Kevin Collington edged Horst Reichl by just over a minute while Diana Castillo fought Kelsey Withrow even up through the swim and bike legs before running away to win top honors at Ironman 70.3 Cartagena in Colombia.
Collington combined a 2nd-best 24:41 swim, a 3rd-fastest 2:05:01 bike split and a 3rd-quickest 1:19:40 run to finish in 3:52:56 with a 1:05 margin of victory over Horst Reichl of Germany and 2:18 over 3rd place finisher TJ Tollakson of the U.S.
Sunday’s [performance gave Collington three 70.3 wins – Monterrey, Costa Rica and Cartagena and an Ironman triumph at Taiwan.
Castillo began her day with a 26:31 swim that was 2 seconds behind her daylong rival Kelsey Withrow of the U.S. The Colombian and the American stuck together like glue during a bike leg where Castillo reached T2 two seconds ahead of Withrow and next-closest contender Sarah Cometo was 7 minutes arrears.
Without any drama, Castillo gradually and inexorably drew away from Withrow. The Colombian finished with a women’s-best 1:29:29 run split that was 3:56 better than the U.S. star. Castillo thus finished in 4:28:49 with a 4:04 margin of victory over Withrow and 22:02 over 3rd place finisher Sarah Cameto of the U.S.
The win was Castillo’s most prestigious of the 2017 season which also included victories at the Olympic distance Colombian National Championships and the sprint distance Santa Maria Bolivarian Games.
Allianz Ironman 70.3 Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia
December 3, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Kevin Collington (USA) 3:52:56 S 24:41 B 2:05:01 R 1:19:40
2. Horst Reichl (GER) 3:54:01 S 24:48 B 2:07:52 R 1:17:12
3. TJ Tollakson (USA) 3:55:14 S 24:52 B 2:03:36 R 1:22:58
4. Carlos Javier Quinchara (COL) 4:05:15 S 24:35 B 2:10:20 R 1:26:41
5. David Guete (COL) 4:14:42 S 25:43 B 2:29:02 R 1:16:10
Women
1. Diana Castillo (COL) 4:28:49 S 26:33 B 2:28:50 R 1:29:29
2. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 4:32:53 S 26:31 B 2:28:52 R 1:33:25
3. Sarah Cameto (USA 4:50:51 S 28:50 B 2:33:17 R 1:44:04
4. Lina Raga (COL) 5:00:22 2 28:18 B 2:42:08 R 1:45:31
5. Lotty Harari (PAN) 5:28:24 S 37:06 B 2:45:23 R 2:00:16
