Steffi Steinberg of Germany and David Hainish of Canada won the 4th Ultraman Florida, a 3-day stage triathlon totaling 321.6 miles held in central Florida.
Women
Steffi Steinberg came into Ultraman Florida as the favorite based on her previous performances, including a 10th overall at the 2016 edition of Ironman Western Australia. Steinberg, 35, fulfilled that promise with an overall time of 24:55:13 which broke the previous Ultraman Florida record set by Julie Shelley in 2014 by 32 minutes and 53 seconds.
Steinberg opened the event with a women’s 2nd-fastest 3:16:02 swim and a by-far women's-best bike split of 4:35:05. That gave her a Day 1 total of 7:51:07 and a 12 minutes lead on Jamie Harris of the U.S. and a 57:29 advantage on Jessica Anderson of the U.S.
Steinberg broke the women’s contest wide open with a Day 2 bike split of 8:58:59 which was 27:56 better than Anderson and 1:04:37 better than Harris. Steinberg thus began the final day’s double marathon with a 1:13:37 lead on Harris and a 1:25:25 advantage on Anderson.
Steinberg finished with a women’s-best 8:05:07 run and a 3-day total of 24:55:13 which gave her a 2:14:59 margin of victory over Harris and 3:10:01 over Harris.
Men
Hainish, a 32-year-old triathlete from Milton, Ontario, Canada, finished the event in 22:08:48 with a 22 minutes 17 seconds margin of victory over Marc Puig Amiel of Spain and 1:24:41 over 3rd-place finisher Bojan Maric of Serbia.
Marc Galietta of the U.S. led Day 1 with a race-best 2:35:32 swim and a 5th-best 4:17:43 bike split which gave him a 6:53:15 overall time and a 12:58 lead was on Bojan Maric, 14:27 on Marc Amiel and 19:32 on Hainsh.
Hainish took control of the race on Day 2 with a 7:47:26 split for the 171-mile bike leg which gave him a total elapsed time of 15:00:13 and a 20:07 lead on Galietta (8:27:05 bike split), 23:34 on Amiel (8:16:05 bike split) and 25:38 on Maric (8:19:38 bike split).
Amiel eked out the fastest double marathon split on Day 3. His 7:07:28 split was 67 seconds faster than Hainish but left him 22:17 behind Hainish’s overall winning time. Maric ran a tied-for 6th-best 8:07:18 double marathon to take 3rd place.
Hainish’s time was the second-fastest in Ultraman Florida history, falling 30:16 short of the race record set by current Ultraman Florida race director Chuck Kemeny in 2014.
Hainish’s best prior triathlon performances include a 2nd place in the men’s 25-29 category at the 2012 edition of Ironman Texas in a time of 9:25:50 and a 10th overall male at 2015 Ironman Florida.
Ultraman Florida
Clermont, Florida
February 17-19, 2017
Day 1 – S 6.2 mi. / B 92 mi.
Day 2 – B 171 mi.
Day 3 – R 52.4 mi.
Results
Women
1. Steffi Steinberg (GER) S 3:16:02 B 4:35:05 Day 1 7:51:07
B 8:58:59 Day 1&2 16:50:06
R 8:05:07 RACE TOTAL 24:55:13
2. Jessica Anderson (USA) S 3:54:50 B 4:53:46 Day 1 8:48:36
B 9:26:55 Day 1&2 18:15:31
R 8:54:51 RACE TOTAL 27:10:12
3. Jamie Harris (USA) S 3:04:26 B 4:58:41 Day 1 8:03:07
B 10:03:36 Day 1&2 18:06:43
R 9:58:31 RACE TOTAL 28:05:14
4. Fiona Siemelink (RSA) S 4:16:13 B 4:53:45 Day 1 9:09:58
B 9:46:08 Day 1&2 18:56:06
R 9:40:02 RACE TOTAL 28:36:08
5. Amy Craft (USA) S 4:34:04 B 5:11:23 Day 1 9:45:27
B 10:01:31 Day 1&2 19:46:58
R 9:04:24 RACE TOTAL 28:51:22
Men
1. David Hainish (CAN) S 3:01:18 B 4:11:29 Day 1 7:12:47
B 7:47:26 Day 1&2 15:00:13
R 7:08:35 RACE TOTAL 22:08:48
2. Marc Puig Amiel (ESP) S 2:58:24 B 4:09:18 Day 1 7:07:42
B 8:16:05 Day 1&2 15:23:47
R 7:07:28 RACE TOTAL 22:31:05
3. Bojan Maric (SRB) S 2:54:36 B 4:11:37 Day 1 7:06:13
B 8:19:38 Day 1&2 15:25:51
R 8:07:18 RACE TOTAL 23:33:09
4. Juan Castillo Arroyo (ESP) S 3:17:34 B 4:14:39 Day 1 7:32:13
B 8:30:51 Day 1&2 16:03:04
R 7:37:55 RACE TOTAL 23:40:59
5. Toni Marsal (ESP) S 3:09:59 B 4:57:26 Day 1 8:07:25
B 8:14:57 Day 1&2 16:22:22
R 7:23:25 RACE TOTAL 23:45:47
