In ever changeable conditions in the Adirondacks, it was Joe Skipper and Alice Alberts who were able to power their way through them to victory at IRONMAN Lake Placid.
The day featured a variety of challenges for professionals. First, the swim temperature of just north of 73 degrees saw the professional field in swim skins, with age groupers in wetsuits. Although the pro field had a comfortable head start on age groupers, the second loop was extremely congested, leading to slower than normal swim times for professionals; no woman swam under an hour, while the leading men's time from Josh Amberger was barely under 50 minutes.
Once onto the bike, clear skies saw much higher than anticipated temperatures, with limited shade. The bike course is where both Skipper and Alberts were able to make decisive moves towards the front of their respective fields. Skipper was able to bridge up to early leader Amberger and work with him for most of the second loop of the bike course to build a nearly three minute lead over Ben Hoffman and over six minutes to Michael Weiss. Alberts steadily climbed through the women's field on the first loop of the bike course, taking the lead on the climb from Wilmington back to Lake Placid and never relinquishing it again.
Onto the run and both Skipper and Alberts had to fend off hard-charging efforts from chasers. In Skipper's case, it was the aforementioned Hoffman who was steadily closing the gap through the first 15 miles of the run before Skipper closed the door after a thunderstorm cooled off the competition. For Alberts, it was Erin Snelgrove who was in hot pursuit, churning through the likes of Rach McBride, Jen Annett, and Angela Naeth in her relentless pursuit of the win. But Alberts had proven to build an insurmountable lead, taking her maiden IRONMAN victory in the process.
Men's Results
1. Joe Skipper 8:03:46
2. Ben Hoffman 8:06:06
3. Matt Hanson 8:09:51
4. Josh Amberger 8:14:58
5. Michael Weiss 8:17:35
6. A.J. Desroches 8:24:18
7. Jan Stepniski 8:30:14
8. Max Hammerle 8:31:14
9. Hunter Lussi 8:32:26
10. Cody Beals 8:39:55
Women's Results
1. Alice Alberts 9:16:01
2. Erin Snelgrove 9:21:49
3. Jen Annett 9:27:35
4. Angela Naeth 9:32:23
5. Ai Ueda 9:33:49
6. Joanna Ryter 9:37:46
7. Rach McBride 9:53:09
8. Katie Colville 10:04:33
9. Veronique Ranger 10:06:03
10. Jennie Hansen 10:15:01
All Photos: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images for IRONMAN