Collins, Cheetham win Dublin 70.3
Ben Collins of the U.S. and Susie Cheetham of Great Britain won Ironman 70.3 Dublin.
Men
Collins had a good news/nerve wracking news sort of a day.
The good news was that he had a great 2:08:07 bike split and an 11:43 lead over the nearest pro man at T2. British pro Harry Wiltshire outran him by 7:53, but Collins held on for a comfortable margin of victory in the pro category.
The nerve-wracking news was that Irish age grouper Bryan McCrystal out-biked Collins by 1:33 and outran the U.S. pro by 3:36, but fell just behind Collins for the overall victory. Collins had his 3rd-best 23:11 swim to thank for the win, as it provided a crucial 4:05 cushion before the Irish age grouper got warmed up for a superior bike and run. .
Collins finished in 4:00:41 with a 15 seconds margin of victory over McCrystal, 3:24 over 2nd pro Harry Wiltshire, and 4:12 over second amateur and 4th overall Andy Greenleaf of Great Britain. Austrian Paul Reitmayr took 3rd pro and 5th overall, 6 minutes back of Collins.
Certainly the fact that the amateur started minutes behind Collins, who never knew where he stood with McCrystal on elapsed time, had an effect. But all props to the home country favorite who came away with a trophy instead of cash for his efforts.
NASCAR race drivers Trevor Bayne (a Daytona 500 winner) and Landon Cassill used their week off from professional endeavors to race as age groupers at Dublin. Cassill finished the 70.3 distance in 5:02:38 and Bayne trailed his NASCAR rival in 5:25:10.
Women
Cheetham started her day with a 27:00 swim split, which was 1:11 behind British age grouper Claire Hann, 42 seconds ahead of UK age grouper Sarah Lewis, 47 seconds ahead of Spanish pro Saleta Castro Nogueira, 2:31 ahead of British pro Natalie Seymour, and 3:01 ahead of British pro Parys Edwards.
Cheetham took control with a women’s-best 2:27:21 bike split which gave her a 5:03 lead on British pro Seymour, 6 minutes (elapsed time) on amateur Hann, and 7:53 on pro Anna Halasz.
Seymour cut Cheetham’s lead with a women’s-best 1:21:53 run split. But Cheetham held on to finish first and defend her title in 4:22:33, with a 4:15 margin of victory over Seymour and 9:21 over 3rd place overall and first amateur finisher Sarah Lewis of Great Britain.
Ironman 70.3 Dublin
Dublin, Ireland
August 14, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Ben Collins (USA) 4:00:41
2. Bryan McCrystal (IRL) 4:00:56 *M35-39
3. Harry Wiltshire (GBR) 4:04:05
4. Andy Greenleaf (GBR) 4:04:53 *M30-34
5. Paul Reitmayr (AUT) 4:06:41
6. Fraser Cartmell (GBR) 4:08:20
Women
1. Susie Cheetham (GBR) 4:22:33
2. Natalie Seymour (GBR) 4:25:48
3. Sarah Lewis (GBR) 4:31:54 *F35-39
4. Anna Halasz (HUN) 4:35:22
5. Claire Hann (GBR) 4:38:06 *F30-34
