Thomas, Hoogland in Poconos
Jesse Thomas showed supremacy on the bike before closing it out with a fine run to take the win at the Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains. Tenille Hoogland took the women's title with a similar effort.
The men
Brian Fleischmann led the men out of the water with a quick 20:53 swim split and had 17 seconds on Balazs Csoke and about a minute advantage on a small group that contained Jesse Thomas, Jordan Jones and Maik Twelsiek.
Jesse Thomas then flew on the bike, reeled in Fleischmann and Csoke and dropped his swimming compatriots with a race best 2:10:32 split. Twelsiek though rode well and stayed in contention with a 2:12:30 and fellow German Swen Sundberg also managed to move up with his fast 2:12:13. A bit further back Gudmund Snilstveit from Norway almost matched the effort of Jesse Thomas on the bike with a 2:10:41 and that put him in good position for the run.
Thomas though had not used up all his bullets on the bike and ran a race best 1:14:49 to take the win in Stroudsburg, PA. Jordan Jones was solid all day and ended up in the runner-up position and Twelsiek rounded out the podium.
The women
Tenille Hoogland's 21:56 swim split was as fast as some of the leading men's times and that gave her a nice advantage over the rest of the field.
Hoogland then added even more time to her lead with a race best 2:27:59 bike split. Beth Shutt's 2:31:26 was second best, but her swim time was 4 minutes slower than the time of the Canadian. Amber Ferreira was in a similar position after a 24:05 swim and a 2:33:26 bike split and now the foot race was on.
Ferreira had the fastest run time, but only managed to pull about 1:24 back on Hoogland and that was clearly not enough. Hoogland crossed the line in 4:23:42 with the Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains title and an almost 7 minute lead over runner up Ferreira. Shutt held on to third place.
Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains
Stroudsburg, PA / September 30, 2012
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Jesse Thomas (USA) 3:49:41
2. Jordan Jones (USA) 3:54:02
3. Maik Twelsiek (GER) 3:55:01
4. Swen Sundberg (GER) 3:56:24
5. Gudmund Snilstveit (NOR) 3:57:16
6. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 4:00:17
7. Balazs Csoke (CHE) 4:00:20
Top women
1. Tenille Hoogland (CAN) 4:2352
2. Amber Ferreira (USA) 4:30:35
3. Beth Shutt (USA) 4:30:57
4. Jessie Donavan (USA) 4:32:11
5. Heather Leiggi (USA) 4:33:21
