Holly Lawrence of Great Britain and Patrick Lange of Germany prevailed on a hot day in Vietnam to grab the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship titles in Danang.
Women
Lawrence added to her recent hot streak in continental events which included wins at the Middle East 70.3 Championship in Bahrain in December and the North American 70.3 Championship at St. George. The only slight mar on her recent résumé was an honorable second place to four-time Ironman World Champion Daniela Ryf at Oceanside 70.3 in April.
Lawrence put her stamp on this race early with a women’s best 23:14 swim which gave her a 1:30 lead on Sarah Crowley of Australia, 1:32 on Radka Kahlefeldt of the Czech Republic and Amelia Watkinson of New Zealand. Further back were Grace Thek of Australia (+2:30), Laura Wood of New Zealand (+3:16) and Dimity Lee Duke of Australia (+5:05).
Halfway through the 90 kilometer bike leg, Lawrence settled in with a 2:33 lead on a tightly packed trio of Kahlefeldt, Watkinson and Crowley with Grace Thek next at 10:16 arrears.
After 76 kilometers of the bike leg, Lawrence increase her margin to 4:47 on the chasing trio. .
After a dominating 2:12:31 bike leg – 4:25 better than her nearest pursuers – Lawrence arrived at T2 with a 6:15 lead on her three pursuers.
Halfway through the run, top runner Sarah Crowley was only able to chop her deficit to 4:48 while Kahlefeldt stayed in third, 72 seconds further back. On the final kilometers of the run, Amelia Watkinson surged but fell short of the podium.
After a women’s second-best 1:25:24 run, Lawrence finished in 4:04:41 with a 4:14 margin of victory over Crowley (women’s-best 1:23:21 run) and 6:23 over Kahlefeldt (1:25:41 run).
Men
Dylan McNeice of New Zealand led the men’s swim with a 21:45 split that gave him a 41 seconds lead on Alex Polizzi of Australia, 43 seconds on Mauricio Mendez of Mexico, 45 seconds on Terenzo Bozzone of New Zealand, 46 seconds on Lange and Tim Don of Great Britain.
After a fierce push, Lange took a short lead at 23 kilometers, followed closely by McNeice and a big pack including Casey Munro, Tim Reed, Tim Van Berkel, Don, Craig Alexander, Mike Phillips of New Zealand, Polizzi, Mendez, Bozzone, Romain Guillaume and Daniile Sapunov of Russia.
.By 35 kilometers, defending Vietnam 70.3 champion Tim Reed surged and took a 12 seconds lead on Polizzi, Bozzone and McNeice at the front of a busy 15 man pack.
Craig Alexander, proving last week with his victory at Busselton 70.3 that the age of 45 is no handicap, remained at threat to the front. So too was Ironman New Zealand winner Mike Phillips in the hunt, as was two-time Kona winner Patrick Lange.
At 45 kilometers, the deck shuffled again as Tim Reed retook the lead, but was unable to break away from the looming chase pack. After a rest, Reed appeared recharged and did break away to a 2 minute lead on the pack.
After a race-best 2:04:51 bike split – 2:28 better than his nearest pursuers - Reed arrived at T2 with a 2:23 to 2:31 lead on a pack of nine which included Phillips, McNeice, Tim Van Berkel, Lange, Polizzi, Alexander, Luke McKenzie, Tim Don and Romain Guillaume.
After 6km of the run, Reed maintained a 1:04 lead on Van Berkel, 1:14 on Lange and 1:35 on Alexander. After 2 more kilometers, Reed slowly reduced his pace, likely due to his 8:06 effort at Ironman Australia last week. At 8km, Reed led Van Berkel by 25 seconds, Lange by 36 seconds and Alexander by 1:13.
At 10.5 kilometers, Van Berkel took the lead by 50 meters over Reed, 100 meters on Lange and 1 minute over Alexander. At 13km, Lange bridged up to Van Berkel, followed by Reed and Alexander. After 1 more kilometer, Lange made a 50 meter break on Van Berkel.
Running at a 3:09 per kilometer pace, Lange broke away to a 25 seconds lead on Van Berkel with Reed 1:06 down and Alexander 2:19 arrears. In the final kilometers, Phillips surged past Alexander to take 4th place.
After a race-best 1:15:55 run, Lange finished in a course-record 3:49:09 which gave him a 1:48 margin of victory over Van Berkel (1:17:43 run split) and 3:05 on 3rd place Reed (1:21:23 run). With a 1:19:56 run, Phillips finished 4th, 4:04 behind the winner and 1:08 ahead of Alexander, who took 5th place.
Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship
Danang, Vietnam
May 12, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Holly Lawrence (GBR) 4:04:41 S 23:14 T1 1:58 B 2:12:31 T2 1:35 R 1:25:24
2. Sarah Crowley (AUS) 4:08:55 S 22:44 T1 2:02 B 2:17:16 T2 1:34 R 1:23:21
3. Radka Kahlefeldt (CZE) 4:11:04 S 24:46 T1 1:53 B 2:17:21 T2 1:25 R 1:25:41
4. Amelia Watkinson (NZL) 4:13:01 S 24:48 T1 1:54 B 2:17:16 T2 1:27 R 1:27:37
5. Grace Thek (AUS) 4:33:23 S 25:44 T1 2:20 B 2:27:58 T2 1:36 R 1:35:36
6. Dimity Lee Duke (AUS) 4:34:44 S 28:19 T1 2:05 B 2:24:58 T2 1:42 R 1:37:42
7. Anna Eberhardt (HUN) 4:35:32 S 32:14 T1 2:06 B 2:24:40 T2 1:49 R 1:34:46
8. Lisa Tyack (AUS) 4:39:51 S 29:03 T1 2:08 B 2:29:51 T2 1:49 R 1:37:03
9. Beth McKenzie (USA) 4:43:47 S 31:15 T1 2:30 B 2:27:16 T2 1:58 R 1:40:50
10. Laura Wood (NZL) 4:48:11 S 26:30 T1 2:24 B 2:31:02 T2 1:45 R 1:46:32
Men
1. Patrick Lange (GER) 3:49:09 S 22:31 T1 1:51 B 2:07:32 T2 1:23 R 1:15:55
2. Tim Van Berkel (AUS) 3:50:57 S 22:41 T1 1:53 B 2:07:19 T2 1:23 R 1:17:43
3. Timothy Reed (AUS) 3:52:14 S 22:49 T1 1:45 B 2:04:51 T2 1:27 R 1:21:23
4. Mike Phillips (NZL) 3:53:13 S 22:41 T1 1:46 B 2:07:22 T2 1:30 R 1:19:56
5. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:54:21 S 22:42 T1 1:47 B 2:07:26 T2 1:18 R 1:21:10
6. Tim Don (GBR) 3:54:56 S 22:31 T1 1:56 B 2:07:32 T2 1:31 R 1:21:28
7. Mauricio Mendez (MEX) 3:55:58 S 22:28 T1 1:58 B 2:12:56 T2 1:28 R 1:17:11
8. Daniile Sapunov (RUS) 3:56:57 S 22:54 T1 1:52 B 2:07:23 T2 1:40 R 1:23:09
9. Romain Guillaume (FRA) 4:00:15 S 22:41 T1 1:55 B 2:07:26 T2 1:46 R 1:26:29
10. Alexander Polizzi (AUS) 4:02:14 S 22:26 T1 2:02 B 2:07:26 T2 1:34 R 1:28:47
