Mirinda Carfrae of Australia rebounded from Kona DNF with win at Los Cabos 70.3 and Lionel Sanders of Canada aced bike and run legs to dominate the men’s field at the Baja California Sur resort.
Women
Carfrae earned her third 70.3 victory of the year with a women’s second-best swim, women’s-best bike split and a dominant women’s-fastest run to finish in 4:31:36 with a 4:37 margin of victory over Ewa Komander of Poland and a 10:42 margin on 3rd place finisher Adriana Carreno Cruz of Mexico.
Carfrae began her day with a 28:21 swim split that left her with a 51 seconds deficit to Adriana Carreno Cruz of Mexico and leads of 2 seconds on Olympia Van Berg of the U.S., 3 seconds on Ewa Komander of Poland, 3:03 on Elizabeth Nyitray of the U.S. and Fatima Alanis, and 3:05 on Angela Naeth of Canada.
After 66 kilometers, Carfrae opened a 1:14 lead on Komander, 3:32 on Von Berg, 5:22 on Carreno Cruz and 9:03 on Nyitray. After a women’s-best 2:30:36 split on the demanding bike leg, Carfrae had her lead trimmed to 46 seconds by Komander, followed by Von Berg (+5:19), Carreno Cruz (+8:18) and Nyitray (+10:59).
In the first 5 kilometers of the run, Carfrae upped her lead to 2:38 on Komander and shut the door to hopes she might be vulnerable.
After a women’s-fastest 1:28:42 run split, Carfrae finished in 4:31:36 with a 4:37 margin of victory over Komander (1:32:45 run) and 10:42 over 3rd place finisher Carreno Cruz (1:31:12 run split).
Carfrae’s victory helped avenge a DNF at Kona three weeks ago and adds to a positive 2019 season which also includes wins at 70.3s in Mont Tremblant and Victoria and runners up 70.3 finishes at Coeur d’Alene and Santa Rosa.
Men
Sanders, coming off a 22nd-place finish at Kona three weeks ago, regained his post-injury, late-season form that gave him a win at Augusta 70.3.
As usual, Sanders began his day with a 10th-place 25:17 swim split that left him 2 minutes back of swim leader Joaquin Pereda but just 1 second behind chief rival Francisco Serrano of Mexico. After a dominating 2:02:34 bike split, he had a 5:52 lead on Eric Lagerstrom of the U.S., 5:58 on Serrano, 5:59 on Nicholas Chase of the U.S., 6:01 on Tomas Szala of Poland, 6:01 on Matt Franklin and 6:03 on Robbie Deckard of the U.S.
On his way to a race-best 1:13:09 run split, Sanders was never threatened as he finished in 3:44:06 with a 9:55 margin of victory over Serrano (1:17:02 run split) and 10:30 over 3rd place finisher Robbie Deckard of the U.S. (1:17:31 run split).
Mazda Ironman 70.3 Los Cabos
Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico
November 3, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:31:36 S 28:19 T`1 2:14 B 2:30:36 T2 1:46 R 1:28:42
2. Ewa Komander (POL) 4:36:13 S 28:22 T1 1:38 B 2:31:54 T2 1:35 R 1:32:45
3. Adriana Carreno Cruz (MEX) 4:42:18 S 27:29 T1 1:34 B 2:40:24 T2 1:42 R 1:31:12
4. Olympia Von Berg (USA) 4:44:45 S 28:22 T1 1:34 B 2:36:33 T2 1:24 R 1:36:55
5. Elizabeth Nyitray (USA) 4:58:29 S 31:22 T1 1:51 B 2:38:55 T2 1:51 R 1:44:32
Men
1. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 3:44:06 S 25:16 T1 1:50 B 2:02:34 T2 1:19 R 1:13:09
2. Francisco Serrano (MEX ) 3:54:01 S 25:14 T1 1:13 B 2:09:09 T2 1:24 R 1:17:02
3. Robbie Deckard (USA) 3:54:36 S 25:15 T1 1:21 B 2:09:06 T2 1:25 R 1:17:31
4. Tomasz Szala (POL) 3:58:52 S 25:12 T1 1:31 B 2:08:57 T2 1:11 R 1:22:03
5. Nicholas Chase (USA) 4:01:28 S 25:10 T1 1:22 B 2:09:06 T2 1:30 R 1:24:22
6. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 4:04:58 S 23:20 T1 1:32 B 2:10:43 T2 1:15 R 1:28:10
