O’Grady, Lawn take Taupo Half

Graham O’Grady and Joanna Lawn dominated modestly talented home country fields at the classic Taupo Half Ironman Saturday in New Zealand.

O’Grady swam 25:22 and emerged from the water 2:12 ahead of Cameron Brown, 2:14 ahead of Jamie Whyte, and 3:17 ahead of James Bowstead. O’Grady put the race away with a race-fastest 2:11:33 bike split which was 1:58 swifter than Bowstead, 2:24 better than Whyte, 5:05 faster than Chris Sanson and a shocking 7:50 faster than New Zealand Ironman legend Brown.

O’Grady then cruised to a race-best 1:17:02 run which was 4 to 7 minutes better than his closest pursuers and brought him to a 3:58:04 finish which was 9:20 better than Bowstead, 12:03 better than Whyte and 18:09 better than 5th place Brown.

While O’Grady thoroughly thrashed the 2012 field, he was 1:48 slower Callum Millward's 2011 winning time.

Lawn dominated the women’s field by an even bigger margin, crossing the line with an 11:05 lead over runner-up Melanie Burke and 13:23 over 3rd-place finisher Jessica Lawson.

Lawn combined a race-best 30:07 swim, a 2nd-best 2:30:09 bike split and a 2nd-fastest 1:30:37 half marathon to finish in 4:36:39. Burke managed the fastest bike, topping Lawn’s effort with a 2:29:26 split. Sixth-place finisher Candice Hammond posted the fastest run, a 1:27:48 split that was 2:49 faster than Lawn’s.

Like O’Grady, Lawn failed to match the 2011 winning time of Samantha Warriner, who finished last year’s course in 4:24:37.

Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Taupo Half
Taupo, New Zealand
November 8, 2012
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Elite results

Men

1. Graham O’Grady (NZL) 3:58:04
2. James Bowstead (NZL) 4:07:24
3. Jamie Whyte (NZL) 4:10:07
4. Chris Sanson (NZL) 4:14:22
5. Cameron Brown (NZL) 4:16:13

Women

1. Joanna Lawn (NZL) 4:36:39
2. Melanie Burke (NZL) 4:47:44
3. Jessica Lawson (NZL) 4:50:02
4. Hannah Lawrence (NZL) 4:54:21
5. Jo Carrel (NZL) 4:58:58