Kriat, Paterson tops at Mooseman
Maxim Kriat of the Ukraine edged Paul Ambrose of Australia by 7 seconds in a fierce, race long duel, while Lesley Paterson of Scotland’s 2:40:31 best bike provided just enough cushion to ward off Caitlin Snow’s race-best 1:18:20 run for a 48-seconds margin of victory at Ironman 70.3 Mooseman Sunday.
Ambrose (24:18) led Kriat and Raynard Tissink of South Africa out of the water by 5 seconds. Whereupon Kriat (2:19:45) and Ambrose (2:19:49) broke away on the bike as Tissink (2:26:43) must have had some sort of mechanical or penalty trouble and Tom Lowe of Great Britain (27:49 swim and 2:22:53 bike) got back in the mix, albeit six minutes in arrears.
Kriat (1:16:26), Ambrose (1:16:29) and Lowe (race-best 1:16:21) then put up virtually equal runs, with the Ukrainian hitting the line in 4:02:04, defending his 2010 Mooseman title and adding to his 2011 St. Croix victory just 7 seconds ahead of Ambrose. Lowe’s run gave him 3rd place, 7:12 back of Ambrose, with Tissink surrendering all hope of the podium with a 1:21:14 run that brought him 4th in 4:14:15.
Three-time XTERRA World Champion and budding Ironman 70.3 pavement racer Melanie McQuaid not withstanding, the women’s race quickly turned into a two-woman duel.
After the swim, 2009 XTERRA World Championship runner-up and 2010 Ironman 70.3 California runner-up Lesley Paterson of Scotland (27:00) trailed Caitlin Snow of nearby Vermont by just 1 second with McQuaid out of the picture 2:20 back. Paterson, knowing Snow’s world class run prowess, hit the bike hard, setting a race-best 2:40:31 which brought her to T2 with a 3:49 lead.
Snow then worked her magic on the run, setting a women’s race-best 1:18:20 mark that was just 1:59 off the men’s best. But Paterson, no slouch on two feet, answered with a 1:21:16 that left her 48 seconds to the good when she crossed the line the winner in 4:30:58.
Ironman 70.3 Mooseman
Newfound Lake, New Hampshire
June 5, 2011
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Maxim Kriat (UKR) 4:02:04
2. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 4:02:11
3. Tom Lowe (GBR) 4:09:23
4. Raynard Tissink (RSA) 4:14:15
5. Zach Ruble (USA) 4:15:18
6. Nick Waninger (USA) 4:18:01
7. Jesse Vondracek (USA) 4:23:32
8. Tim Snow (USA) 4:25:50
9. Jerome Bresson (CAN) 4:31:52
10. Patrick Wheeler (USA) 4:33:26 *M25-29
Women
1. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 4:30:58
2. Caitlin Snow (USA) 4:31:46
3. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 4:49:29
4. Amber Ferreira (USA) 4:349:33
5. Jessie Donavan (USA) 4:51:51
6. Annie Gervais (CAN) 4:53:19
7. Erin Spitler (USA) 4:54:58
8. Jennie Hansen (USA) 4:57:24 * W25-29
9. Katie Quinn (USA) 4:59:10 * W18-24
10. Angela Bancroft (USA) 4:59:38 * W40-44
