Luke Bell outdueled fellow Aussie Luke McKenzie on the run and Dr. Amanda Stevens used her better swim and bike to outlast Michellie Jones’ race-best run to take top honors in the tropical heat at Ironman 70.3 Cancun.
Bell and fellow Luke McKenzie separated themselves from the field with race-best 2:09:47 and 2:09:54 bikes. Then Bell’s race-best 1:22:05 run in Cancun’s melting heat gave him a 3:59:46 finish and a 2:44 margin of victory over McKenzie. Former Cancun 70.3 champion Oscar Galindez of Argentina took 3rd in 4:05:20, with Australian Matt White 4th in 4:07:33 and Colombian Andres Latorre 5th in 4:08:08
Bell’s win comes after a 4th at Ironman Coeur d’Alene and a 3rd at Lake Stevens 70.3.
Stevens led wire to wire, but faced a stiff challenge from the legendary two-time ITU World Champ, 2000 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 Ironman World Champion Michellie Jones. Stevens’ 25:32 swim gave her a 1:38 lead on Jones, a 1:46 edge on Kate Major and 1:47 on Lesley Paterson, the 2nd place finisher at 2009 XTERRA Worlds and 2010 Ironman 70.3 California.
Stevens (2:26:18), Jones (2:27:58) and Major (2:27:45) stayed in contention on the bike as Paterson fell back with a sub-par 2:36:37.
On the run, Stevens showed she had fully recovered from gall bladder surgery early in the summer as her 1:29:40 half marathon held off Jones’ 1:27:35 counter-attack on the run to give her a winning margin of 1:27 and a 4:25:34 overall time.
Jones’s run was 1:34 better than Major’s 1:29:09 and left the legendary multiple world champion in the runner-up slot, 1:26 ahead of third-place Major.
Ironman 70.3 Cancun
Cancun, Mexico
September 19, 2010
S 1.2 mi./ B 56 mi./ R 13.1 mi.
Results
Overall men
1. Luke Bell (AUS) 3:59:46
2. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 4:02:30
3. Oscar Galindez (ARG) 4:05:20
4. Matt White (AUS) 4:07:33
5. Andres Felipe Castillo Latorre (COL) 4:08:08
6. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 4:10:01
7. Bruno Clerbout (BEL) 4:12:35
8. Bryan Rhodes (NZL) 4:14:53
9. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 4:20:32
10. Jairo Salazar (COL) 4:26:31 * M18-24
Overall women
1. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:25:34
2. Michellie Jones (AUS) 4:27:01
3. Kate Major (AUS) 4:28:27
4. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 4:44:56
5. Dunia Gomez Tirado (MEX) 4:52:26
6. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 4:54:12
7. Pamela Maxwell (USA) 4:58:21 * F45-49
8. Heather Jackson (USA) 5:06:54
9. Julianna Batizy-Morley (USA) 5:11:07
10. Marialuz Arellano (ECU) 5:14:14 *F35-39
