Hayes and Lavelle on top in Chicago
Stuart Hayes won the 2008 Accenture Chicago Triathlon despite having to deal with a severely swollen knee the night before. A super fast bike split helped Becky Lavelle take charge of the women's race.
The 26th edition of the Chicago Triathlon was held under blue sunny skies and attracted a very impressive Pro field despite missing some notable athletes due to the Olympic and injury. Known now as the Accenture Chicago Triathlon, it is largest triathlon in the United States with 8,700 registered athletes.
Paul Matthews, Brent McMahon, Andy Potts and Stuart Hayes led the men out of the water, followed closely by a group that included Brian Fleischmann and Stephen Hackett who both ended up not finishing the event. Matty Reed was also in that group and the flight back from Beijing seemed to not impact the only male Olympian present in Chicago. Reed took charge on the bike with Stuart Hayes in hot pursuit and that is how they ended up arriving in T2. An ultra fast 56:11 bike split by Greg Bennett though put him back into contention after trailing the top swimmers by 1:15 earlier in the race. His bike split was only matched by young pro Andrew Starykowicz who entered T2 just ahead of him.
Hayes though wouldn’t be denied and he closed out the day with a race best 32:07 run and an impressive win. Bennett and McMahon charged past Reed for the final podium spots. Reed held on to fourth and Potts finished fifth.
Sarah Groff was first out of the water in the women’s race, hotly pursued by Jodie Swallow, Joanna Zeiger, Liz Blatchford and Becky Lavelle. The alternate for the US women’s Olympic team Lavelle had also just returned from Beijing and just like Reed pushed the pace hard on the bike and managed an impressive 1:00:56 bike split. By the time Lavelle hit T2, she had an almost 2 minute lead over Groff and more than 3 minutes on most anybody else. Lavelle cruised to an easy victory with a solid run and Groff was unchallenged as she crossed the line in second place. Swallow though had chased down Zeiger on the run and grabbed the final podium spot.
2008 Accenture Chicago Triathlon / Chicago, IL / August 24, 2008
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Top 10 men
1. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:48:09
2. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:49:39
3. Brent McMahon (CAN) 1:50:09
4. Matty Reed (USA) 1:51:01
5. Andy Potts (USA) 1:51:13
6. Richie Cunningham (GBR) 1:51:37
7. Paul Matthews (AUS) 1:51:42
8. Kevin Collington (USA) 1:52:04
9. James Cotter (NZL) 1:54:41
10. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:55:46
Top 10 women
1. Becky Lavelle (USA) 2:00:19
2. Sarah Groff (USA) 2:01:45
3. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 2:03:53
4. Joanna Zeiger (USA) 2:04:20
5. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 2:04:51
6. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 2:06:32
7. Kelly Handel (USA) 2:07:43
8. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:07:59
9. Amanda Stevens (USA) 2:08:38
10. Rebeccah Wassner (USA) 2:09:50
