United States competitors Timothy O’Donnell and Kelly Williamson defended their titles at the second Ironman 70.3 San Juan in Puerto Rico Sunday.
O’Donnell, back in winning form after adopting a gluten free diet, combined a race-best 23:42 swim, a third-best 2:06:56 bike and a tied-for-race-best 1:17:17 run to finish in 3:51:32 with a 1:36 margin of victory over runner-up Leon Griffin of Australia and 3:24 over third place Axel Zeebroek of Belgium.
Kelly Williamson of Austin, Texas combined a third-best 25:48 swim, third-best 2:23:58 bike and a dominating, race-best 1:20:13 run to hit the finish in 4:18:38 with a comfortable 4:32 margin of victory over runner-up Linsey Corbin and a 9:17 edge on third-place Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic.
Williamson broke her 2011 course record by 1:32 while O'Donnell's 2011 time was 2:03 quicker than his 2012 effort.
O’Donnell broke fast out of the gate, leading Michael Lovato (-1 second) Edgardo Velez (-3 seconds), Axel Zeebroek (-11 seconds), Balazs Csoke (-1:01), Andrey Liyatskiy (-1:04), dangerous Frenchman Bertrand Billard (-1:06) and, most important as the race developed, Australian Leon Griffin (-2:03).
On the bike, Zeebroek took charge with a race-best 2:05:50 that gave him a 53-seconds margin over O’Donnell starting the run with Griffin another 1:24 back of the defending champion.
On the run, prior world champions O’Donnell (2010 ITU long distance) and Griffin (2006 ITU long distance duathlon) posted matching race-best 1:17:17s that put O’Donnell across the line first in 3:51:32 with a 96-seconds margin over the Australian. After his race-best bike, Zeebroek surrendered the lead with a 6th-best 1:21:12 run that put him across the line in third.
In the women’s race, Kelly Williamson emerged from the water 9 seconds back of Radka Vodickova’s 25:39, 5 seconds back of Nina Kraft, 2:06 quicker than Linsey Corbin and 1:30 better than Magali Tisseyre.
On the bike, Williamson dug her usual hole with a 2:23:58 bike that surrendered 4:21 to Corbin’s sizzling, race-best 2:19:37 and 28 seconds to Jessie Donavan’s 2:23:30 while Radickova (2:24:06) and Tisseyre (2:24:13) did not really help their causes either.
As mediocre as Williamson’s cycling prowess may be, her run is as intensely brilliant as she closed fast with 1:20:13 to hit the line first in 4:14:04 with a 4:32 margin over Corbin (1:26:33 run) and 9:17 over Vodickova (1:28:36 run). Tisseyre, lacking her usual stellar run, finished 4th with a 1:30:03 run that left her 12:04 in arrears.
Ironman 70.3 San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
March 18, 2012
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 3:51:32
2. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:53:08
3. Axel Zeebroek (BEL) 3:54:56
4. Michael Lovato (USA) 3:57:54
5. Oscar Galindez (ARG) 3:58:46
6. Maxim Kriat (UKR) 4:00:01
7. Paul Amey (GBR) 4:03:42
8. Andres Castillo (COL) 4:04:01
9. Jonathan Shearon (USA) 4:06:23
10. Bertrand Billard (FRA) 4:06:53
Women
1. Kelly Williamson (USA) 4:14:06
2. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:18:38
3. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 4:23:23
4. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 4:26:10
5. Ariane Monteceli (BRA) 4:31:32
6. Jessie Donavan (USA) 4:38:18
7. Nina Kraft (GER) 4:39:48
8. Amanda Lovato (USA) 4:41:34
9. Jenny Fletcher (USA) 4:42:26
10. Mandy McLane (USA) 4:44:41