Butterfield, Roy win Raleigh 70.3
Tyler Butterfield of Bermuda ran down Andrew Yoder of the U.S. and Stephanie Roy of Canada ran down a U.S. trio of Lauren Brandon, Liz Lyles and Lesley Smith to earn the elite titles at Ironman 70.3 Raleigh.
Men
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Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches of Canada led the swim in 24:55 which gave him a 5 seconds advantage on Yoder, 7 seconds on Butterfield, 9 seconds on James Hadley of Great Britain, 1:38 on Jason Laundry of Canada, 3:12 on Luke McKenzie of Australia, and 3:27 on Kennett Peterson of the U.S.
At 24 miles, renowned biker Andrew Yoder seized the lead by 3 seconds over Butterfield at 24 miles, followed by Jackson Laundry and Desroches about 2:20 back. A third pack of five including Matthew Russell, Peterson, Hadley, Derek Kidwell, and Matthew Wisthoff trailed by 3:45 to 3:56.
After a race-best 2:03:14 bike split, Yoder led the way into T2 by 3:14 over Butterfield, 4:22 over Laundry, 5:43 over Peterson, 5:44 over Russell, 7:47 over Desroches, and 10:19 over Hadley.
Yoder held his advantage over Butterfield through 3.47 miles, but by 6.63 miles the Bermudan cut his deficit to 2:20. Laundry was also moving up, trailing Butterfield by just 7 seconds while Peterson fell back to 6:11 arrears.
Two-thirds through the run, Butterfield passed Yoder on his way to a 1:19:22 run and a finish of 3:53:22, 1:48 ahead of runner-up Yoder and 2:54 ahead of 3rd place Laundry.
Women
As is her habit, Lauren Brandon of the U.S. swam 24:46 and led the women's swim wave by a proverbial mile – 2:59 ahead of Laurel Wassner, 3:01 on Christen Brown, 3:02 on Kathryn Thomas, 3:40 on overall contender Lesley Smith, 4:08 on Sarah Cameto, 4:12 on Roy, and 4:55 on Liz Lyles.
In concert with her swim power, Brandon maintained her lead on the bike leg. At 24 miles she led a four-woman pack including Lyles by 3:48, Brown by 3:51, Wassner by 3:52, and Smith by 3:54. Lurking 40 seconds further back was a five-woman pack including Cameto, Roy and Skye Moensch.
After a women’s 2nd-best 2:25:21 bike split, Brandon led the women into T2 by 3:48 over Lyles, 5:12 over Roy, 5:39 over Skye Moensch, 5:42 over Lesley Smith, and 5:46 over Christen Brown.
After 3.4 miles, Brandon’s lead slipped to 1:10 over fast-advancing Lyles, with Roy 2:06 down and Smith 3:14 arrears. Halfway through the half marathon, Roy look the lead by 10 seconds over Lyles and 1:08 on Smith, with Brandon 1:46 back.
After a women’s-best 1:21:24 run, Roy finished in 4:19:59 with a 1:47 margin of victory over Smith (1:22:17 run) and 4:54 over 3rd-place Lyles (1:27:56 run). After a 1:37:40 run, Brandon held on for 4th-place, 10:57 back of the winner.
Ironman 70.3 Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
June 4, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 3:53:22
2. Andrew Yoder (USA) 3:55:10
3. Jackson Laundry (CAN) 3:56:16
4. Kennett Peterson (USA) 3:59:05
5. James Hadley (GBR) 4:00:01
6. Matthew Russell (USA) 4:02:55
7. Adam Ostot (USA) 4:04:39
8. Tyler Jordan (USA) 4:07:22
9. Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches (CAN) 4:10:11
10. Sean Daugherty (USA) 4:10:24
Women
1. Stephanie Roy (CAN) 4:19:59
2. Lesley Smith (USA) 4:21:46
3. Liz Lyles (USA) 4:24:53
4. Lauren Brandon (USA) 4:30:56
5. Skye Moensch (USA) 4:31:35
6. Christen Brown (USA) 4:32:38
7. Laurel Wassner (USA) 4:37:28
8. Carly Johan (USA) 4:39:47
9. Stephanie Jones (USA) 4:41:30
10. Emily Sherrard (USA) 4:43:30
