Twenty-four-year-old Eva Wutti of Austria shocked Ironman Copenhagen with a fantastic 8:37:36 win – the 7th-fastest women’s Ironman distance time in history – in her first Ironman finish. Two-time World champion Jodie Swallow also broke 9 hours while winning Ironman Sweden. The August 18 Weekend Box also brings reports from 70.3s at Timberman and Yeppoon and XTERRA Germany plus notes on a North Carolina wedding with a triathlon flavor and the Mavic Ride to Kona winner.

Austrian Eva Wutti shocks Copenhagen with women’s 7th-fastest-ever 8:37:36 Ironman

Eva Wutti, a 24-year old resident of Vienna, waltzed out of obscurity to the spotlight to win Ironman Copenhagen with an electrifying 8:37:36 time – the 7th-fastest women’s Ironman-distance finish in history. Chrissie Wellington holds the four fastest Ironman-distance times, topped by her world-best 8:18:13 finish at Roth in 2011. Caroline Steffen holds the 5th fastest Ironman-distance and second-best official Ironman women’s time, an 8:34:51 set at Melbourne in 2012.

Women’s runner-up Daniela Sämmler of Germany trailed Wutti by 25:15 and 3rd place finisher Lucie Reed of the Czech Republic was 1:17 behind Sämmler.

Wutti broke by 15 minutes the Copenhagen course record set in by Rebecca Keat at Challenge Copenhagen in 2011. Wutti’s time on the swift Copenhagen course also smashed the usual difference between men’s and women’s Ironman winners on the same day – it was just 24:55 slower than men’s winner Jens Petersen-Bach of Denmark.

Petersen-Bach overcame a large deficit after the bike with a race-best 2:45:15 run to edge out long time race leader and fellow Dane Henrik Hyldelund by 58 seconds. Esben Hovgaard completed an all-Danish men’s podium, 2:59 back of Hyldelund.

Wutti’s race was her very first Ironman finish and comes just a month after a DNF at Ironman Austria due to stomach problems suffered after the swim. Prior to this race, Wutti’s best internationals finishes were a 2nd place at Wiesbaden 70.3 in 2011, and 4th places at the Challenge Walchsee-Kaiserwinkl half in 2012 and at Ironman 70.3 St. Polten in 2011. Wutti showed she was recovered from her Klagenfurt DNF with a sparkling 1:59:44 win at the
Olympic distance Krems Triathlon two weeks ago, 5th overall including the men.

Wutti won wire-to-wire, posting the fastest women’s splits in all the disciplines – a 53:02 swim, a 4:39:58 bike split on Copenhagen’s fast and flat two-loop course, and a 3:00:51 marathon. Wutti’s 4:39:58 was the 4th fastest women’s bike split at the Ironman-distance in history, falling behind only Caroline Steffen’s 4:35:29 at Melbourne in 2012, Chrissie Wellington’s 4:36:33 at Roth in 2010 and Yvonne Van Vlerken’s 4:39:44 at Roth in 2013.

Ironman Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
August 18, 2013
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Jens Petersen-Bach (DEN) 8:12:41
2. Henrik Hyldelund (DEN) 8:13:39
3. Esben Hovgaard (DEN) 8:16:38
4. Nick Baldwin (SEY) 8:18:08
5. Keegan Williams (NZL) 8:25:32

Women

1. Eva Wutti (AUT) 8:37:36
2. Daniela Sämmler (GER) 9:02:51
3. Lucie Reed (CZE) 9:04:08
4. Camilla Lindholm (SWE) 9:19:02
5. Tamsyn Hayes (NZL) 9:29:44

Andy Potts edges Leon Griffin, Hauschildt rules women at Timberman 70.3

Andy Potts won the men’s crown and 2011 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Melissa Hauschildt dominated the women’s field to win the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Timberman.

Potts combined a race-fastest 22:21 swim, 2nd-fastest 2:10:49 bike split and 3rd-best 1:17:16 run to finish in 3:53:23 with a 90 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Leon Griffin and 3:14 over 3rd-place finisher Dreitz Andreas of Germany. Andreas posted the fastest bike split of the race – 2:06:59 – and Christopher Baird ran a race-best 1:13:11 on his way to 5th place.

Following her dominating victory at Boulder 70.3 earlier this month, Hauschildt overcame her usual 3 minutes deficit after the swim with a women’s race-fastest 2:21:39 bike split and race-best 1:20:48 run to finish in 4:12:49 with an 8:56 margin over runner-up Amanda Stevens. and 14:05 over 3rd-place Amber Ferreira. Hauschildt seems ready to take on the challenge of Olympic silver medalist Lisa Norden and top 70.3 contenders Heather Jackson, Leanda Cave, Angela Naeth and Kelly Williamson at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship next month in Las Vegas.

Ironman 70.3 Timberman
Gunstock Mountain, New Hampshire
August 18, 2013
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. Andy Potts (USA) 3:53:24
2. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:54:53
3. Andreas Dreitz (GER) 3:56:38
4. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 3:59:09 * M30-34
5. Christopher Baird (USA) 3:59:31

Women

1. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) 4:12:49
2. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:21:45
3. Amber Ferreira (USA) 4:26:54
4. Jessie Donavan (USA) 4:32:33
5. Amy Farrell (USA) 4:32:37 * F35-39

Tim Reed defends his title; Gina Crawford comes from behind to win Yeppoon 70.3

Tim Reed of Australia defended his title with a dominant bike split and Gina Crawford of New Zealand ran away from top challenger Lisa Marangon to win at Ironman 70.3 Yeppoon in Queensland, Australia.

Reed locked up the race with a 2:08:12 bike split which was 3:32 better than next best cyclist Tim Van Berkel and 5:04 better than 3rd-best challenger Adam Gordon. After that, Reed’s 4th-best 1:21:27 run was enough to win in 3:55:27 with a 4:21 margin over runner-up Van Berkel and 6:07 better than 3rd place Gordon.

Crawford began her day with a 2nd-best 26:02 swim that trailed swim leader Lisa Marangon by 22 seconds. Crawford got even with Marangon with a race-best 2:25:33 bike starting the run. Crawford then put the race away with a race-best 1:29:08 run that was 6:37 better than Marangon and gave the New Zealander a 4:23:06 finish and a 6:29 margin of victory over Marangon and 12:46 over 3rd-place finisher Michelle Wu of Australia.

Ironman 70.3 Yeppoon
Capricorn Resort, Queensland, Australia
August 18, 2013
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Tim Reed (AUS) 3:55:27
2. Tim Van Berkel (AUS) 3:59:48
3. Adam Gordon (AUS) 4:01:34
4. Casey Munro (AUS) 4:03:09
5. Michael Fox (AUS) 4:03:40

Women

1. Gina Crawford (NZL) 4:23:06
2. Lisa Marangon (AUS) 4:29:35
3. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:35:52
4. Andrea Forrest (AUS) 4:38:43
5. Madeleine Oldfield (AUS) 4:46:15

Ruben Ruzafa, Jacqui Slack prevail at XTERRA Germany

Ruben Ruzafa of Spain out dueled countryman Hector Guerra and Jacqui Slack of Great Britain topped Kathrin Müller of Germany to win the pro titles at XTERRA Germany. Ironman star Maik Petzold, who lives a short distance from the race course in Zittau, finished 8th.

XTERRA Germany
Zittau, Germany
August 17, 2013
S 1.5 k / MTB 36k / TR 9k

Results

Top Men

1. Ruben Ruzafa (ESP) 2:25:02
2. Hector Guerra (ESP) 2:30:43
3. Yeray Luxem (BEL) 2:32:10
4. Jan Kubicek (CZE) 2:32:58
5. Ben Allen (AUS) 2:34:31

Top Women

1. Jacqui Slack (GBR) 2:50:02
2. Kathrin Müller (GER) 2:51:52
3. Helena Erbenova (CZE) 2:53:22
4. Carina Wasle (AUT) 2:54:07
5. Renata Bucher (SUI) 2:56:42

Gomes takes second Iron-distance win; Swallow breaks 9 hours at Ironman Sweden

Pedro Gomes of Portugal took his second Iron-distance win and Jodie Swallow smashed the women’s field with an 8:54:01 time at Ironman Sweden in Kalmar.

In a rarity in Ironman competition, Gomes earned his margin of victory mainly on the swim as his race-best 48:31 split was 5:26 better than eventual runner-up David Plese of Slovenia. After that head start, Gomes’ race-fastest 4:33:42 bike split added another 2:07 to his advantage over the Slovenian. With a 7:33 gap in hand, Gomes’ fourth-best 2:54:08 run safely refunded 5:28 to Plese’s race-fastest 2:48:40 marathon. Gomes thus finished in 8:19:30 with a 2:31 margin over Plese and 6:39 over 3rd place Anton Blokhin of the Ukraine. The Kalmar win was Gomes’ second Iron-distance win of 2013, coming after his victory at Challenge Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Swallow, a 2004 Olympian, 2009 ITU long distance World Champion, the 2010 Ironman 70.3 World Champion and 2010 Alpe d’Huez winner added her first Ironman victory to that sparkling résumé with a wire-to-wire win. Swallow posted women’s race-best splits in all disciplines – a 48:30 swim, a 4:55:39 bike and a 3:06:41 run. Her 8:54:01 overall clocking tied with Kate Allen of Austria for the 33rd-fastest women’s Ironman-distance performance of all time (now 34th-fastest after Eva Wutti’s spectacular performance in Copenhagen). Swallow finished with a 23-minutes, 55-seconds margin over the runner-up, home-country favorite Eva Nystrom, and 28 minutes, 17 seconds over 3rd-place Britta Martin, a German-born New Zealander.

Ironman Sweden
Kalmar, Sweden
August 17, 2013
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Pedro Gomes (POR) 8:19:30
2. David Plese (SLO) 8:22:01
3. Anton Blokhin (UKR) 8:26:09
4. Jarmo Hast (FIN) 8:35:40
5. Christophe Bastie (FRA) 8:37:12

Women

1. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 8:54:01
2. Eva Nystrom (SWE) 9:17:56
3. Britta Martin (NZL) 9:22:18
4. Louise Rundqvist (SWE) 9:48:39
5. Caroline Devos (BEL) 9:56:27

Formal Pro triathletes

We are used to see Pro triathletes either in Lycra or in otherwise casual outfits and it is quite rare to see them really dressed up. This weekend Guy Crawford, Kate Bevilaqua and Chris McDonald came to Winston-Salem, NC for the wedding of Wattie Ink athlete John Shilt to Heather Jenkins and they all looked very sharp. Crawford and McDonald actually were ushers at the wedding and could have fooled anyone into thinking that they were Pro ushers. Congrats also to the happy couple.

Going to Kona with Mavic

Lawrenceville, GA resident Jason Miller was the winner of the Mavic Ride to Kona promotion. Miller will come to Kona in early October as a guest of Mavic to watch the Ironman championships live. As the summer long promotion had required he went to demo a pair of CXR 80 wheels at a Mavic participating retailer, and in Miller's case that was All 3 Sports in Atlanta. In addition to the trip to Kona Miller will also get a Mavic cycling kit and a pair of CXR 80 wheels. Win, win and win.