Sarah Crowley of Australia and Eric Lagerstrom of the U.S. won the elite titles at Santa Cruz 70.3.
Crowley came back from a 1:21 deficit after a 7th-best swim with a women’s-fastest 2:17:17 bike split that left her in 2nd place and 31 seconds arrears at T2. After a women’s 2nd-best 1:24:06 half marathon, Crowley finished in 4:11:40 and edged fast-closing runner-up Paula Findlay of Canada (women’s-fastest 1:22:39 run) by 29 seconds and 3rd place Skye Moench of the U.S. by 3:27.
Lagerstrom gained a 39 seconds lead with a race-best 22:22 swim, then held on to a 19 seconds lead over former pro cyclist Andrew Talansky and 1:28 margin over Ben Hoffman with a race-best 2:04:01 bike split. After a 2nd-fastest 1:15:58 half marathon, Lagerstrom finished in 3:47:25 with a 1:39 margin of victory over Hoffman (1:16:02 run) and 4:19 over 3rd place Justin Metzler of the U.S., who closed with a race-best 1:15:10 run.
Women
Lisa Norden, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist who has been making strides in the long course world this year, led the women’s wave with a 24:09 swim that gave her a 4 seconds lead on Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S., 9 seconds on Findlay, 1:14 on Brittany Oliver, 1:19 on Kelsey Withrow, 1:21 on Crowley, and 1:47 on Skye Moench.
After 40 miles of the bike leg, Norden held a 3 seconds lead on Crowley, 1:45 on Findlay, 2:34 on Moench and 4:45 on Spieldenner. After a women’s 3rd-best 2:18:25 bike split, Norden led into T2 by 31 seconds on Crowley, 2:23 on Moench and 2:28 on Findlay.
Once on the run, Norden fell off her usual fast pace and after 5km immediately fell to 2nd place, 3 seconds behind Crowley, while Findlay moved to within 1:23 of Crowley and Moench closed to 4th place, 2:49 behind Crowley.
After a women’s 2nd-fastest 1:24:06 run, Crowley finished in 4:11:40 with a 29 seconds margin of victory on Findlay, who closed hard with a women’s-best 1:22:39 run. Moench took 3rd place, 3:27 behind the winner, while early leader Norden faded with a 1:32:12 run that left her in 4th place, 7:29 behind the winner.
Men
Lagerstrom led the men’s swim in 22:22 which gave him a 39 seconds lead on Matt Franklin of New Zealand, 41 seconds on Eduardo Lass of Brazil, 51 seconds on Dylan Gillespie of the U.S., 1:14 on Justin Metzler of the U.S., 1:16 on Kyle Buckingham of South Africa, 1:23 on Ben Hoffman of the U.S., 1:51 on Taylor Reid of Canada, and 1:52 on James Cunnama of South Africa.
After 40 miles of the bike leg, Lagerstrom held a 1:24 lead on Hoffman, 1:40 on Andrew Talansky of the U.S., 3:31 on Cunnama, 3:32 on Gillespie, 3:33 on Franklin, 3:36 on Metzler, and 3:37 on Buckingham.
After a race-best 2:04:01 bike split, Lagerstrom led the men into T2 by 19 seconds on Talansky, 1:28 on Hoffman, 4:40 on Gillespie, 4:44 on Cunnama, 4:53 on Metzler, and 4:59 on Buckingham.
On his way to a 2nd-fastest 1:15:58 run, Lagerstrom increased his lead at mile 10 to 2:12 on Hoffman, 4:54 on Metzler, 6:15 on Buckingham and 8:08 on Cunnama.
After finishing in 3:47:25, Lagerstrom had a 1:40 margin of victory on Hoffman, 4:21 on 3rd place Metzler, 6:14 on 4th place Buckingham and 7:58 on 5th place Cunnama.
Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
September 9, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1
Results
Women
1. Sarah Crowley (AUS) 4:110 S 25:29 T1 3:29 B 2:17:17 T2 1:20 R 1:24:06
2. Paula Findlay (CAN) 4:12:09 S 24:18 T1 3:00 B 2:20:56 T2 1:19 R 1:22:39
3. Skye Moench (USA 4:15:07 S 25:55 T1 3:22 B 2:18:50 T2 1:35 R 1:25:26
4. Lisa Norden (SWE) 4:19:29 S 24:09 T1 3:12 B 2:18:25 T2 1:34 R 1:32:12
5. Jennifer Spieldenner 4:20:47 S 24:12 T1 3:09 B 2:25:06 T2 1:27 R 1:26:55
Men
1. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 3:47:25 S 22:22 T1 3:13 B 2:04:01 T2 1:13 R 1:15:58
2. Ben Hoffman (USA) 3:49:04 S 23:45 T1 3:15 B 2:04:44 T2 1:21 R 1:16:02
3. Justin Metzler (USA) 3:51:45 S 23:36 T1 3:14 B 2:08:19 T2 1:28 R 1:15:10
4. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 3:53:38 S 3:38 T1 3:19 B 2:08:18 T2 1:20 R 1:17:05
5. James Cunnama (RSA) 3:55:22 S 24:14 T1 3:06 B 2:07:40 T2 1:14 R 1:19:11
