Big Matty finally finds his form at Life Time
Big Matty Reed has finally raced himself into shape. His fearsome cycling abilities were absent for much of the early part of the season, but they showed up today in Minneapolis. He came from behind in the bike and ran clear of his closest competitors to take the Life Time Fitness Triathlon ahead of a hard charging Andy Potts in 1:50:09.
Slowtwitch provided on-site live coverage, and if you prefer you can read it as it happened.
Reed also managed to tighten up, if slightly, the Race to the Toyota Cup. He's now got a path to the season series victory, but only if he can continue to win out over arch rival Andy Potts.
Sarah Haskins proved she's the class of the women, and among American women only Sara Groff—who is not racing the Toyota Cup series this year—seems capable of giving Haskins a run for her money. Haskins won here 1:59:57, and that was only the third sub-2hr performance ever on this course. Just Emma Snowsill and Loretta Harrop have gone faster, and today's course—in blustery, rainy weather—was not particularly fast.
Potts' day started well, as he exited first alongside Cameron Dye. The latter commenced tapping out his withering bike pace, and this time Potts just couldn't hang.
Reed started the swim right on Potts' feet, but that was wishful thinking. He exited the swim :45 behind, with Greg Bennett, Filip Ospaly, Brian Lavelle and Eric Limkemann.
Reed seemed absolutely determined not to let the Dye-Potts train enter T2 with a lead he couldn't reel in. He dropped Limkemann and Lavelle first and then, a few miles later, Bennett and Ospaly couldn't hang either. It was Reed by himself, racing toward the front.
Reed passed Potts halfway into the 40k bike leg and set his sights on Dye. The latter had at least one and maybe two mishaps with an AGer during the bike leg, and Reed's hot riding and Dye's misadventures conspired to bring the two into T2 in a dead heat.
Dye has proven he can make it to T2 in the lead, or tied with the lead, but he hasn't demonstrated an ability to win unless he's got at least 90 seconds on a field of this stature. True to form, Reed immediately started taking time out of Dye.
Potts just had a miserable day on the bike. He fell to 5th place, behind Bennett and David Thompson. But whatever ailed him on the bike was solved on the run, as he tore past Thompson and started reeling in Bennett.
With 5k to go in the race Potts was still in 4th, 1:15 behind Reed. But by the end he'd passed Bennett, then Dye, and finished only 15 seconds back of the winner Reed. Dye faded to 5th, and Bennett cruised in for 3rd, ahead of Ospaly.
Reed is always a strong runner and—as has been the case with Potts himself when he's in the lead—we don't know how much more Reed had in the tank. Reed won this race today on the bike. That's good news for him, and portends the continuation of the great Potts-Reed rivalry as the series continues.
Haskins' day was far easier, and very profitable. She swam with Sara McLarty, rode away from everyone, entered T2 with a 2-minute gap on Series points leader Alicia Kaye, and waltzed in for the win.
The only question would be whether Reed would catch her. The men started the day with a 10:43 handicap, and the first to the line stood to earn an extra $5000. Haskins made double sure that check would go to her. By 5k into the run she still had 2:45 in hand over the first man. No act of Reed—only an act of God—could keep her from crossing first.
And that she did. Then came four men before the next woman to finish, and that was Kaye, 3:26 behind Haskins. Rebeccah Wassner, Lindsey Jerdonek and Becky Lavelle rounded out the top-5 for the women.
While Alicia Kaye will retain her lead in the Race to the Toyota Cup, Haskins gets closer. Contestants may aggregate the points from 5 races in this series. Kaye has placed 4, and 2nd place 3 times. She leads because Haskins has only now done 3 Toyota Cup races. But Haskins has won all three, so, she needs to do two more races to win the series: the finale in Dallas, plus either L.A. Or Chicago.
Potts is still in the Series driver's seat, with wins at the CapTex Tri and at Philly. But Reed has a win here today and a 2nd at Philly. Reed seems to be rounding into form, and Potts has a lot of races under his belt so far this year. It's a long way to October, when the Toyota Cup season finally ends. Indeed, from a points perspective, the series is only half over. There are seven races in the season, four have been completed, but the finale at Dallas earns racers double points.
The next race on the Toyota Cup schedule will be the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Chicago. The Chicago event is one of the classics in the sport, registering 9000 participants as far back as a quarter-century ago. That race will take place on August 28th, and Slowtwitch will be there to provide live coverage.
Life Time Fitness Triathlon
Minneapolis, Minnesota / July 9, 2011
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Men
1. Matty Reed 1:50:09
2. Andy Potts 1:50:22
3. Greg Bennett 1:50:52
4. Filip Ospaly 1:51:26
5. Cameron Dye 1:53:13
6. Kaleb VanOrt 1:53:38
7. David Thompson 1:53:45
8. Eric Limkemann 1:56:23
9. Brian Lavelle 1:56:42
10. Dan McIntosh 1:58:29
Women
1. Sarah Haskins 1:59:57
2. Alicia Kaye 2:03:23
3. Rebeccah Wassner 2:04:35
4. Lindsey Jerdonek 2:06:33
5. Becky Lavelle 2:07:29
6. Nicole Kelleher 2:07:30
7. Laurel Wassner 2:08:07
8. Sara McLarty 2:09:31
9. Jenny Fletcher 2:13:37
