Lionel Sanders of Canada and Sarah Haskins of the United States won the elite titles at Memorial Herman Ironman 70.3 Texas in Galveston.
Sanders combined a more-than-50th–best 26:57 swim, race-best 1:58:09 bike split and 2nd-best 1:13:09 run to finish in 3:40:30, which gave him a 3:16 margin of victory on Andreas Dreitz of Germany and 5:02 on 3rd-place Michael Weiss of Austria.
Haskins combined a women's-best swim (24:22) and women’s 6th-best 2:20:25 bike split with a 6th-best 1:25:16 run to finish in 4:12:46, giving her a 1:08 margin on Jeanni Seymour of South Africa and 1:50 on 3rd-place Jodie Robertson of the U.S.
Men
Jeremy Jurkiewicz of France, Eric Limkemann of the U.S., Mauricio Mendez Cruz of Mexico and Brent McMahon of Canada emerged from the swim 2nd through 5th in 23:30 to 23:33, while Andrew Starykowicz posted a 23:50 for 10th which put him 3:07 ahead of perennial last-out-of-the-water Lionel Sanders.
While überbiker Andreas Dreitz was hampered by a mysterious ticking from his rear wheel, Starykowicz charged to a 3 minute lead on the German halfway through the 56-mile bike leg, while Sanders, Weiss and Brent McMahon of Canada rounded out the top 5. By mile 45, Mauricio Mendez chased in 6th, 200 yards back of the McMahon trio.
By the finish of his 2nd-fastest 1:58:44 bike split, Starykowicz led the field into T2 with a 2:11 lead on Sanders (1:58:09 fastest bike), 3:10 on Weiss, 4:12 on Dreitz, 7:14 on Eric Limkemann and 8:48 on Richie Cunningham.
Three miles into the run, Sanders passed Starykowicz and had a 53 seconds lead at 4 miles, 2:22 on Dreitz, 2:25 on Weiss, and 7-plus minutes on a pack including Limkemann, Nicholas Kastelein, Cunningham, Tejada and Mendez. By 11 miles Sanders upped his lead to 3:03 on Dreitz, 4:42 on Starykowicz and 4:45 on Weiss.
For the second Ironman 70.3 race in a row, Sanders won a big 70.3 race with a comfortable margin at the finish. Dreitz took 2nd, Weiss 3rd, and Starykowicz hung tough for 4th place with a 1:20:56 run. XTERRA star Mauricio Mendez Cruz unleashed the day’s fastest 1:13:05 run to take 5th.
Women
Haskins opened a 22 seconds lead on Jeanni Seymour of South Africa in the swim, then surrendered 3 seconds to Seymour’s 4th-best 2:20:22 bike split before settling matters with the determined Seymour on the run. With much swifter transitions, Haskins had enough margin to give back another 14 seconds to Seymour on the run and still finish with a 1:08 margin of victory on Seymour and 1:50 on 3rd-place Jodie Robertson of the U.S.
Robertson made up gobs of time and passed dozens of competitors after a 32:28 swim with a women's-best 2:18:42 bike split and women’s-best 1:20:14 run to earn the final spot on the podium.
Memorial Herman Ironman 70.3 Texas
Galveston, Texas
April 10, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 3:40:30
2. Andreas Dreitz (GER) 3:43:46
3. Michael Weiss (AUT) 3:45:32
4. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 3:46:06
5. Mauricio Mendez Cruz (MEX) 3:47:49
6. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:49:23
7. Nicholas Kastelein (AUS) 3:50:29
8. Jeremy Jurkiewicz (FRA) 3:51:03
9. Raul Tejada (GTM) 3:51:14
10. Eric Limkemann (USA) 3:52:21
Women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 4:12:46
2. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 4:13:54
3. Jodie Robertson (USA) 4:14:36
4. Laura Phillip (GER) 4:15:30
5. Liz Lyles (USA) 4:17:27
6. Heather Leiggi (USA) 4:20:06
7. Lesley Smith (USA) 4:20:26
8. Jessica Jones Meyers (USA) 4:21:28
9. Robin Pomeroy (USA) 4:23:02
10. Amber Ferreira (USA) 44:23:59
