In addition to our featured race stories in Germany and Switzerland, the Weekend Box offers tales of Canadian 70.3 prowess in Wisconsin, XTERRA dirt adventures in Colorado, a rugged Ironman in the English countryside and a Big Apple Olympic distance extravaganza.
Canadians Lionel Sanders and Heather Wurtele win Racine 70.3
Canadians Lionel Sanders and Heather Wurtele won the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Racine.
Sanders overcame a 6:51 deficit to Andrew Starykowicz after the bike leg with a 2nd-best run, to finish in 3:49:41 with a 2:16 margin on runner-up Matt Chrabot and 2:32 on 3rd-place finisher Starykowicz.
Wurtele combined a 5th-best swim, women’s-best bike split and 3rd-fastest run to finish in 4:12:18 with a 4:38 margin on fellow Canadian Angela Naeth and 5:21 on 3rd-place finisher Jackie Hering of the U.S.
MEN
Davide Giardini of Italy finished the swim in 21:40, 29 seconds ahead of Matt Chrabot of the U.S., 46 seconds ahead of Andrew Nielsen of the U.S., 1:06 in front of Drew Scott of the U.S., 1:07 up on Starykowicz, 1:58 in front of Leon Griffin of Australia and 2:10 clear of fellow Aussie Richie Cunningham. Looming 4:42 back of the leader was Canadian super-biker, super-runner Lionel Sanders.
On his way to a dominating 2:00:32 bike split, Starky chewed through the 15 pro men ahead of him like a velociraptor. At 16 miles Starykowicz took a 7 seconds lead on Giardini, 1:01 on Chrabot, 2:29 on Scott, 3:02 on Cunningham, and 3:05 on Griffin. Biding his time, Sanders rode 9th, 3:49 arrears. After his 29 mph bike leg, Starky had a 6:51 lead on Sanders, 7:04 on Giardini, 9:41 on Chrabot and 11:20-plus on Griffin and Cunningham.
Last year at this race, Starky ran 1:18:13 and Sanders ran 1:09:36 to take the win. This year, if Starykowicz managed to run as fast, he would have won in a walk. However, circumstances changed, if not the results of his duel with Sanders.
While Sanders was running at a 5:40 per mile pace, Starykowicz could manage but 6:25 per mile. Sanders thus cut Starykowicz’s lead to 2:22 at the halfway point of the run. Chrabot stood 3rd, 5:24 back and Griffin and Cunningham were running 4th and 5th, 6:55 down to the leader.
By 10 miles, Sanders passed Starykowicz and Chrabot followed with a few hundred meters to go. At the finish, Sanders’ second-best 1:15:46 run held off Chrabot’s race-best 1:15:00 split by 2:16. Starykowicz hung on with a 1:25:13 run which surrendered second place to Chrabot by 16 seconds.
WOMEN
Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the swim with a 24:13 split which gave her a 36 seconds advantage on Jackie Hering of the U.S., 38 seconds on Jeanni Seymour of South Africa and Tami Ritchie of the U.S., 1:25 on Wurtele, 1:36 on super-runner Kelly Williamson of the U.S. and 2:38 on Ironman Texas winner Angela Naeth of Canada.
By mile 16, Wurtele surged to a 57 seconds lead on Spieldenner, 2:06 on Naeth, 2:21 on Hering and 2:39 on Seymour. After a women's-best 2:17:58 bike split – 2:48 better than noted wheel smith Naeth – Wurtele began the run with a comfortable 4:10 cushion on Naeth, 7:54 on Spieldenner, 9 minutes on Hering and Seymour and 10:18 on Nikki Butterfield.
With such a lead, Wurtele outran Naeth’s 1:24:55 split by 15 seconds to increase her winning edge to 4:38 over her fellow Canadian. Wurtele’s big lead also afforded her the freedom to give back 3:41 to Hering and surrender 3:56 to Williamson on the run and keep them in 3rd and 4th.
Ironman 70.3 Racine
Racine, Wisconsin
July 19, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 3:49:41
2. Matt Chrabot (USA) 3:51:57
3. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 3:52:13
4. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:54:20
5. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:55:01
6. Drew Scott (USA) 3:58:35
7. Matt Hanson (USA) 4:00:00
8. Thomas Gerlach (USA) 4:00:41
9. Davide Giardini (ITA) 4:01:52
10. Daniel Stubelski (USA) 4:04:21 * M 35-39
Women
1. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 4:12:18
2. Angela Naeth (CAN) 4:16:48
3. Jackie Hering (USA) 4:17:39
4. Kelly Williamson (USA) 4:26:05
5. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:27:56
6. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 4:30:21
7. Dani Fischer (USA) 4:32:08
8. Nikki Butterfield (AUS) 4:34:24
9. Sue Huse (CAN) 4:34:29
10. Heather Leiggi (USA) 4:35:31
Josiah Middaugh and Flora Duffy rule XTERRA Beaver Creek
Josiah Middaugh and Flora Duffy won the 7th annual XTERRA Mountain Championship pro titles on a beautiful day at the Beaver Creek Resort in Avon, Colorado.
Middaugh came back from a 2:30 deficit after the swim to take a 40-seconds lead after the mountain bike leg, then closed the deal with a race-best trail run to finish in 2:07:26. This gave him a 1:44 margin over second place Ben Hoffman, the 2014 Ironman World Championship runner-up, and 3:24 over 3rd-place finisher Braden Currie of New Zealand.
The victory was Middaugh’s third straight on his home course and his fourth in five years. It is also his second win in the 2015 XTERRA U.S. Pro Series and puts him in the lead for the series title coming into the XTERRA U.S. Pro Nationals next month in Ogden, Utah.
Middaugh, a 36-year-old from Eagle-Vail, Colorado, emerged from the swim in Nottingham Lake 2:40 behind swim leader Eli Hemming and about 2:30 behind Branden Rakita, Brad Zoller, Braden Currie, and Ben Hoffman.
Middaugh took control on the hilly bike leg, passing everyone with a race-fastest 1:07:17 split that was 3 minutes faster than his closest competitors and gave him a 40 seconds lead starting the run.
Middaugh polished off his rivals with a 2nd-best 37:25 run that brought him to the finish with a comfortable lead on Hoffman, who closed with a 3rd-best 37:40 run. Chris Legh made up ground after a sub-par 1:19:14 bike split with a race-best 37:24 trail run to finish 7th.
Duffy, the reigning XTERRA World Champion and winner of 11 XTERRA championship events in her last 12 tries, posted the fastest women’s swim, bike and run splits to hit the tape in 2:22:41 with a 6:02 margin on runner-up Emma Garrard of Park City, Utah and 11:55 on 3rd-place finisher Sara Schuler of Boulder, Colorado.
XTERRA Mountain Championships
Beaver Creek Resort, Colorado
July 18, 2015
S 1.5 k / MTB 30k / R 11k
Results
Men
1. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:07:26
2. Ben Hoffman (USA) 2:09:10
3. Braden Currie (NZL) 2:10:50
4. Rom Akerson (CRC) 2:15:19
5. Alex Modestou (USA) 2:15:32
Women
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 2:22:41
2. Emma Garrard (USA) 2:28:43
3. Sara Schuler (USA) 2:34:36
4. Jaime Brede (USA) 2:36:56
5. Suzie Snyder (USA) 2:38:01
Lucy Gossage and David McNamee prevail at Ironman UK
Lucy Gossage won her 4th Ironman by a dominating 33-minute margin and David McNamee won his first Ironman by 4:29 on the challenging hills at Ironman UK in Bolton.
Women
Lucy Charles of Great Britain had a short-lived moment of glory with a women’s-best 50:45 swim split which gave her a 4:12 lead on Kate Comber of Great Britain and Michelle Vesterby of Denmark, 4:17 on Keiko Tanaka of Japan, 6:04 on Alice Hector of Great Britain, 6:38 on Rachel Hallam of Great Britain, 8:26 on Eleanor Haresign of Great Britain and 8:26 on home-country pre-race favorite Lucy Gossage.
By 52km of the bike leg, Gossage charged to the front, taking a 1:25 lead on Tanaka, 3:24 on Vesterby, 7:48 on Comber, 7:56 on Livesey and 8:46 on Haresign. At 99km, Gossage was off to the races, leaving in her dust Livesey (+10:35), Comber (+13:49), Haresign (+14:33) and Hallam (+18:44). In the next few kilometers, Vesterby faded out of contention.
After her dominating 5:22:56 bike split – 13:40 better than Livesey’s next-best 5:36:36 - Gossage began the run with a 15:48 lead on Livesey, 24:15 on Haresign, 24:48 on Comber and 29:30 on Hallam.
While she might have coasted, Gossage instead kept her foot on the gas and closed with a by-far women's-best 3:03:43 run to finish in 9:31:58 which gave her a 33:13 margin of victory over runner-up Livesey and 43:34 over 3rd-place finisher Kate Comber, the 25-29 age group champion.
Men
The men’s race was closer. McNamee led the swim in 48:01, which gave him a 5 seconds lead on Denis Chevrot of France, 27 seconds on former UK Ironman Champion Fraser Cartmell of Great Britain, and 31 seconds on David Dellow of Australia. Dangerous runner-bikers lurked further back – Victor Del Corral of Spain was 7:53 arrears and Joe Skipper of Great Britain 8:05 down.
Once they hit the bike course, McNamee and Cartmell quickly made it a two-horse race. At 99km, Cartmell and McNamee were one second apart, trailed at a distance by Chevrot (+6:42), Del Corral (+8:31) and Skipper (+9:43).
Thanks to a last kilometers surge, Cartmell posted a race-best 4:58:39 bike split - the only sub-5 hour mark – which gave him a 3 minutes, 20 seconds lead on McNamee, 8:11 on Skipper and 9:27 on Del Corral.
Cartmell hung on for 15km, whereupon McNamee took an 18 seconds lead and never looked back. After a race-best 2:51:48 run, McNamee hit the finish in 8:46:37 with a 4:29 margin of victory over Cartmell (2:59:52 run) and 9:08 on 3rd-place finisher Skipper, who posted the second-fastest 2:55:44 run split. After a 4th-fastest 2:56:32 run, Del Corral took 4th, 3:07 behind Skipper.
Ironman UK
Bolton, England
July 19, 2015
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Women
1. Lucy Gossage (GBR) 9:31:58
2. Caroline Livesey (GBR) 10:05:21
3. Kate Comber (GBR) 10:15:32 * F25-29
4. Alice Hector (GBR) 10:18:46
5. Eleanor Haresign (GBR) 10:19:48
Men
1. David McNamee (GBR) 8:46:37
2. Fraser Cartmell (GBR) 8:51:06
3. Joe Skipper (GBR) 8:55:38
4. Victor Del Corral (ESP) 8:58:45
5. Denis Chevrot (FRA) 9:09:09
Ben Collins and Alicia Kaye triumph at New York City Triathlon
Ben Collins and Alicia Kaye won the elite titles at the New York City Triathlon.
Collins combined a current-aided, 2nd fastest 12:01 swim split in the Hudson River, a race-best 56:12 bike split and a 4th-fastest 33:07 run through Central Park to finish in 1:44:59 with a 31 seconds margin of victory over Cameron Dye and 2:35 over 3rd-place finisher, 4-time Wildflower long course champion Jesse Thomas.
Kaye posted a women's best 13:44 swim, a women's-fastest 1:03:34 bike split and a women’s 2nd-quickest 36:53 run to finish in 1:58:25 with a 2:44 margin of victory over runner-up Lauren Goss and 5:54 over 3rd-place finisher Felicity Sheedy-Ryan of Australia.
New York City Triathlon
New York, New York
July 19, 2015
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Ben Collins (USA) 1:44:59
2. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:45:30
3. Jesse Thomas (USA) 1:47:34
4. Jason Pedersen (USA) 1:47:55
5. Rodolphe Von Berg (ITA) 1:49:15
Women
1. Alicia Kaye (USA) 1:58:25
2. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:01:09
3. Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) 2:04:19
4. Laurel Wassner (USA) 2:06:08
5. Heather Lendway (USA) 2:06:28
France wins first ITU Mixed Relay World Championship
Great Britain, Germany, and Australia led the first leg of the woman-man-woman-man format in which each team member completes a 300 meter swim, 6.6 kilometer bike leg and a 1.6 kilometer run to the finish. But none of them were strong enough to hold off the fast French team.
Despite a 17-seconds deficit after the first leg, during France’s second leg Dorian Coninx made a key surge to get the French back to the front. On the next leg, Great Britain’s Non Stanford’s strong swim brought the UK back into contention and her monster run gave Britain’s final leg teammate Mark Buckingham a shot at a gap that might hold off France’s anchor Vincent Luis.
But Buckingham lost the advantage in the water and was overtaken by WTS Hamburg men’s gold medalist Luis as well as Australia’s Ryan Bailie. Having lost momentum, Britain, Australia, France and Germany settled into an energy saving formation and arrived at the final transition together.
On the final run leg, Bailie and Luis bolted out front of Germany’s Gregor Bucholz and Great Britain’s Mark Buckingham. Much like the Men’s WTS final on Saturday, Luis found himself in a sprint to the finish. Just as he pulled away from Javier Gomez on Saturday, Luis pulled away from Bailie to secure the gold.
In a battle for the bronze, Bucholz tore off in front of Buckingham. But crippled by a 10-second penalty caused by a mistake in Germany’s third leg transition by Rebecca Robisch, Great Britain took the bronze while Germany settled for 4th.
The U.S. Team 1 finished 7th, 1:42 off the winning pace.
ITU Mixed Relay World Championship
Hamburg, Germany
July 19, 2015
S 300m / B 6.6 k / R 1.6k
Results
1. Team 1 France 1:20:33
2. Team 1 Australia 1:20:42
3. Team 1 Great Britain 1:20:52
4. Team 1 Germany 1:21:00
5. Team 1 Russia 1:21:51
