Ben Kanute, Sarah Haskins take New York
MEN
Ben Kanute and Cameron Dye raced head to head through the speedy swim in the current-aided Hudson River and over the swift bike course along the Henry Hudson Highway and Moshulu Parkway before matters were settled on the rolling hills of Central Park. They both matched splits of 12:42 and 12:44 on the swim as Dye stayed on Kanute’s feet. They rode together for a while before Dye took the lead as they matched 55:48 and 55:51 splits for the ride.
“Cam set a pretty hard pace, and he led into T2,” recalled Kanute. “I felt in control, but did not feel it was the smartest move to try to outride Cam or pass him, as we were riding harder than the weekend before in Philly.”
Like the mutually respectful competitors they are, they started the run together. “We ran shoulder to shoulder for the first mile before I edged ahead,” said Kanute. “From there my gap slowly grew, and I was able to take the win!”
As in San Francisco early last month, Kanute had a little more in the tank for the run and thus took the win. Kanute finished with a 34:15 split to Dye’s 34:46, closing in 1:46:34 with a 29 seconds margin of victory on Dye. While Jason West’s 32:09 10k outran the leaders by two minutes, Kanute and Dye had teamed up for a 2:40 lead at T2 which translated to a 40 seconds advantage at the line, leaving West with the final spot on the podium.
WOMEN
Sarah Haskins won Escape From Alcatraz and the Philly Escape Triathlon so she remained on a hot streak in her third non-drafting short distance triathlon in 5 weeks. While getting back to race fitness after the birth of her second son Connor last year, Haskins admitted that her packed race schedule was pushing her limits. “New York City was my third race in five weeks so I was feeling a little fatigued,” said Haskins.
Haskins and last year’s New York winner Lauren Goss emerged from the Hudson ahead of the field and two seconds apart. When Haskins stopped to put on shoes for the half mile run to the bikes, Goss led out of T1 but Haskins took the lead soon thereafter. “When we do a lot of racing it is hard to maintain peak fitness,” said Haskins. “My power dropped at end of bike and I had a hard time keeping my cadence rolling.” Nonetheless less she posted a 1:04:07 bike split – 2:23 quicker than Goss. To keep control, Haskins said “I decided to start my run conservatively.”
Although the pros started at 5:50 AM, the temperature quickly rose to the upper 80s and Haskins took advantage of Central Park’s leafy environs. “I could feel it was quite warm in the park, so I decided to run under the shade of the trees and green places wherever I could,” said Haskins. “Central Park has a beautiful rolling run which I like because it breaks up the monotony,” said Haskins. “It is nothing like Alcatraz but it helps me mentally and physically and makes the run go by faster.”
Haskins posted a women’s second-fastest 38:57 run to finish in 1:59:52 with a 3:09 margin of victory on Goss and 4:12 on 3rd place finisher Cecilia Davis-Hayes.
New York City Triathlon
New York City, New York
July 1, 2018
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Ben Kanute (USA) 1:46:34 S 12:42 T1 3:04 B 55:51 T2 45s R 34:15
2. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:47:03 S 12:44 T1 3:03 B 55:48 T2 45s R 34:46
3. Jason West (USA) 1:47:16 S 13:07 T1 2:54 B 58:21 T2 47s R 32:09
4. Santiago Ascenco (BRA) 1:48:32 S 13:31 T1 3:08 B 57:59 T2 50s R 33:05
5. Jackson Laundry (CAN) 1:48:49 S 13:01 T1 3:00 B 56:23 T2 51s R 35:35
Women
1. Sarah Haskins-Kortuem (USA) 1:59:52 S 12:16 T1 3:33 B 1:04:07 T2 1:01 R 38:57
2. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:03:01 S 12:18 T1 3:18 B 1:06:30 T2 56s R 40:01
3. Cecilia Davis-Hayes (USA) 2:04:04 S 14:20 T1 3:23 B 1:05:20 T2 55s R 40:07
4. Jacquie Godbe (USA) 2:05:54 S 15:08 T1 3:47 B 1:07:37 T2 1:21 R 38:04
5. Ali Brauer (USA) 2:07:33 S 13:43 T1 3:41 B 1:09:53 T2 56s R 39:21
6. Laurel Wassner (USA) 2:08:33 S 12:34 T1 3:46 B 1:09:15 T2 1:01 R 41:59
