Timberman to Potts, Wellington
2007 70.3 World Champion Andy Potts captured the 2009 Ironman 70.3 Timberman event with a race best 1:16:20 run. 2-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington held off a hard charging Catriona Morrison to win the women's race.
The men
Andy Potts pushed the swim hard and came out of Lake Winnipesaukee a couple seconds ahead of swim ace John Kenny.
Potts though was soon alone and had it not been for Swedish Ueberbiker Bjorn Andersson, Potts might not have seen any other competitor again until the finish line. Potts might have also managed to have the top splits in all 3 legs of the race, if Anderrson had not been there. But we all know that only reality matters, not what could have been. As it were, Andersson had exited the water in 8th position almost 2.5 minutes behind Potts, but the lanky Swede was riding like man possessed. Andersson's 2:04:38 bike time would be the fastest of the day by just under 6 minutes and got him to T2 with about a 3 minute lead on Potts.
Andersson looked relatively smooth on the run, but his leg turnover was nothing compared to Potts. Potts was actually flying along and caught Andersson before too long. From there it was smooth sailing for Potts and he crossed the line almost 8 minutes up on runner-up Alberto Casadei from Italy. Massimo Cigano, also from Italy, took the final podium spot and Michael Lovato grabbed 4th place. Chris Legh in his first race back managed 5th place and Andersson hung on to finish 6th.
The women
Dede Griesbauer led the Pro women out of the war and managed to gain 2 minutes on Chrissie Wellington and 70.3 Boise winner Magali Tisseyre. Catriona Morrison got out of Lake Winnipesaukee another 30 seconds later.
Once on the bikes though all eyes were on Wellington who looked to be in splendid form. Griesbauer was caught and passed before too long and Tisseyre had to watch Wellington disappear up on the horizon. Tisseyre's bike split was quite fast and allowed her to be second into T2. but Wellington's 2:19:59 was not only fastest among the women by 5 minutes, but also placed her among the top 10 men's bike splits.
The fastest run among the Pros belonged to Catriona Morrison who soon caught Tisseyre and slowly started to make time back on Wellington. Morrison's run split was more than 4 minutes faster than the second best run split of Wellington, but it wasn't enough to overcome her 6 minute deficit after the bike. Wellington crossed the line victorious and seems ready to defend her Ironman World Champion title in Hawaii in 6 weeks. Morrison earned second place and Tisseyre held on to third.
Image gallery
2009 Timberman 70.3 picture gallery
Ironman 70.3 Timberman
Gilford, NH / August 23
Top 10 men
1. Andy Potts (USA) 3:51:19
2. Alberto Casadei (ITA) 3:58:52
3. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 3:59:32
4. Michael Lovato (USA) 4:01:29
5. Christopher Legh (AUS) 4:01:53
6. Bjorn Andersson (SWE) 4:02:32
7. Janda Ricci-Munn (USA) 4:09:30
8. Christopher Thomas (USA) 4:10:54 * AG M35-39
9. Mike Caiazzo (USA) 4:11:49
10. TJ Tollakson (USA) 4:12:20
Top 10 women
1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 4:15:11
2. Catriona Morrison (GBR) 4:17:07
3. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 4:23:54
4. Dede Griesbauer (USA) 4:31:53
5. Kate Major (USA) 4:38:15
6. Amy Farrell (USA) 4:39:25 * AG F30-34
7. Terra Castro (USA) 4:44:23
8. Caroline Smith (USA) 4:52:42
9. Amanda Russell (USA) 4:54:43 * AG F30-34
10. Nancy Smith (USA) 4:54:58 * AG F50-54
