Eric Lagerstrom of San Diego won a finish line sprint with 6-time Escape From Alcatraz winner Andy Potts and rising ITU star Ashleigh Gentle of Australia outran Lauren Goss of the U.S. by 15 seconds to win the pro titles at the 35th Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon.
Men
Josh Amberger of Australia led the 1.5-mile swim from, Alcatraz to the Marina in a time of 26:32, precisely one minute ahead of Andy Potts and 1:02 better than Cameron Dye and Eric Lagerstrom. Other contenders included Graham O’Grady of New Zealand at 1:25 back and Kevin Collington of the U.S. 1:37 arrears.
With a slower than usual swim time, currents and choice of line apparently played a role in Amberger's breakaway.
“At the start of the swim, Andy Potts and five other guys were to my left and Josh Amberger was way over to the right – I never saw him,” said Lagerstrom. “When we finished I thought our group was out front, but then we heard that Josh was a minute ahead. All the advice I got never mentioned going on the right side – so more power to Josh.”
After a race-best bike split of 46:44, Amberger started the run with a 1:21 lead on Lagerstrom, 1:23 on Dye, 1:27 on Potts and 1:37 on Collington, who posted the 2nd-fastest bike split just one second slower than Amberger.
On their way to equal times, race-best run splits of 42:26, Potts and Lagerstrom came upon Amberger at the sand ladder at the 5 mile mark.
“Andy caught Josh at the top of the top of the sand ladder and I caught Josh about a minute later,” said Lagerstrom. “It took me to the last downhill before the flats before I came up on Andy and we ran together the rest of the way.”
Collington, on his way to a 3rd-fastest run, also passed Amberger and was positioned solidly in 3rd place, about 30 seconds behind the leading duo as they approached the finish.
“Andy put in three surges so I had to match,” said Lagerstrom. “With 300 meters to go, we were on the grass and at 200 meters to go, Andy started to sprint and I went with him. I didn’t get by him until 50 meters to go and as we approached the line, I looked over my shoulder and could not see him.”
With fans screaming cheers all along the grassy finish chute, Lagerstrom managed one ounce more energy than Potts could muster and crossed the line in 2:02:06 with an official 2 seconds margin (it appeared much closer in photos) over Potts. Collington finished 34 seconds behind the winner for the final slot on the podium. Amberger hung on for 4th, 1:26 behind the winner and Dye took 5th, 10 seconds behind Amberger.
Women
Sara McLarty led the swim in 28:54, two seconds ahead of Lauren Goss, 55 seconds ahead of multiple Escape From Alcatraz champion Leanda Cave, 56 seconds ahead of Emily Cocks, 1:02 ahead of Ashleigh Gentle, 1:22 ahead of Magali Tisseyre, 1:40 ahead of Jillian Peterson and 3:48 ahead of current Ironman World champion Mirinda Carfrae.
After a women's-best 51:51 bike split, Cave led Lauren Goss by 31 seconds, Ashleigh Gentle by 39 seconds, Carfrae by 1:43, Tisseyre by 2 minutes, and McLarty by 3:45.
After the bike leg, the race was determined by the run as the fastest 5 run splits belonged, in order, to the top 5 overall finishers.
Gentle (46:03 run) outdueled U.S. non-drafting star Lauren Goss (46:30 run) for the pro women's win by 15 seconds. Mirinda Carfrae (46:46 run) placed third, 1:51 behind the winner. Multiple Escape From Alcatraz winner Leanda Cave (50:06 run) was 4th, 3:34 arrears. And Tisseyre (50:22 run) was 5th, 5:42 behind the winner. 4
Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon
San Francisco, California
June 7, 2015
S 1.5 mi. / B 18 mi. / R 8 mi.
Results
Men
1. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 2:02:06
2. Andy Potts (USA) 2:02:08
3. Kevin Collington (USA) 2:02:40
4. Josh Amberger (AUS) 2:03:32
5. Cameron Dye (USA) 2:03:42
6. Graham O’Grady (NZL) 2:06:46
7. Ben Hoffman (USA) 2:10:53
8. Adam Webber (USA) 2:11:23 * M30-34
9. Yoni Doron-Peters (USA) 2:11:32 * M30-34
10. John Dahlz (USA) 2:12:50
Women
1. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 2:13:43
2. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:13:58
3. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 2:15:32
4. Leanda Cave (GBR) 2:17:16
5. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 2:19:25
6. Jillian Peterson (USA) 2:25:26
7. Jenny Fletcher (USA) 2:25:40
8. Ashley Johnson (USA) 2:30:24 *F30-34
9. Sara McLarty (USA) 2:30:38
10. Kirsten Sass (USA) 2:32:51 * F35-39
11. Kathy Winkler (USA) 2:35:02 *F45-49
