As the planet slouches toward spring, the menu of triathlon contests increases. This weekend we present for your approval an Ultraman in Florida, half Iron-distance events in the Philippines and Australia, an Olympic distance contest in Australia, an XTERRA in South Africa and a 5k road race in Northern Ireland.
Domenico Passuello and Emma Pooley win Challenge Philippines
Domenico Passuello of Italy and Emma Pooley of Great Britain survived scorching heat and conquered the hills of Bataan to win the Challenge Philippines Half.
Former professional cyclist Passuello finished in 4:04:2 and topped runner-up Rasmus Petraeus of Denmark by 4:22. Pooley, a former pro cyclist who won an Olympic silver medal in the discipline, finished in 4:41:51 and topped runner-up Kelly Williamson of the U.S. by 10:23.
Men
Former Laguna Phuket champion Petraeus led the swim in 23:42 and gained a 2:49 advantage on Passuello. But halfway through the rugged bike leg, super cyclist Passuello surged into the lead on his way to a race-best 2:24:20 split which gave him a 5:42 lead on Petraeus at T2.
“Rasmus was too strong in the swim and the first half of the bike today, so I was pretty scared,” said Passuello. “I didn’t know about the time gap when I arrived in transition, so I pushed hard on the first 10k of the run.”
Passuello ran a solid 1:11:36 on the likely shorter-than-advertised 13.1-mile run course, giving up 59 seconds to the Dane. But it was enough to finish with a comfortable lead. Mitch Robbins of Australia made up for an undistinguished 2:36:24 bike leg with a sizzling fast 1:08:14 run to finish 3rd, 11:53 behind the winner. Fredrik Croneborg of Sweden, who placed 2nd at Challenge Laguna Phuket last November, ran a 2nd-fastest 1:09:11 to take 4th.
Women
Pooley started the race with a 32:50 swim in the swim, which left her 4:40 back of Kelly Williamson. Using her pro bike skills, Pooley unleashed a women's-best 2:40:38 bike split which obliterated Williamson’s lead (3:02:09 bike split) and gave her a 7:53 lead on Parys Edwards and 14:47 lead on Williamson at T2. Pooley finished off her competition with a second-best 1:25:06 run split which gave back 3:42 to Williamson but was 3:50 better than Edwards. Pooley thus finished with a 10:23 margin of victory over Williamson and 11:28 on 3rd-place finisher Edwards.
“It was a tough but honest course and beautiful,” said Pooley, who finished 3rd at this race last year. “I came back to try and win and I really had a good day.”
Yellow Cab Challenge Philippines
Subic-Bataan, Philippines
February 21, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Domenico Passuello (ITA) 4:04:22
2. Rasmus Petraeus (DEN) 4:09:04
3. Mitch Robbins (AUS) 4:13:11
4. Fredrik Croneborg (SWE) 4:14:11
5. Michael Murphy (AUS) 4:33:13
6. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 4:38:58
Women
1. Emma Pooley (GBR) 4:41:51
2. Kelly Williamson (USA) 4:52:14
3. Parys Edwards (GBR) 4:53:19
4. Monica Torres (PHL) 5:15:18
5. Carole Fuchs (THA) 5:20:49
Jacob Birtwhistle and Jaz Hedgeland win elite titles at Devonport
Australians Jacob Birtwhistle and Jaz Hedgeland won the Olympic-distance Devonport OTU Oceania Championship Saturday in Australia.
Birtwhistle combined a 10th-fastest 21:10 swim, race-fastest 1:05:52 bike split and a race-best 31:38 run to finish in 1:59:47 with a 7 seconds advantage on Declan Wilson of Australia and a 14 seconds margin on 3rd-place finisher Ryan Sissons of New Zealand.
Hedgeland combined a 6th-fastest 18:43 swim, a women's-fastest 1:11:02 bike split and dominating 36:16 run to finish in 2:07:23 with a 1:23 margin over Simone Ackermann of New Zealand and 1:50 over 3rd-place finisher Sophie Corbridge of New Zealand.
Devonport OTU Oceania Championship
Devonport, Australia
February 21, 2015
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 1:59:47
2. Declan Wilson (AUS) 1:59:54
3. Ryan Sissons (NZL) 2:00:01
4. Kenji Nener (AUS) 2:00:01
5. Marcel Walkington (AUS) 2:00:23
Women
1. Jaz Hedgeland (AUS) 2:07:23
2. Simone Ackermann (NZL) 2:08:46
3. Sophie Corbridge (NZL) 2:09:13
4. Rebecca Clarke (NZL) 2:09:48
5. Grace Musgrove (AUS) 2:10:24
6. Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) 2:11:25
7. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) 2:12:01
Sam Appleton and Michelle Wu win the Husky Long Course Triathlon
Australians Sam Appleton and Michelle Wu won the Husky Triathlon Festival Long Course Sunday in Huskisson.
Appleton won the race with a dominating 1:55:27 bike split that was 7 minutes better than the next-fastest competitor and closed the deal with a 4th-best 1:12:51 run that brought him to the finish in 3:30:40 with a 6:11 margin over Alex Reithmeier of Australia and 7:41 over 3rd-place finisher Aussie Lindsey Wall.
Michelle Wu was pushed harder, as she had to close hard on the run to earn the win.
Wu started the day with a 7th-fastest 23:31 swim, then added a 5th-best 2:20:08 bike leg and finished with a 2nd-fastest 1:20:29 run to finish in 4:07:14 with a 1:33 edge on Jessica Mitchell and 2:26 on 3rd-place finisher Andrea Forrest.
Husky Triathlon Festival - Long Course
Huskisson, Australia
February 22, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Sam Appleton (AUS) 3:30:40
2. Alex Reithmeier (AUS) 3:36:51
3. Lindsey Wall (AUS) 3:38:21
4. Ryan Waddington (AUS) 3:40:44
5. Adam Gordon (NZL) 3:41:17
Women
1. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:07:14
2. Jessica Mitchell (AUS) 4:08:47
3. Andrea Forrest (AUS) 4:09:40
4. Jacqui Slack (GBR) 4:13:01
5. Polly Hendy (GBR) 4:16:01
Jonathan Brownlee runs 14:00 5k, takes 3rd in Northern Ireland road race
Jonny Brownlee looks strong coming into the 2015 World Triathlon Series if his performance at a Northern Ireland 5k road race is any indication.
The 2012 Olympic triathlon bronze medalist led most of the way at the 5k Armagh Road Race before fading to 3rd place against a fairly strong international field. Brownlee finished in 14:00.13, 1.77 seconds behind the winner, Joe Stilin of the United States.
“I really enjoyed tonight’s race,” said Brownlee. “My preparations for the start of the World Triathlon Series have been going really well and thankfully there have been no injuries.”
The World Triathlon Series will start March 6-7 in Abu Dhabi.
Armagh 5k Road Race
Armagh, Northern Ireland
February 20, 2015
Elite Male Results
1. Joe Stilin (USA) 13:58:34
2. Daniel Cliff (GBR) 13:59:47
3. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 14:00:13
4. Dan Studley (GBR) 14:01:80
5. Kristian Zelewski (POL) 14:02:24
Stuart Marais and Flora Duffy win XTERRA South Africa
South African Stuart Marais and current XTERRA World Champion Flora Duffy of Bermuda won the XTERRA South Africa Championship Sunday in Grabouw.
Marais finished in 2:32:47 and topped fellow South African Bradley Weiss by 2 minutes 55 seconds. Duffy crushed the women's field, coming home in 2:45:27 – well ahead of South African Mari Rabie.
Men
Marais came out of the swim in a 5th-fastest 19:46 split, 42 seconds behind Theo Blignaut, 33 seconds behind Roger Serrano and 25 seconds behind Bradley Weiss.
“I knew the others needed to get a gap on me going into the mountain bike leg , so my game plan was to go hard on the swim,” said Marais. Following his own advice, Marais had less than a minute to make up on the ride and he caught and passed the leaders on the first major climb. After a dominant 1:19:27 bike split, Marais had a 90-second lead on Weiss going into T2.
Marais could then relax and enjoy his lead and cruised home with a 3rd-best 51:22 split. “When I got to the river crossing I put in some effort and enjoyed it to the finish,” said Marais. “It’s as if the course was tailor-made for me, from hard climbs to free flowing single track. This is the only XTERRA I will take part in this year, so this is a phenomenal win for me.”
“Stuart was just one-notch up,” said Weiss, the winner of XTERRA Philippines earlier this month. “He was in control the whole day, and he still had a few gears left that he could turn on for the run if he needed.”
In three previous XTERRA South Africa races Marais had finished 2nd twice (2012 and 2014) and fourth in 2013. Since this would be his lone XTERRA race this year, he explained he wanted to give it his best shot. “I spent a lot of time out here on this course getting to know every little rock and turn and bit of sand and I suppose that made the difference between winning and losing,” said Marais. “I did my homework and the plan worked out pretty good.”
Marais added that finally winning this race and joining a proud list of South African XTERRA triathletes including Conrad Stoltz, Dan Hugo and Richard Murray was unforgettable. Ironically, two of the South African legends were missing in action. Stoltz did not start because he was suffering a nasty cold and Hugo did not start with the pro wave because he had retired on the off season. Instead the still-very-fit Hugo raced one leg for a team.
Women
Duffy led all the pro men and women with her race-best 18:47 swim which gave her just a 2-seconds advantage on Mari Rabie - but 5 minutes on the next-fastest woman, Carina Wasle. Duffy then shattered any potential resistance with a 1:30:18 mountain bike split which was 12 minutes better than Rabie and 11 minutes better than Wasle. Duffy cruised home with a women's-best 54:07 trail run which was 6 minutes better than Rabie and 4 minutes better than Wasle. When all was said and done, Duffy finished 18:39 ahead of Rabie and 21:11 ahead of 3rd place finisher Carina Wasle.
“I'm completely blown away,” said Duffy, echoing the sentiments of the rest of the women's field. “Having raced the past two weekends, I was actually tired coming into today’s race… I’m always told I don’t have to feel good to go on order to go fast.”
While she was beaten by a large margin, 2012 Olympic triathlete Mari Rabie had a big reason to be happy with her second place finish. “I had myocarditis, a chronic heart disease, for seven months and I got cleared [to race] three weeks ago” said Rabie, who finished 3rd at the XTERRA World Championship in 2012. “So I am just happy to be back racing. I haven't ridden technical in more than a year so my main aim was just to stay on the bike. It was a tough couple of months. You know, when a doctor tells you that you can’t do what you want to do because you might die. I think you appreciate this so much more when it’s taken away from you.”
XTERRA South Africa
Grabouw, South Africa
February 22. 2015
S 1.5k . MTB 27k / TR 12.5k
Results
Men
1. Stuart Marais (RSA) 2:32:47
2. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 2:35:42
3. Roger Serrano (ESP) 2:37:20
4. Theo Blignaut (RSA) 2:37:35
5. Antoine Van Heerden (RSA) 2:38:34
Women
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 2:45:27
2. Mari Rabie (RSA) 3:04:06
3. Carina Wasle (AUT) 3:06:38
4. Nicolette Griffioen (RSA) 3:08:22
5. Sandra Koblmueller (AUT) 3:08:43
US Naval Academy Tri Coach Billy Edwards wins Ultraman Florida
United States Naval Academy triathlon coach Billy Edwards won the men’s title at the three-day, 320-mile Ultraman Florida that concluded Sunday.
Edwards finished Day 1 with a 10k swim split of 3:20:11 and a blazing fast 4:06:55 split for the 90-mile bike ride. His Day 1 total of 7:27:06 placed him second, 4:26 behind the leader Renato Valler of Brazil.
The Boulder, Colorado resident took charge on the 171-mile bike split on Day 2, posting an 8:09:32 split that gave him a combined time of 15 hours 36 minutes and 39 seconds and a 49-minute lead going into the final day.
Edwards sealed the win with a 7:40:23 split for the Day 3 double marathon which brought him, to the finish in a combined time of 23 hours 17 minutes and 7 seconds. His margin of victory was 1 hour 28 minutes and 43 seconds over runner-up Christian Isakson.
Edwards support crew included 2000 Olympian Joanna Zeiger, who paced Edwards for several stretches on the final day double marathon.
Julie Paquette of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada won the women's title in a time of 29:33:00, 2:07:25 ahead of runner-up Cindy Braden of Goleta, California.
Overall Men
1. Billy Edwards (Boulder CO) 23:17:02
2. Christian Isakson (Portland OR) 24:45:45
3. John Kilburn (Houston TX) 25:02:18
Overall Women
1. Julie Paquette (Ottawa, CAN) 29:33:00
2. Cindy Braden (Goleta, CA) 31:40:25
3. Fiona Siemelink (Houston TX) 31:53:55
