrears, McNeice 6 minutes back, and Sam Clark at +7:29.

With a 2nd-best 1:15:03 run, Phillips finished in 3:36:02 with a 2:31 margin of victory over Currie (race-best 1:15:00 run) and 5:26 over Millward (1:17:56 run).

Women

Laura Dennis of Australia ran 11:47 to lead a tightly bunched pack of 10 pro women who finished the opening 3k run within 11 seconds of the leader. In order, the chasers included Amanda Wilson, Robin Pomeroy, Julia Grant, Jocelyn McCauley, Laura Siddall, Karen Toulmin, Indy Kraal, and Christine Cross.

Halfway through the bike leg, Siddall led by 1 to 12 seconds on a close bunch including Watkinson, McCauley, Kraal, Cross, Dennis, Wilson, and Pomeroy. After a women’s-best 2:22:50 bike split, Watkinson led into T2 by 28 seconds on Siddall, 51 seconds on McCauley (the reigning Ironman New Zealand champ), 1:51 on Dennis, 2:09 on Christine Cross, and 3:35 on Pomeroy.

Halfway through the run, Watkinson led McCauley by 1 minute, 1:36 on Siddall, 2:12 on Cross, and 2:36 on Dennis. After a women’s-best 1:24:27 half marathon, Watkinson broke the tape in 3:59:42 with a 1:17 margin of victory on McCauley (1:24:29 run), 2:41 on 3rd place Dennis (1:25:2 run), 3:16 on 4th place Siddall (1:27:14 run) and 4:19 on Cross (1:26:1 run).

Ironman 70.3 Taupo
Lake Taupo, New Zealand
December 9, 2017
R 3k / B 90k / R 21.1k

Results

Men

1. Mike Phillips (NZL) 3:36:02 R1 9:54 T1 00:29 B 2:09:58 T2 00:42 R2 1:15:03
2. Braden Currie (NZL) 3:38:33 R1 9:54 T1 00:28 B 2:12:33 T2 00:40 R2 1:15:00
3. Callum Millward (NZL) 3:41:28 R1 10:01 T1 00:30 B 2:12:19 T2 00:43 R2 1:17:56
4. Dylan McNeice (NZL) 3:43:56 R1 10:09 T1 00:33 B 2:12:11 T2 00:41 R2 1:20:23
5. Casey Munro (AUS) 3:44:33 R1 10:02 T1 00:29 B 2:12:29 T2 00:34 R2 1:21:01

Women

1. Amelia Watkinson (NZL) 3:59:43 R1 11:14 T1 00:35 B 2:22:50 T2 00:38 R2 1:24:27
2. Jocelyn McCauley (USA) 4:01:01 R1 11:20 T1 00:36 B 2:23:36 T2 01:02 R2 1:24:29
3. Laura Dennis (AUS) 4:02:24 R1 11:16 T1 00:32 B 2:24:44 T2 00:35 R2 1:25:20
4. Laura Siddall (GBR) 4:03:00 R1 11:20 T1 00:36 B 2:23:13 T2 00:39 R2 1:27:14
5. Christine Cross (USA) 4:04:03 R1 11:20 T1 00:38 B 2:24:51 T2 00:54 R2 1:26:21