Australian Josh Amberger and U.S. long course star Mary Beth Ellis won the men’s and women’s titles at Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Sunday.
Amberger emerged from the swim one second behind New Zealand’s Dylan McNeice’s race-best 24:02 and one second ahead of Russia’s Denis Vasiliev. Amberger edged ahead with a race-best 2:06:28 bike split which was 15 seconds better than Vasiliev, 7 seconds better than McNeice, while putting a 4 minute cushion on the dangerous runner Alessandro Degasperi of Italy.
Amberger defended his slim lead on the run, posting a 3rd best 1:22:01 which gave back 57 seconds to Degasperi’s 1:21:04 half marathon and 3:02 to Nick Waninger’s race best 1:18:59 split. Waninger never presented a threat since his 2:16:11 bike had already surrendered 9 minutes to the winner and Degasperi’s surge could only carry him to 4th place after a 5th-best 2:10:36 bike split.
Amberger hit the line first in 3:54:49 with a 4:24 margin on runner-up Vasiliev (4th best 1:26:25 run) and 5:46 on third place McNeice (5th best 1:27:47 run).
Mary Beth Ellis picked up where she left off last year before her overworked, over-raced fade at Ironman Hawaii. Ellis, who won three Ironman races last year with spectacular times, came out of the water with a race-best 26:42 swim which put 2:01 on Kate Bevilaqua, 2:29 on Alison Fitch, and 3:25 on Michelle Wu.
Ellis then put her stamp on the race with a race-best 2:17:45 bike that that put 4:09 on Wu, 4:59 on Bevilaqua, and 5:05 on Fitch.
With a 7-minutes-plus lead, Ellis played the run conservatively, and her 1:32:07 split for the 13.1-miles could easily afford to give back 1:50 to Wu, while she put an additional 5:23 on Bevilaqua and 6:34 on Fitch.
Ellis hit the finish in 4:19:35 to defend her title. Her margin of victory was 5:56 over runner-up Wu, 12:44 on third place Bevilaqua and 14:37 on 4th-place Fitch.
Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore
March 18, 2012
S 1.2 mi/ B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Pro Men
1. Josh Amberger (AUS) 3:54:45
2. Denis Vasiliev (RUS) 3:59:25
3. Dylan McNeice (NZL) 4:00:51
4. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 4:01:15
5. Nick Waninger (USA) 4:05:12
6. Guy Crawford (NZL) 4:11:09
7. Kodo Hiramatsu (JPN) 4:12:05
8. Ollie Whistler (AUS) 4:14:47
9. Anthony Devos (AUS) 4:25:20
10. Eneko Elosegui (ESP) 4:26:14
Pro Women
1. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 4:19:35
2. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:25:31
3. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 4:32:19
4. Ali Fitch (AUS) 4:34:22
5. Irina Kirchler (AUT) 4:40:18
6. Francesca Tibaldi (ITA) 4:41:30
7. Elaine Brent (NZL) 4:47:29
8. Kat Baker (AUS) 4:51:56
9. Megumi Shigaki (JPN) 5:07:43
