Thirty-nine year-old Australian-born US citizen Greg Bennett can laugh at the ravages of age as he showed his heels to the Hy-Vee men, winning $151,500 and joined his wife Laura (2007 winner) as the only couple who have one of those huge cardboard Hy-Vee checks vying for space on the mantle.

Bennett started with a smooth, 16th-best 19:53 swim, then sliced through the field and advanced to second behind Ben Collins with a swift 55:27 bike, then closed the deal with a third-best 33:52 run to hit the line in 1:49:24 with a 29-seconds margin of victory over fellow American Hunter Kemper and 49 seconds on third place Stuart Hayes of Great Britain.

“I was having dinner with my wife Laura last night and we were talking about retirement,” said Bennett in a finish line interview with Hy-Vee announcers. “I was thinking I was about to run 40 and there was a short window of opportunity left to make something great happen. So congratulations to Lisa Norden for winning the women’s race, but also to Laura for her 5th place finish. I think the Bennetts had a real strong day today.”

While Bennett has proved he is a clutch big money athlete time and again – particularly after his perfect 2007 Life Time Fitness-Toyota Cup season when he won $500,000 in races and bonuses, today’s win marks him as a remarkably durable and excellent performer over more than two decades as a professional. Along the way, Greg Bennett earned a number one ranking on the ITU World Cup circuit, took a 4th at the Athens Olympics, and has won a ton of high prestige, big money Olympic distance events around the world.

The same praise might be said of Kemper, who came off a miserable performance at the London round of the World Championship Series – a US Olympic qualifier – a month ago. But just as he had in 2008 when he won the third and final US men’s Olympic slot at this event, Kemper had a great comeback day at Hy-Vee. Starting with a 6th best 19:35 swim fighting strong currents in the Des Moines River, pulling up to 8th after the bike, then turning on the jets with a second-best run to slice through the field and earn a $75,000 payday – Kemper earned a welcome measure of redemption and confidence-building after London.

“I tried hard on the run, but Greg Bennett put together a great bike and run, and I did not have enough to catch him,” said three-time Olympian Kemper.

“I did not realize I was running as well as I was until the 2nd lap. Then I realized I was in third place when I got to Stuey (Stuart Hayes). But I knew unless he absolutely blew, Greg was too tough to catch today. There were some tough hills on the bike and run and this was definitely a strength course – which is made for Greg who is a true athlete.”

Australian Paul Matthews and two-time Hy-Vee winner Rasmus Henning of Denmark moved up gradually through the field to take 4th and 5th places, 1:09 and 1:34 back respectively.

American Ben Collins made the race exciting from the gun as he charged from a 4th-best 19:27 swim, 47 seconds behind top swimmer Joshua Amberger of Australia but just 9 seconds back of serious contender Cameron Dye, to a 47-seconds lead after the bike. After his kamikaze effort, Collins maintained a 20-second lead for the first lap of the run until he was overcome by cramps and was walking when Bennett went by. After he recovered from his Light Brigade charge, Collins soldiered on, 4:53 back of the winner. For his pains, Collins earned $6,000 for his 18th place finish and $20,600 for his four bike lap primes.

For any doubters that the Australian two-time Ironman World Champion was still serious about Olympic distance racing, Chris McCormack made up a lot of ground on the run and took 10th, earning $10,000.

Hy-Vee 5150 US Championship
Des Moines, Iowa
September 4, 2011
S 1.5k / B 40k/ R 10k

Results

Elite Men

1. Greg Bennett (USA) 1:49:24
2. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:49:53
3. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:50:13
4. Paul Matthews (AUS) 1:50:33
5. Rasmus Henning (DEN) 1:50:58
6. Kris Gemmell (NZL) 1:51:41
7. Filip Ospaly (CZE) 1:51:55
8. David Thompson (USA) 1:52:03
9. Matt Reed (USA) 1:52:14
10. Chris McCormack (AUS) 1:52:18