Joe Skipper won a tough battle over Lionel Sanders and Ben Hoffman and Skye Moench smashed all rivals and the course record at Ironman Chattanooga.
Before the race, the highest expectation were of a renewal of the epic duel between Lionel Sanders and Sam Long after clashes at Ironman 70.3 St. George and a less urgent encounter between the two rivals at Ironman Coeur d’Alene. But Skipper had more than either man could handle today. Sanders fought well to take 2nd place, but Long DNF’d midway through the marathon due to exhaustion. Long said he had reached his limit and wanted to avoid lasting damage.
Skipper matched his motto “No average Joe,” with a peerless performance. Skipper exited the swim 1:23 behind leader Ben Hoffman in 8th place and started the bike next to Lionel Sanders, proving once again he has a viable swim.
Long and Skipper dueled evenly until the final moments of the ride when Skipper passed Long and arrived at T2 with the lead, arriving in a race-best 4:14:48 split. Skipper then took a gradual approach on the run, stretching out a lead while Long faded until he departed halfway through the run. Skipper clinched the win with a race-best 2:44:06 marathon that brought him to the line in 7:46:19 with an 8:28 margin over Sanders and 11:32 gap over third place finisher Hoffman.
Skye Moench fought no stirring battles, but the excitement was all about the perfection of her race and the degree of domination.
Moench left the water just 2 seconds behind swim leader Rachel McBride, then hammered away to a race-best 4:44:03 bike split - 14:47 better than the next-best effort by Canadian Melanie McQuaid – and capped her day with a 3:01:11 marathon – 38 seconds better than the next-best effort by Gurutz Frades of Spain.
When she hit the finish in 8:34:07, Moench had broken all rivals and the course record and had a 26:37 margin over Frades and 30:13 over 3rd place McQuaid.
Ironman Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
September 26, 2021
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Pro Men
1. Joe Skipper (GBR) S 43:37 T1 2:26 B 4:14:48 T2 1:24 R 2:44:06 TOT 7:46:19
2. Lionel Sanders (CAN) S 43:37 T1 2:36 B 4:21:06 T2 1:31 R 2:45:59 TOT 7:54:47
3. Ben Hoffman (USA) S 42:14 T1 2:51 B 4:24:56 T2 1:4`1 R 2:46:10 TOT 7:57:51
4. Cody Beals (CAN) S 42:16 T1 2:24 B 4:23:54 T2 1:36 R 2:49:59 TOT 8:00:07
5. Adam Feigh (USA) S 43:39 T1 2:356 B 4:32:18 T2 1:43 R 2:58:29 TOT 8:18:42
6. Karl-Johan Danielsson (DEN) S 43:29 T1 2:31 B 4:28:31 T2 2:54 R 3:08:04
7. Jesse Vondracek (USA) S 43:34 T1 2:42 B 4:36:02 T2 1:52 R 3:06:54 TOT 8:31:00
8. Elliot Holtham (CAN) S 43:40 T1 2:47 B 4:44:04 T2 2:15 R 2:58:31 TOT 8:31:14
9. Thiago Vinhal (BRA) S 42:15 T1 2:36 B 4:42:40 T2 2:17 R 3:10:58 TOT 8:40:44
10. Pedro Gomes (POR) S 43:31 T1 2:40 B 5:02:25 T2 2:20 R 2:50:56 TOT 8:421:51
Pro Women
1. Skye Moench (USA) S 44:33 T1 2:36 B 4:44:03 T2 1:45 R 3:01:11 TOT 8:34:07
2. Gurutz Frades (ESP) S 50:14 T1 3:34 B 5:02:24 T2 2:38 R 3:01:49 TOT 9:00:38
3. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) S 45:25 T1 2:42 B 4:57:50 T2 2:07 R 3:16:18 TOT 9:04:21
4. Kelly Fillnow (USA) S 50:08 T1 3:04 B 5:01:24 T2 2:07 R 3:14:18 TOT 9:10:59
5. Jen Annett (CAN) S 50:04 T1 3:00 B 5:11:40 T2 1:47 R 3:17:02 TOT 9:23:31
6. Elizabeth James (USA) S 54:20 T1 3:46 B 5:22:56 T2 1:38 R 3:20:39 TOT 9:43:17
7. Zuzana Trnovcova (SLO) S 53:30 T1 4:10 B 5:13:20 T2 3:05 R 3:45:50 TOT 9:59:53
8. Rachel McBride (CAN) S 44:31 T1 2:38 B 5:13:48 T2 2:16 R 4:07:40 TOT 10:10:50
9. Ginger Howell (USA) S 49:57 T1 4:04 B 5:49:48 T2 2:34 R 3:25:53 TOT 10:12:15
10. Katie Morales (USA) S 45:27 T1 4:01 B 5:10:20 T2 2:32 R 4:23:22 TOT 10:25:40
