Lucy Charles-Barclay and George Goodwin made for a Great Britain sweep of the top spots at Staffordshire 70.3.
Women
A week after a big victory at Challenge the Championship, Lucy Charles-Barclay led wire-to-wire to win Staffordshire 70.3. Charles-Barclay swam 23:46 to open a 1:08 lead on fellow Brit Chloe Cook, then widened her margin to 3:56 with a women's-best 2:30:05 bike split.
While defending champion Emma Pallant made up 1:19 with a women's-fastest 1:21:40 half marathon, Charles-Barclay’s next-best 1:22:59 run split brought her to the finish in 4:22:30 with a 3:34 margin of victory over Pallant and 7:10 over 3rd place finisher Katrina Rye.
Chloe Cook took 4th, 7:50 behind the winner, making a 1-2-3-4 sweep for British women. Magda Nieuwoudt of South Africa took 5th, 16:57 behind the winner.
Men
George Goodwin overcame a 1:15 deficit after a 6th-best 25:08 swim with a race-best 2:13:04 bike split that brought him to T2 in second place, just 4 seconds behind fellow Brit and race leader Will Clarke, and a little over 3 minutes ahead of chasers Yvan Jarrige of France and Elliot Smales of Great Britain. After a trouble–plagued 6:59 transition, Jarrige lost 4 minutes and fell out of contention for the podium.
Slowly but surely, Goodwin ran to the front, leading Clarke by 47 seconds at 7.6km and putting more distance on Smales and Thomas Davis. After 14km, Goodwin increased his lead to 2 minutes over Clarke. After 16.6 kilometers, Goodwin led by 2:40 over Clarke.
After a race-best 1:14:04 run split, Goodwin finished in 3:57:26 with a 3:50 margin of victory over Clarke (1:17:47 run split) and 7:27 over 3rd-place finisher Elliot Smales. Thomas Davis took 4th place, 9:11 behind the winner, rounding out a 1-2-3-4 sweep for the British men.
Jarrige, who could not make up for his miscues at T2, took 5th place, 11:07 behind the winner.
Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire
Staffordshire, England
June 9, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) 4:22:30 S 23:46 T1 3:23 B 2:30:05 T2 2:18 R 1:22:59
2. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:26:04 S 27:42 T1 3:08 B 2:31:22 T2 2:15 R 1:21:40
3. Katrina Rye (GBR) 4:29:40 S 28:22 T1 3:18 B 2:31:36 T2 2:24 R 1:23:42
4. Chloe Cook (GBR) 4:30:20 S 24:54 T1 3:29 B 2:32:47 T2 2:29 R 1:26:43
5. Magda Nieuwoudt (RSA) 4:39:27 S 29:45 T1 3:29 B 2:33:28 T2 2:29 R 1:30:18
Men
1. George Goodwin (GBR) 3:57:26 S 25:08 T1 2:57 B 2:13:04 T2 2:15 R 1:14:04
2. Will Clarke (GBR) 4:01:16 S 23:58 T1 2:54 B 2:14:14 T2 2:25 R 1:17:47
3. Elliot Smales (GBR) 4:04:53 S 23:53 T1 2:49 B 2:17:34 T2 2:25 R 1:18:13
4. Thomas Davis (GBR) 4:06:37 S 23:52 T1 3:09 B 2:17:59 T2 2:21 R 1:19:18
5. Yvan Jarrige (FRA) 4:08:33 S 23:59 T1 2:59 B 2:17:17 T2 6:59 R 1:17:21
