Foley Attacks on the Run to Become IRONMAN 70.3 North American Champion

Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, was the new host of the North American Championships. Fifty-nine men registered to battle for the title, and it wasn’t long before a strong American trio of Morgan Pearson, Marc Dubrick and Ben Kanute went to the front of the calm, non-wetsuit swim, gapping the rest of the field early.

Pearson, an Olympian who is also looking to qualify for LA 2028, was first out of the water in 23:17, with the other two hot on his heels. Forty-six seconds back the rest of the pack started to trickle in. Notably, fan favourites Mathew Marquardt and Jason West were about a minute behind; Trevor Foley and Matt Hanson (wearing bib one as the highest-ranked Pro Series athlete) were around 2:30 back; and Sam Long hit T1 just over three minutes behind.

Marquardt Leads As Long Powers Through

In the early kilometres, Pearson seemed to be having an issue with his bike (he would eventually continue and finish eleventh), leaving the door open for Kanute to take the early lead. Marquardt and West also made their way to the front but, living up to his reputation, it was Long who stole the early show. Laying down incredible power, he rode himself from 29th to fifth within the first 20 km. Foley and Rasmus Svenningsson did the same and, by the halfway point, Marquardt and Kanute were out front with Long, Dubrick, West, Foley, Svenningsson and Justin Riele in the front chase pack.

At the 60 km mark, Kanute started to struggle in the rolling hills. It was the opposite story for the chase pack, which took full advantage of the challenging terrain. Kanute slipped through the group, sitting just ahead of West, who had also fallen two minutes off the back of the group.

Marquardt, a full-time medical student, started to show signs of fatigue being out front alone for so long and, although he was first into T2 with a bike split of 2:04:28, the chase pack was only 22 seconds behind.

All Together in T2

The second transition was exciting, with all the top contenders coming together. It was fast and furious, especially for a zoned-in Long, who skipped socks to save extra seconds (apparently he was always planning this as no socks were seen in his transition box). Marquardt was first out of T2 but, making a clear statement, Long chased, caught, and passed him within the opening moments of the run.

Marquardt tried to stay within striking distance, but was soon passed by Foley, who was also on the hunt.

With 14 km to go, Foley made the pass on Long, but coupled it with a fist bump. The two ran shoulder to shoulder, swapping the lead in a great run battle. Hitting a small incline with 5 km to go, Foley took advantage of a gap to make a decisive attack. Long couldn’t respond, and It seemed like every second of advantage made Foley faster.  

The fastest man on course with the win in his sights. Foley would clock a 1:09:50 half marathon to become the IRONMAN 70.3 North American champion.

Long, 70 seconds back, took second with a smile. West, who put together an impressive run from seventh, rounded out the podium.

Marquardt, who took a tumble on the run, looked absolutely spent in fourth after an impressive and aggressive race.

“I got a really nice second wind with 5km to go so I (thought) I’m going to just put my foot to the floor and just see what happens,” Foley, who won IRONMAN New Zealand to start his season, explained after the race. “I feel amazing, just on an absolute heater this year. When you start winning, you carry this momentum…I have a lot of really good momentum right now.”

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