Mirinda Carfrae of Australia and Sam Long of the U.S. won it on the run at Ironman 70.3 Victoria.
Women
Carfrae overcame 2:27 and 2:29 deficits after the swim and the bike legs with a women’s-best 1:22:28 half marathon - 5 minutes faster than the next–best effort of her rivals - to finish in 4:21:26 with a 5:17 margin of victory over Heather Wurtele of Canada and 6:31 over 3rd place finisher Jen Annett of Canada.
Carfrae appears to be on winning form after a 2nd place at Cancun 70.3 on April 28.
Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the swim in 24:49 which gave her a 51 seconds lead on Paula Findlay of Canada, 53 seconds on Kinsey Laine of the U.S., 2:23 and 2:24 on Canadians Heather Wurtele and Melanie McQuaid, and 2:27 on Carfrae.
Halfway through the 90 kilometer bike leg, Findlay and Spieldenner opened a minute and a half lead on Wurtele, Carfrae and Laine, 1:52 on McQuaid, and 4:20 on Annett and Lauren Barnett.
After a women’s-best 2:26:13 bike split, Wurtele opened a 14 seconds lead on Findlay (2:27:56 ride), 2:29 on Carfrae (2:28:43 ride) and 2:57 on Annett (2:26:39 ride).
After 7.5km, the women’s run was a 3-way battle as Findlay led Wurtele by 14 seconds and Carfrae by 25 seconds. By 10.5km, Carfrae seized the lead by 1:06 on Wurtele and 4:15 on Annett. After her 1:22:28 run split, Carfrae finished in 4:21:26 with a 5:17 margin of victory over Wurtele and 6:31 on 3rd place Annett.
Men
Eric Lagerstrom of the U.S. led the swim in 23:03 which gave him a 1:37-1:39 lead on Canadians Cody Beals and Taylor Reid, with Sam Long of the U.S. in 10th, 2:43 off the pace.
Halfway through the bike leg, Beals led Lagerstrom by 10 seconds, Reid by 1:10, Long by 1:57 and Trevor Wurtele by 1:59. After a men’s 2nd-fastest 2:11:44 bike split, Beals led into T2 by 47 seconds over Long, 2:13 over Nathan Killam of Canada, 2:17 over Lagerstrom, 2:50 over Reid and 4:36 over Wurtele.
Half through the 21 kilometer run, Long opened a 13 seconds lead on Beals, 3:05 on Reid, 4:25 on Lagerstrom and 6:07 on Trevor Wurtele.
After on a men’s-fastest 1:15:48 run split, Long finished in 3:55:48 with a 37 seconds margin of victory on Beals (1:17:17 run) and 2:43 on 3rd place Reid (1:16:23 run).
Sam Long continues a breakthrough year after a win at Chattanooga 70.3 and a 5th at Ironman 70.3 St. George.
Ironman 70.3 Victoria
Victoria, Canada
June 2, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:21:26 S 27:16 T1 1:19 B 2:28:43 T2 1:43 R 1:22:28
2. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 4:26:43 S 27:11 T1 1:24 2:26:13 T2 1:32 R 1:30:25
3. Jen Annett (CAN) 4:27:57 S 29:12 T1 1:54 B 2:26:39 T2 1:36 R 1:28:39
4. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:28:26 S 24:29 T1 1:35 B 2:32:32 T2 1:44 R 1:27:48
5. Kinsey Laine (USA) 4:28:34 S 25:41 T1 1:32 B 2:32:29 T2 1:37 R 1:27:18
Men
1. Sam Long (USA) 3:55:48 S 25:46 T1 1:20 B 2:11:34 T2 1:21 R 1:15:48
2. Cody Beals (CAN) 3:56:25 S 24:40 T1 1:30 B 2:11:44 T2 1:16 R 1:17:17
3. Taylor Reid (CAN) 3:58:31 S 24:42 T1 1:20 B 2:14:42 T2 1:26 R 1:16:23
4. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 4:01:43 S 23:03 T1 1:24 B 2:15:43 T2 1:30 R 1:20:03
5. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 4:03:33 S 25:43 T1 1:25 B 2:15:21 T2 1:16 R 1:19:49
