Leon Griffin, just a week after getting married, blew away the men’s field with a closing 1:15:01 run and Samantha Warriner came back from a 5-minute deficit after the bike to win Ironman 70.3 Shepparton Sunday in Victoria, Australia.
Griffin, 31, the 2006 ITU Duathlon World Champion, emerged from the swim 4th in 24:31, 51 seconds behind Matt Bailey, 44 seconds behind Ollie Whistler and 2 seconds behind Monty Frankish. Powering to the lead with a race-best 2:09:45 bike split, Griffin took a 3 seconds lead over Whistler and 8 seconds over Bailey starting the run.
Griffin then put his stamp on the race with a dominating, race-best 1:15:01 half marathon which brought him to the line in 3:51:27 with a 10-minute 6-seconds margin over runner-up Whistler and another 1:40 over 3rd-place Monty Frankish.
In the women’s race, Lisa Marangon broke out front with a 25:20 swim that put 1:08 on Nicole Ward, 1:10 on Samantha Warriner and 1:26 on Elly Franks. Franks then stormed to the lead with a race-best 2:23:50 bike that was 3:41 faster than Marangon and 4:40 better than 2008 ITU World Championship bronze medalist Warriner.
Warriner took charge on the run, as her women’s race-best 1:27:52 breezed past a fading Franks and overcame Marangon’s 2:09 advantage after the bike to hit the line in 4:25:25 with a 2:31 margin of victory over Marangon, who ran 1:32:30.
Nicole Ward, on the strength of a 3rd-best 1:31:57 run, advanced to the final spot on the podium, 7:26 back of Marangon. Suzanne Blackborrow took 4th, 54 seconds further back. And T2 leader Franks, who fell back with a 1:43:41 run, took 5th place, 41 seconds back of Blackborrow.
Ironman 70.3 Shepparton
Shepparton, Australia
November 13, 2011
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:51:27
2. Ollie Whistler (AUS) 4:01:35
3. Monty Frankish (AUS) 4:03:13
4. Luke Whitmore (AUS) 4:04:40
5. Matt Bailey (AUS) 4:04:49
6. Jason Shortis (AUS) 4:05:09
7. David Meade (AUS) 4:07:39 * M40-44
8. Ross Young (AUS) 4:08:26 * M30-34
9. David Green (AUS) 4:09:35 * M30-34
10. Josh Rix (AUS) 4:10:21
Women
1. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 4:25:25
2. Lisa Marangon (AUS) 4:27:56
3. Nicole Ward (AUS) 4:35:22
4. Suzanne Blackborrow (AUS) 4:36:16
5. Elly Franks (AUS) 4:36:57
6. Bev Thomas (AUS) 4:37:07 * F40-44
7. Madeleine Oldfield (AUS) 4:40:07
8. Wendy McAlpine (AUS) 4:41:32 * F30-34
9. Alison Fitch (AUS) 4:44:02 * F35-39
10. Natalie Sheffield (AUS) 4:45:57 * F35-39
