So far in 2017, June triathlons named Escape have canceled their swims due to different forms of inclement weather. On June 11, the classic Escape From Alcatraz in San Francisco canceled its legendary swim for the first time in 37 years when high winds and small craft warnings forced organizers to turn the race into a duathlon. Heavy rains this week flooded the Schuylkill River, forcing Philadelphia Escape organizers to reset their event as a 2 mile run-40 kilometer bike leg-4 mile run duathlon.

When the racing was over, Jason West edged Olympian Ben Kanute by 15 seconds and Alicia Kaye topped Cecilia Davis-Hayes by 1:47, the winners each taking home a $5,000 check.

Men

With no swim, great swimmer-great biker non-drafting star Cam Dye – a 4-time Philadelphia winner – was put at a disadvantage. After a 2-mile run, running star Jason West led the men’s field with a 9:20 split that gave him a 19 seconds lead on Ben Kanute, 20 seconds on Dye and Daniel Feeney and 32 seconds on 2008 Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker.

Playing his ace, Dye unleashed a race-best 56:01 bike split that gave him a 9 seconds lead on Kanute, 1:08 on West, 3:03 on Timothy Winslow and 6:43 on Shoemaker.

Asserting his run domination, West posted a race-best 21:13 split for the 4-mile run (5:18 per mile) that was 1:20 better than his nearest challenger. West finished in 1:29:09 with a 20 seconds margin of victory over Kanute (22:33 run) and 23 seconds better than Dye, who closed with a 4th-best 22:45 run.

West, who lives in Boulder, was a Philadelphia home town favorite who grew up in nearby Quakertown and Lehigh Valley,

Women

U.S. competitors took the first five places in the first run which Kaitlin Donner led in 11:06. This gave her a 1 second lead on Kaye, 27 seconds on Cecilia Davis-Hayes and Laurel Wassner, 37 seconds on Holly Benner and 43 seconds on Kristen Marchant of Canada.

After a women's-best 1:03:11 bike split, Kaye led into T2 by 1:10 over Davis-Hayes (1:03:59 bike split), 2:27 over Marchant, 2:36 over Carly Johann, 3:51 over Laurel Wassner and 4:42 over Donner.

After a women’s-fastest 25:36 4-mile run split, Kaye finished in 1:41:12 with a 1:47 margin of victory over Davis-Hayes (26:05 run), 2:30 over 3rd-place Marchant (25:40 run) and 2:36 over Carly Johann (26:55 run).

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The Philadelphia Escape Triathlon is the first of a five-race Escape Series which offers a series purse of $100,000 and qualifications for the $80,000 2018 Escape From Alcatraz classic. Further 2017 Escape Series events will include Des Moines Escape (September 3), Nation’s Tri Escape (September 10), Lake Geneva Escape (September 23) and New Orleans Escape (October 1).

Philadelphia Escape Triathlon
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 25, 2017
R 2 mi / B 24.8 mi. / R 4 mi.

Results

Pro Men

1. Jason West (USA) 1:29:09
2. Ben Kanute (USA) 1:29:29
3. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:29:32
4. Timothy Winslow (USA) 1:34:39
5. Daniel Feeney (USA) 1:35:09
6. Brian Duffy (USA) 1:35:27
7. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1:36:15
8. Garrick Loewen (CAN) 1:36:48
9. Sean Daugherty (USA) 1:37:17
10. Spencer Ralston (USA) 1:38:58

Pro Women

1. Alicia Kaye (USA) 1:41:12
2. Cecilia Davis-Hayes (USA) 1:42:59
3. Kristen Marchant (CAN) 1:43:42
4. Carly Johann (USA) 1:45:16
5. Laurel Wassner (USA) 1:46:17
6. Kaitlin Donner (USA) 1:46:54
7. Caroline Shannon (USA) 1:54:35