Chelsea Sodaro, an up and coming U.S. 29-year-old ITU Olympic distance competitor, surprised the veteran field with a win in her very first middle distance triathlon. Sodaro combined women’s second-best bike and run splits to outpace Haley Chura of the U.S. by 2:38 and 3rd place finisher Carrie Lester of Australia by 6:10 at Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells-La Quinta.

Sodaro, who switched from an elite running career - 1 mile PR 4:30, 5k 15:10 - to triathlon just a year ago, had a triathlon breakthrough win at the Huatulco World Cup this summer.

Lionel Sanders of Canada, back on track after a disappointing outing at Kona, combined second-fastest bike and fastest run splits to top Joe Gambles of Australia by 2:17 and 3rd place finisher Kennett Peterson of the U.S. by 4:41.

Women

Haley Chura led the swim in 24:50, which gave her a 1:51 lead on Kinsey Laine, 1:53 on Sodaro, 2:00 on Carrie Lester, and 4:10 on Holly Benner.

Forty-four miles into the bike leg, Lester opened a 2:17 lead on Chura, 3 minutes on Sodaro, 5:40 on Kinsey Laine, and 6:08 on Holly Benner.

After a women’s-best 2:21:13 bike split, Lester led the field into T2 by 1:44 over Sodaro (2:23:58 bike split), 3:35 on Chura, 5:17 on Benner, 5:24 on Lisa Becharas, and 5:44 on Laine.

Once on her ace in the hole - the run - Sodaro took the charge in the first 5k and extended that lead at 5.4 miles to 2:45 on Lester, 4:16 on Chura, 7:44 on Benner, and 8:36 on Laine.

After a women’s-best 1:19:24 half marathon, Sodaro hit the line in 4:14:28 with a 2:48 margin on Chura (1:19:49 run) and 6:10 on Lester (1:26:58 run).

Men

Matt Franklin led the pro men’s swim wave with a 24:24 split which gave him a 7 seconds lead on Dylan Gillespie, 12 seconds on Andrew Kelley, 15 seconds on Antonio Villardaga, 1:04 on Joe Gambles, 1:46 on Timothy Winslow, and 2:17-2:18 on Lionel Sanders and Kennett Peterson.

After 44 miles of the bike leg, Sanders led a pack of four that included Gambles, Peterson and Franklin from 6 to 10 seconds with a chase pack including Villardaga, Gillespie, Jesse Vondracek, Chris Bagg, Andrew Keiley, and Curtis Feltner 4:03 to 4:33 arrears.

After a race-fastest 2:04:19 bike split, Peterson led Gambles (2:05:30) and Sanders (2:04:24) by a few seconds.

After 2 miles of the run, Sanders took the lead by 12 seconds on Gambles, 90 seconds on Peterson, and 2 minutes on Winslow.

After a race-best 1:11:02 run, Sanders finished in 3:45:59 with a 2:17 margin of victory over Gambles (1:13:20 run) and 4:41 on Peterson (1:15:48 run).

Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells
Indian Wells/La Quinta, California
December 9, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Chelsea Sodaro (USA) 4:14:28 S 26:42 T1 3:01 b 2:23:58 T2 1:23 R 1:19:24
2. Haley Chura (USA) 4:17:16 S 24:50 T1 2:35 B 2:28:07 T2 1:57 R 1:19:49
3. Carrie Lester (AUS) 4:20:38 S 26:50 T1 3:55 B 2:21:13 T2 1:44 R 1:26:58
4. Kinsey Laine (USA) 4:24:26 S 26:40 T1 2:25 B 2:28:35 T2 1:46 R 1:25:01
5. Holly Benner (USA) 4:25:36 S 28:59 T1 3:17 B 2:24:58 T2 1:40 R 1:26:43

Men

1. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 3:45:59 S 26:41 T1 2:26 B 2:04:24 T2 1:29 R 1:11:02
2. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:48:16 S 25:27 T1 2:38 B 2:05:30 T2 1:24 R 1:13:20
3. Kennett Peterson (USA) 3:50:40 S 26:41 T1 2:23 B 2:04:19 T2 1:32 R 1:15:48
4. Timothy Winslow (USA) 3:54:39 S 26:10 T1 2:12 B 2:05:09 T2 1:48 R 1:19:23
5. Jesse Vondracek (USA) 3:57:29 S 26:55 T1 2:21 B 2:10:14 T2 1:39 R 1:16:21