Kelsey Withrow of the U.S. and Marko Albert of Estonia won the overall titles at Ironman 70.3 Victoria.
Withrow combined a women’s 2nd-fastest 24:34 swim, 2nd-best 2:28:30 bike split and 4th-best 1:29:40 run to finish in 4:25:11, with a 1:37 margin of victory over Jen Annett of Canada and 6:05 over fellow U.S. competitor Lauren Goss.
Albert led wire-to-wire with a race-best 22:55 swim, race-best 2:13:44 bike split and 5th-quickest 1:19:50 half marathon to finish in 3:58:36, with a 2:26 margin of victory over Taylor Reid of Canada and precisely 4 minutes over 3rd-place Christopher Baird of the U.S.
Women
Lauren Goss of the U.S. led the pro women’s swim wave with a 24:33 split that gave her 2 seconds on Withrow, and 2:43, 2:47 and 2:49 on Canadians Steph Corker, Melanie McQuaid and Annie-Claude Gaudet. Canadian overall threat Jen Annett was 4:49 back and Lisa Roberts of the U.S. was three more seconds arrears.
Halfway through the bike leg, Withrow established a 2:29 lead on Goss, 4:27 on Annett and 5:54 on McQuaid. At the end of her women’s second-best 2:28:30 bike split, Withrow maintained a 2:29 lead on Annett (2:26:08 bike split), 6:36 on Goss, 8:42 on McQuaid, and 11:40 on Roberts.
On the run, Withrow proceeded to surrender from her lead in the most miserly possible fashion. Midway through the half marathon, Withrow’s lead was down to 2:24 on Annett, 4:54 on Goss and 10:36 on McQuaid. With 5 kilometers left, Withrow’s advantage was 2:18 on Annett and 5:47 on Goss.
After her women’s 4th-best 1:29:40 run, Withrow crossed the line in 4:25:11 with a 1:37 lead on Annett (1:28:56 run), 6:05 on Goss (1:29:21 run), and 8:16 on Roberts (women’s-best 1:26:20 run).
Men
Albert led the swim in 22:55 which gave him a 3 seconds margin on Graham O’Grady of New Zealand, 43 seconds on Benjamin Collins of the U.S., 1:48 on Justin Metzler of the U.S., 1:50 on Taylor Reid of Canada, and 2:39 on Ricky Swindale of Australia.
Halfway through the bike leg, Albert increased his lead to 1:09 on O’Grady, 2:43 on Taylor, 2:44 on Collins, and 3:58 on Metzler. After a race-best 2:13:44 bike split, Albert led a trio composed of Collins, Reid and O’Grady by slightly less than 4 and a half minutes. Further behind were a quartet of U.S. competitors - Christopher Baird (+8:24), Justin Metzler (+8:25), Nicholas Chase (+8:28), and Jordan Rapp (+11:28).
Halfway through the run, Albert’s lead had slipped to 2:22 over Reid, 2:52 on O’Grady, 4:30 on Collins, 6:30 on Baird, 10:23 on Chase, and 11:36 on Rapp.
After that, Albert stiffened his resistance and stopped the bleeding. After a 5th-fastest 1:19:50 run, the Estonian crossed the line in 3:58:36 with a 2:26 lead on Reid (1:18:06 run), 4 minutes on 3rd-place Baird (1:15:17 run), 5:08 on 4th-place O’Grady, and 5:52 on 5th-place Collins.
Subaru Ironman 70.3 Victoria
Victoria, BC, Canada
June 4, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 4:25:11
2. Jen Annett (CAN) 4:26:48
3. Lauren Goss (USA) 4:31:16
4. Lisa Roberts (USA) 4:33:27
5. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 4:37:53
6. Alycia Hill (USA) 4:39:33
7. Kelly O’Mara (USA) 4:50:03
8. Steph Corker (CAN) 4:51:01
9. Annie–Claude Gaudet (CAN) 4:52:12
10. Kendra Goffredo (USA) 4:59:44
Men
1. Marko Albert (EST) 3:58:36
2. Taylor Reid (CAN) 4:01:02
3. Christopher Baird (USA) 4:02:36
4. Graham O’Grady (NZL) 4:03:44
5. Benjamin Collins (USA) 4:04:28
6. Justin Metzler (USA) 4:05:20
7. Jordan Rapp (USA) 4:09:43
8. Nicholas Chase (USA) 4:13:08
9. Ricky Swindale (AUS) 4:18:29
10. Derek Garcia (USA) 4:19:07
