By coincidence or not, Sarah True and Cody Beals won Ironman Lake Placid a month after their victories at Eagleman 70.3. Beals triumph came after a dramatic meltdown by Justin Metzler after leading the race from midway through the swim to late in the marathon. Until midway through the run, Metzler had a 1:33 advantage over Michi Weiss of Austria 3:14 over Pamphiel Pareyn of Belgium, and 6:45 over Beals. But Metzler’s smooth, controlled gait started to falter and with 10 miles to go, slowed to a walk, cramping and overheating. It didn’t take long for his solid lead to rapidly reduce, with Beals looking stronger and Weiss, suddenly a threat.
Metzler fought hard, running his way up from River Road on the way back into town, but it was to no avail as Beals powered past on this way to a race-best 2:46:28 marathon that brought him to the finish line in 8:15:11 with a 1:53 margin on over Weiss, and 8:15 over Pamphiel Pareyn. Metzler faded to fourth.
Afterwards Beals told Ironman media: “My grandfather died exactly a week ago. He was the biggest fan of mine. He was on my mind all day and I just wanted to honor him with that performance.”
Meanwhile, in the women's race, the early star of the show was Rachel Zilinskas. The American took the top swim honors, cutting through much of the men's chase field as well. Sarah True, returning to Ironman racing following the birth of her son, emerged alone in second, five minutes arrears of Zilinskas but three minutes ahead of a chase pack that included Jessica Smith, Melanie McQuaid, and the legendary Dede Griesbauer. Heather Jackson and Angela Naeth trailed True by 10 minutes.
On the bike, Zilinskas held the lead for nearly the first 80 miles before finally ceding to the charge from True. Griesbauer and Jackson were also well in contention heading into the run. But True held serve throughout the marathon, looking cool and comfortable despite the blazing temperatures and used a race-best 3:04:07 marathon to win the race in just over 9 hours. Jackson finished a comfortable second, with Jodie Robertson running herself onto the podium with a 3:07:41 run.
Ironman Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York
July 24, 2022
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Men
1. Cody Beals (CAN) S 50:34 T1 2:49 B 4:33:26 T2 1:57 R 2:46:28 TOT 8:15:11
2. Michael Weiss (AUT) S 55:51 T1 3:10 B 4:22:13 T2 2:19 R 2:53:34 TOT 8:17:04
3. Pamphiel Pareyn (FRA) S 50:25 T1 2:54 B 4:29:48 T2 2:06 R 2:58:14 TOT 8:23:26
4. Justin Metzler (USA) S 50:32 T1 2:47 B 4:26:44 T2 1:57 R 3:05:30 TOT 8:27:28
5. Matt Russell (USA) S 57:11 T1 3:06 B 4:27:51 T2 3:09 R 2:57:39 TOT 8:28:54
Women
1. Sarah True (USA) S 55:36 T1 3:06 B 4:55:30 T2 2:05 R 3:04:07 TOT 9:00:22
2. Heather Jackson (USA) S 1:05:22 T1 3:01 B 4:52:21 T2 1:48 R 3:15:53 TOT 9:16:23
3. Jodie Robertson (USA) S 1:02:55 T1 3:55 B 5:04:32 T2 3:01 R 3:07:41 TOT 9:22:02
4. Rachel Zilinskas (USA) S 50:57 T1 3:35 5:11:52 T2 2:48 R 3:23:23 TOT 9:32:33
5. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) S 58:03 T1 3:03 B 5:05:32 T2 2:11 R 3:25:45 TOT 9:34:32
6. Angela Naeth (CAN) S 1:05:50 T1 3:19 B 5:06:12 T2 2:18 R 3:28:08 TOT 9:45:36
7. Jessica Smith (USA) S 58:04 T1 3:47 B 5:16:48 T2 2:11 R 3:29:44 TOT 9:50:32
8. Dede Griesbauer (USA) S 58:09 T1 3:33 B 4:58:27 T2 3:04 R 3:50:01 TOT 9:53:12
