Chris Leiferman and Jeanni Seymour won the swim-canceled bike-run Austin duathlon.
Men
With athletes sent off at 30 second intervals, sixth man Leiferman was just 24 seconds behind leader TJ Tollakson’s race-best 2:05:36 split for the 56-mile bike leg, 57 seconds ahead of Sam Appleton of Australia, 1:12 ahead of two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert of Germany, and 1:29 ahead of Joe Gambles of Australia. Almost out of range were a quintet of U.S. competitors - Sam Long (2:07:38), Ben Collins (2:11:16), Tripp Hipple (2:12:37), and Matt Hanson (2:12:57).
After a 3rd-best 1:15:47 half marathon, Leiferman finished in 3:23:13 with a 1:22 margin of victory over Tollakson, 2:30 on 3rd-place Matt Hanson who made up acres of ground with a race-best 1:11:13 run, and 2:45 on 4th-place Michael Raelert, who after a strong 2:07:12 bike could only muster a 5th-best 1:17:23 run.
Women
Melanie McQuaid of Canada led the 56-mile bike in a time of 2:23:42 which gave her a 2:42 lead on Amanda Wendorff of the U.S., 3:15 on Seymour, 3:41 on Beth Shutt of the U.S., 5:10 on Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S., and 5:19 on Heather Leiggi of the U.S.
After a women’s 2nd-best 1:21:03 half marathon, Seymour defended her 2015 title, finishing in 3:49:34 with a 6:50 margin of victory over amateur Cecilia Davis-Hayes of the U.S. who combined the women's-best 2:20:50 bike split with a 10th best 1:35:54 run. Jennie Hansen of the U.S. took 3rd, 10:31 behind the winner, Beth Shutt of the U.S. took 4th, 11:32 arrears, and Austin native Kelly Williamson took 5th, 12:37 behind the winner after a 13th-best 2:37:29 bike split and a 2nd-best 1:22:49 run.
Ironman 70.3 Austin
Austin, Texas
October 30, 2016
S Canceled / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Chris Leiferman (USA) 3:23:13
2. TJ Tollakson (USA) 3:24:35
3. Matt Hanson (USA) 3:25:43
4. Michael Raelert (GER) 3:25:58
5. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:26:53
6. Sam Appleton (AUS) 3:28:00
7. Sam Long (USA) 3:28:01
8. Jason Pederson (USA) 3:30:07
9. Tripp Hipple (USA) 3:33:35
10. Yu Hsiao (TWN) 3:36:26
Women
1. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 3:49:34
2. Cecilia David-Hayes (USA) 3:58:24 *F25-29
3. Jennie Hansen (USA) 4:00:05
4. Beth Shutt (USA) 4:01:06
5. Kelly Williamson (USA) 4:02:11
6. Amanda Wendorff (USA) 4:03:34
7. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:04:00
8. Stephanie Jones (USA) 4:06:29
9. Hayley Benson (USA) 4:07:05
10. Rebeccah Wassner (USA) 4:07:30
