Australians Sam Appleton and Mirinda Carfrae won the lions’ shares of the $50,000 pro purse at Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa which was cut to a duathlon after heavy fog prompted organizers to cancel the swim.
Men
Appleton rocketed to a 3:40 lead over Jackson Laundry of Canada after his race-best 2:00:11 bike split through the scenic vineyards of Santa Rosa. Appleton then held off Laundry 1:15:11 to 1:15: 34 on the half marathon to finish in 3:17:35 with a 4:07 margin of victory on Laundry and 4:59 over fast-closing 3rd-place finisher Tyler Butterfield of Bermuda, who ran a race-best 1:12:44 split.
Timothy O’Donnell of the U.S. was in 3rd place, 6:44 behind Appleton after the bike, then fell to 4th place with a 1:16:00 run split that left him 2:51 behind Butterfield.
The win marks Appleton’s 2nd win of 2018 after a victory at Geelong 70.3, and a 4th at St. George 70.3.
Women
Heather Wurtele led the opening bike leg with a 2:19:27 split that gave the Canadian a 43 seconds lead on Jocelyn McCauley of the U.S. and 1:11 on Carfrae. Shortly before the halfway point of the run, Carfrae passed McCauley for second and went to work on her 50 seconds deficit on Wurtele.
At the 6.5-mile mark, Carfrae passed Wurtele at a steady but not spectacular pace she might have unleashed two years ago. After a women’s-best 1:20:06 run, Carfrae hit the line in 3:43:21 with a 1:59 margin of victory over Wurtele (1:23:32 run) and 3:09 over 3rd place finisher Pamella Oliveira of Brazil, who closed with a women’s 2nd-best 1:21:21 run and 1:09 ahead of 4th-place McCauley (1:24:49 run)
In her 4th race after the birth of her daughter Isabelle last Fall, Carfrae broke through to her first win of the year after 2nd places at Monterrey and Texas 70.3s and at Ironman Cairns.
Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
July 28, 2018
B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Sam Appleton (AUS) 3:17:35 B 2:00:47 T 1:37 R 1:15:11
2. Jackson Laundry (CAN) 3:21:42 B 2:04:25 T 1:44 R 1:15:34
3. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 3:22:34 B 2:08:19 T 1:33 R 1:12:44
4. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 3:25:25 B 2:07:30 T 1:56 R 1:16:00
5. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:26:50 B 2:10:36 T 1:39 R 1:14:36
6. Taylor Reid (CAN) 3:27:55 B 2:09:43 T 1:42 R 1:16:31
7. Sean Harrington (USA ) 3:29:49 B 2:13:29 T 1:41 R 1:14:29
8. Nicholas Granet (FRA) 3:29:51 B 2:11:10 T 2:00 1:16:42
Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 3:43:21 B 2:21:23 T 1:54 R 1:20:06
2. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 3:45:20 B 2:20:05 T 1:44 R 1:23:32
3. Pamella Oliveira (BRA) 3:46:30 B 2:23:10 T 2:00 R 1:21:21
4. Jocelyn McCauley (USA) 3:47:39 B 2:20:53 T 1:58 R 1:24:49
5. Alycia Hill (USA) 3:55:55 B 2:28:40 T 1:47 R 1:25:29
6. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 3:56:17 B 2:27:05 T 1:59 R 1:27:14
7. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 3:58:49 B 2:23:48 T 1:55 R 1:33:07
8. Kinsey Laine (USA) 4:00:28 B 2:27:31 T 1:55 R 1:31:03
