The Weekend Box Jun 15 2014
In addition to our featured races Challenge Kraichgau in Germany and the Ironman 70.3 Boulder, we bring you off road action in Virginia, a 70.3 in England and a heat-induced finish line drama in Mexico.
Dan Hugo and Flora Duffy win XTERRA East Championship
Dan Hugo of South Africa earned his second win at Richmond and his sixth major XTERRA title this season after a race-long duel with XTERRA legend and fellow South African Conrad Stoltz, a 7-time Richmond winner and 4-time XTERRA World champion.
Hugo passed Stoltz in the final mile of the run to put a stamp on his victory at the 16th XTERRA East Championship on the James River Park Systems trails in downtown Richmond.
“A fight to remember,” said Hugo. “Everyone knows the story. I reckon this course suits Conrad down to the ground. I can promise you he wasn't at his best today but he still had such magic. He pushed me to my limits not just physically but emotionally.”
Stoltz conducted a clinic on the bike leg, arriving in T2 with a minute lead and maintained his advantage until the late in the run leg. “On the run I was ecstatic because I ran solid until the 8k mark when I began to crumble,” said Stoltz. “When we got to Belle Isle I was flat and Dan came around and he was too fast. I tried to hang on and then did a cartwheel running.”
Stoltz said he wished he could have won to honor his father Gert, who passed away in 2012, and Scott “Scud” Scudamore, an beloved XTERRA Ambassador, who died last December. “It’s Father’s Day and I would have loved to win this race for Dad and for Scud,” said Stoltz.
Josiah Middaugh, who had not lost an XTERRA regional championship since 2012, came out of the swim 90 seconds down and more ground on the bike than he could make up with his vaunted run. Middaugh finished 3rd, breaking a string of five straight XTERRA regional championship wins.
Flora Duffy, a two-time Bermuda Olympian, led wire to wire, posting the fastest swim and bike legs, finishing in 2:35:36 with an 8:47 margin of victory over runner-up Emma Garrard of Park, City, Utah and 10:16 over 3rd-place finisher Suzie Snyder of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Duffy has a perfect 3 wins in 3 races to lead the 2014 XTERRA U.S. Pro Series Standings with 300 points to 270 for Emma Garrard, who has three straight second place finishes.
Middaugh leads the men’s points chase with 282 points to 247 for Bradley Weiss and 228 for Craig Evans.
In the amateur competition, each division winner was declared the USA Triathlon Off-Road National Champion as well as the XTERRA East Champion and earned qualifying spots for both the XTERRA Worlds this year and for the ITU Cross Tri World Championship next year. Rob Ricard and Hannah Rae Finchamp won the overall titles. Ricard finished in 2:40:31, winning the 35-39 age group and edging 30-34 winner Daniel Molnar, who was awarded scored the same finish time, for the overall. Finchamp finished in 2:57:54, which was the fastest 15-19 women’s time and the sixth-fastest women’s time overall, including the pros.
XTERRA East Championship
USA Triathlon Off-Road National Championship
Richmond, Virginia
June 15, 2014
Results
Pro men
1. Dan Hugo (RSA) 2:17:57
2. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:18:32
3. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:20:55
4. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 2::22:01
5. Craig Evans (USA) 2:22:43
6. Mauricio Mendez (MEX) 2:23:35
Pro Women
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 2:35:36
2. Emma Garrard (USA) 2:44:23
3. Suzie Snyder (USA) 2:45:52
4. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 2:48:53
5. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 5:08
Will Clarke, Eimear Mullan win Ironman 70.3 UK
Former British Olympic Triathlete Will Clarke broke through to his first Ironman 70.3 win with a strong performance at Ironman 70.3 UK in which he dominated Ironman 70.3 European Champion Ritchie Nicholls on the bike and sealed the deal with a race-best 1:16:29 run.
After five Ironman 70.3 runner-up finishes in the past two years, Clarke broke through to the win with a 2:34:51 bike split that was only 5th-best, but more to the point was 6:09 better than most dangerous rival Nicholls on the bike leg. At the finish, Clarke’s 4:18:07 time was 5:24 better than runner-up Harry Springall and 8:25 better than Nicholls, making for a Great Britain sweep of the men’s podium.
“I am really pleased to finally get that win,” said Clarke. “It’s great to have that monkey off my back. It proves that I am not just a bridesmaid; that I can race to win. What makes it extra special is that it’s Father’s Day here in the UK and this was my first race my son Freddy watched me. A cool touch indeed.”
Eimear Mullan of Ireland completed her third victory at Wimbleball with a 2nd-best 28:24 swim, a race-fastest 2:51:53 split on the rugged bike course, and polished it off with a women’s-fastest
1:27:39 run that brought her to the finish in 4:52:16 with an 8:37 margin of victory over runner-up Nikki Bartlett of Great Britain and 11:07 advantage over 3rd-place finisher Joanna Carrit of Great Britain.
Ironman 70.3 UK
Lake Wimbleball, United Kingdom
June 15, 2014
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1, Will Clarke (GBR) 4:18:07
2. Harry Springall (GBR) 4:23:31
3. Ritchie Nicholls (GBR) 4:26:32
4. Rhys Davey (GBR) 4:30:12
5. Hector Guerra (ESP) 4:31:09
Women
1. Eimear Mullan (IRL) 4:52:16
2. Nikki Bartlett (GBR) 5:02:53
3. Joanna Carrit (GBR) 5:03:23
4. Vicky Gill (GBR) 5:07:26
5. Katie Henderson (GBR) 5:08:53
Luciano Taccone and Ai Ueda win Huatulco World Cup
Luciano Taccone of Argentina inherited the win at the Huatulco ITU World Cup when Aurélien Lescure of France collapsed in the final 50 meters and Davide Uccellari of Italy finished in the runner-up position, one second ahead of the limping Frenchman.
Taccone finished in 2:01:58, 10 seconds ahead of Uccellari. After spending some time in the recovery area, Lescure was unable to take his place on the podium and was taken to a nearby hospital,
Ai Ueda of Japan trailed by 1:43 after the swim and bike, then charged to the win with a race-best 36:39 10k run that brought her to the finish in a time of 2:14:52 with a 27 seconds margin of victory over Claudia Rivas of Mexico. Mateja Simic of Slovenia filled out the podium, 1 minute 29 seconds behind Rivas.
Ueda thus completed a hat trick of wins at the Huatulco World Cup, having won this event in 2009 and 2010.
Huatulco ITU World Cup
Huatulco, Mexico
June 15, 2014
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Luciano Taccone (ARG) 2:01:58
2. Davide Uccellari (ITA) 2:02:08
3. Aurelien Lescure (FRA) 2:02:09
4. Etienne Diemunsch (FRA) 2:02:39
5. Diogo Sclebin (BRA) 2:02:49
8. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 2:03:26
25. Ben Kanute (USA) 2:10:29
Women
1. Ai Ueda (JPN) 2:14:52
2. Claudia Rivas (MEX) 2:15:19
3. Mateja Simic (SLO) 2:16:48
4. Anastasia Abrosimova (RUS) 2:17:52
5. Mari Rabe (RSA) 2:18:20
13. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) 2:22:25
21. Michelle Mehnert (USA) 2:27:29
