Jordan Rapp’s race-best bike and run splits sealed a dominating second win at Penticton while Mary Beth Ellis topped Erin Baker’s 1990 course record and smashed the field with a dazzling 8th overall, 9:03:13 performance at Ironman Canada Sunday.
As this story was first posted, Ellis had a 27-minute lead over Meredith Kessler with 10k to go on the run.
Rapp combined a 10th-best 53:41 swim, a race-best 4:38:06 bike and race-best 2:53:17 run for an 8:28:09 finish and a precisely 13-minutes margin of victory over runner-up Torsten Abel of Germany. Bert Jammaer of Belgium placed third, 14:25 back of the winner and 1:25 back of Abel.
Coming after Ironman wins at Canada and Arizona in 2009, today’s Penticton win is a significant step forward on the comeback trail after Rapp suffered near fatal injuries when hit by a car while training on his bike in March of last year.
Rapp’s return to form after the injuries was a steady climb back up the ladder that started with a 4th place at Ironman Arizona last year. In 2011, Rapp posted 11th at Abu Dhabi International, 5th at California 70.3, 6th at Wildflower, 3rd at Rev3 Portland, and 2nd at Calgary 70.3
While his time was well off Thomas Hellriegel’s 1996 course record of 8:09:53, it was accomplished on a hot and windy day that laid waste to the hopes of many top contenders.
By contrast, Mary Beth Ellis just finished off one of the greatest 8 week periods in women’s Ironman history with her third Ironman win in eight weeks. Ellis finished behind only 7 men, beat the legendary Erin Baker’s seemingly invincible 1990 course record by 2 minutes 15 seconds. After becoming the third-fastest woman in ironman history with her 8:43:34 win at Ironman Austria on July 3 and her dominating win at Ironman Regensburg on August 7, Ellis’s performance at Penticton mark her as a favorite to make the podium at Ironman Hawaii in October.
Showing the speed that gave her runner-up finishes at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2008 and 2009, Ellis combined a 53:36 swim, a near-record 4:54:21 bike and a 3:12:09 run for a 9:03:13 finish. Ellis was 27 minutes ahead of Meredith Kessler with 10k left on the run.
Subaru Ironman Canada
Penticton, BC Canada
August 27, 2011
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Overall men
1. Jordan Rapp (USA) 8:28:09
2. Torsten Abel (GER) 8:41:09
3. Bert Jammaer (BEL) 8:42:34
4. Christopher Bagg (USA) 8:47:25
5. Jasper Blake (CAN) 8:50:30
6. Nigel Gray (CAN) 8:57:41
7. Matthew Russell (USA) 8:57:41
8. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 9:05:19
9. Scott Tremblay (CAN) 9:07:03
10. Mattias Buxhofer (AUT) 9:12:10
Overall Women
1. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 9:03:13
2. Kim Loeffler (USA) 9:34:54
3. Meredith Kessler (USA) 9:37:22
4. Sara Gross (CAN) 9:46:56
5. Gillian Clayton (CAN) 10:01:58 * F30-34
6. Rachel Ross (USA) 10:12:17 * F35-39
7. Fiona Whitby (CAN) 10:13:28
8. Jacqueline Pearce (USA) 10:19:30 * F30-34
9. Genevieve Cauffope (CAN) 10:21:31 * F30-34
10. Sharon Houghton (USA ) 10:22:44 * F30-34
