Fettell, Martin rule 70.3 Port Mac
A lethal swim and bike combo allowed Clayton Fettell to take the title of the 2012 Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie in 3:50:15. Britta Martin took the win in the women's race in 4:32:26.
Clayton Fettell surely isn't afraid to throw it down, and at Port Macquare he managed to carve out a substantial lead during the 1.2 mile swim. When the fast Aussie reached land again he had more than 90 seconds on a group of that included Tim Berkel.
On the bike though Fettell put on the afterburners once more and crushed that hilly bike course in a race best 2:08:47 bike split. The bike times of James Bowstead, Tim Berkel and Leon Griffin were all in the mid 2:14 range, but all other Pros rode 2:22 or even slower.
Berkel's 1:15:24 run split was fastest among the Pros and allowed him to gain time on the leader, but Fettell's 1:18:32 was plenty fast to take the win with a comfortable margin in 3:50:15. Berkel crossed the line in second place 4:30 later, and Bowstead rounded out the podium in 3:57:08.
Kiyomo Niwata, Kat Baker, Belinda Harper led the Pro women out of the water, but Baker quickly got rid of her swimming companions with a race best 2:29:30 bike split. That gave the Aussie quite a nice lead going into the bike-run transition, and meant quite a chase for Belinda Harper, Britta Martin and Rebecca Hoschke who were over 11 minutes behind the leader at that point.
Baker though struggled on the run and barely held on to third place after a 1:43:19 run. Martin's race best 1:24:43 propelled her into the lead and allowed her to take the title. Hoschke also ran well and finished second.
Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie, Australia / October 28, 2012
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Clayton Fettell (AUS) 3:50:15
2. Tim Berkel (AUS) 3:54:45
3. James Bowstead (NZL) 3:57:08
4. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:58:18
5. Sam Appleton (AUS) 4:05:33
Top women
1. Britta Martin (NZL) 4:32:26
2. Rebecca Hoschke (AUS) 4:37:07
3. Kat Baker (AUS) 4:39:41
4. Belinda Harper (NZL) 4:40:00
5. Kiyomi Niwata (JAP) 4:41:36
