New Zealanders Richard Ussher and Gina Crawford took home country wins at the fourth Challenge Wanaka Saturday on the scenic and tough course on the South Island of New Zealand.
Ussher, the 1998 Winter Olympic mogul skier and successful adventure racer who changed focus to triathlon and took 3rd at Quelle Challenge Roth last year, combined a sixth place swim (57:00), a first place bike (4:42:26) and a second place run (2:51:42) to cross the line with a race-record 8:34:41 and a 3:38 margin of victory over Justin Daerr of the United States. Daerr closed with a race-best 2:49:15 marathon. His 8:38:19 finish outpaced third place finisher Keegan Williams of nearby Cambridge, New Zealand by three minutes, improved his 2009 Challenge Wanaka run by 10 minutes, his overall time by 9:47 and his placing from 4th to 2nd.
Ussher, age 33, is a three-time winner of New Zealand’s famed Speight Coast-to-Coast adventure race, and was a member of a four-person team that won the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
"Regarding the race, I was feeling pretty good going in but I hadn’t had a chance to do a lot of specific Ironman style training so I was a little bit worried about that," said Ussher after the race. "We had been in Abu Dhabi in December for the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge which we won for the 3rd year in a row and then had a small break before getting about 3 weeks of training in for Wanaka. The major goals are later in the year starting with the Abu Dhabi Triathlon in March and then the Lanzarote Ironman where I’ll try and get my Kona spot. Kona will be a very big focus this year."
Crawford, the part time violinist with the Christchurch Symphony, took her third straight Challenge Wanaka title with a 75-seconds margin of victory of Australian Rebekah Keat. Crawford combined a race-best 53:31 swim, a second-best 5:17:58 bike and a second best 3:12:23 marathon for a total time of 9:28:56, just 29 seconds off her 2009 course record. Keat emerged from the cold waters of Lake Wanaka 3:39 behind Crawford, gave back another 1:35 on the bike, then her race-best 3:08:39 marathon gained back 3:44 but fell a minute and 15 seconds short of the win.
Crawford, 29, who fought through 2009 woes that include an ankle injury, a scary heart abnormality, a DNF caused by PMS syndrome, and a flu which led to her passing out at Quelle Challenge Roth, has recovered nicely with a year end win at Ironman Western Australia and a nice 2010 debut at Challenge Wanaka.
"My lead was changing from 2 minutes to 5 minutes all day long, but I always felt in control. I never really felt scared that I would lose it," said Crawford to slowtwitch. "She (ed: Bek Keat) kept the pressure on me all day long, so I never relaxed at all but I felt calm. If she did catch me then I would just have to up the pace, but I knew that she would have to work pretty hard to catch me. So really I just kept moving on as best as I could but once I got to 5 km to go, and there was a small turn around point and I saw Bek around 2 min back I was pretty sure she couldn't put that amount of time into me in 5k."
Challenge Wanaka
Wanaka, New Zealand
January 16, 2010
S 2.4 mi/ B 112 mi./ R 26.2 mi
Provisional Results
Overall men
1. Richard Ussher (NZL) 8:34:36
2. Justin Daerr (USA) 8:38:00
3. Keegan Williams (NZL) 8:41:00
4. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 9:00:09
5. Brian Fuller (AUS) 9:08:20
6. Marc Pschebizin (GER) 9:14:15
7. Paul Westwood (NZL) 9:17:22
8. Andrew Black (NZL) 9:43:03 * AG M30-39
9. Robert Palmer (SGP) 9:46:12 * AG M30-39
10. Paul Baskett (NZL) 9:47:48 * AG M30-39
Overall women
1. Gina Crawford (NZL) 9:28:56
2. Rebekah Keat (AUS) 9:30:11
3. Lisbeth Kristensen (DEN) 10:03:09
4. Jodie Scott (AUS) 10:15:26
5. Celia Kuch (NZL) 10:25:13
6. Jessica Lawson (NZL) 10:38:37
7. Amanda Till (NZL) 11:10:25 * AG F30-39
8. Jodie Currie (NZL) 11:14:32 * AG F20-29
9. Amy Jenkinson (NZL) 11:29:46 * AG F30-39
10. Katrin Walbert (NZL) 11:43:25 * AG F30-39
