Smales, Lee prevail at soggy Weymouth 70.3
With rough conditions prompting organizers to cut the swim in half (to 950 meters) and daylong rain leaving competitors drenched, Elliot Smales and India Lee of Great Britain won Ironman 70.3 Weymouth.
Smales combined second-fastest swim and bike legs with a race-best run to finish in 4:03:08 with a 3:21 margin of victory over Sam Pictor and 4:19 over 3rd place Sam Proctor in a British sweep of the men’s podium.
Lee swam the choppy waters in a women's-best 15:31 split, fell to third and 3:28 back with a third-best 2:37:46 bike split, then passed into the lead late on the run on her way to a women’s-fastest 1:17:38 half marathon. Lee finished in 4:25:05 with a 2:56 margin of victory over Nikki Bartlett and 3:01 over 3rd place Fenella Langridge in a home country sweep of the women’s podium.
Men
Nils Frommhold of Germany led the swim in 14:27 which gave him a 4 seconds lead on Smales, 16 seconds on Will Clarke of Britain, 19 seconds on Fraser Cartmell of Scotland, and 42 seconds on George Goodwin of Great Britain.
Halfway through the bike leg which makes a counter clockwise loop through the Dorset countryside, Clarke led Goodwin by 7 seconds, Frommhold by 1:26, and Smales by 3:40, with Alexandre Blain of France, Brits Sam Pictor, Sam Proctor and Fraser Cartmell in a four man pack 6 and a half minutes arrears.
After a men’s-best 2:19:04 bike split – 5:49 better than the next-best effort by Smales and more than enough to make up for an 18:51 swim – Blain led at T2 by 25 seconds over Smales, 3:33 on Pictor, 3:53 on Cartmell, and 3:56 on Proctor.
After the first 5k of the run, Smales chopped Blain’s lead to 11 seconds, with Pictor trailing by 4:16, Proctor by 5:28. Charging hard, Smales took the lead by 48 seconds over Blain at 6 kilometers of the run.
Halfway through the run, Smales established a 1:34 lead on Pictor, 2:24 on Proctor, 2:29 on a fading Blain, and 4:26 on Cartmell. After a race-best 1:17:38 run, Smales took the win in 4:03:08 with a 3:21 margin of victory over Pictor (1:18:12 run) and 4:19 over Proctor (1:18:28 run).
Women
India Lee led the women's swim wave with a 15:31 split that gave her a 23 seconds lead on fellow Brits Fenella Langridge and Claire Hann.
Halfway through the bike leg, Nikki Bartlett of Great Britain surged to the front by a whisker over Langridge, 5 seconds on Lee, 3:03 on Hann, and 4:13 on Chantal Cummings of Great Britain. After a by-far women’s-best 2:31:50 bike split, Bartlett arrived in T2 with a 2:51 lead on Langridge and 3:28 on Lee.
After 6 kilometers of the run, Bartlett led Langridge by 1:34 and Lee by 2:42. Halfway through the 21km run, Langridge sliced Bartlett’s lead to 27 seconds and Lee cut her deficit to 49 seconds. Charging to a women's-best 1:23:58 run – 3:04 better than the next best women’s split by Chantal Cummings – Lee finished in 4:25:05 with a 2:56 margin of victory over Bartlett (1:30:36 run split), 3:01 over 3rd place Langridge (1:28:21 split) and 8:41 over 4th place Cummings.
Ironman 70.3 Weymouth
Weymouth, Dorset, Great Britain
September 23, 2018
S 950m / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Elliot Smales (GBR) 4:03:08 S 14:31 T1 3:22 B 2:24:53 T2 2:46 R 1:17:38
2. Sam Pictor (GBR) 4:06:29 S 16:56 T1 3:31 B 2:25:27 T2 2:25 R 1:18:12
3. Sam Proctor (GBR) 4:07:27 S 15:12 T1 3:44 B 2:27:20 T2 2:44 R 1:18:28
4. Alexandre Blain (FRA) 4:10:44 S 18:51 T1 4:25 B 2:19:04 T2 2:05 R 1:26:21
5. Fraser Cartmell (GBR) 4:12:42 S 14:46 T1 3:36 B 2:27:52 T2 3:11 R 1:23:19
Women
1. India Lee (GBR) 4:25:05 S 15:31 T1 4:21 B 2:37:46 T2 3:31 R 1:23:58 1:23:58
2. Nikki Bartlett (GBR ) 4:28:01 S 18:24 T1 3:56 B 2:31:50 T2 3:17 R 1:30:36
3. Fenella Langridge (GBR) 4:28:06 S 15:54 T1 3:26 B 2:37:41 T2 2:45 R 1:28:21
4. Chantal Cummings (GBR) 4:33:46 S 17:55 T1 3:47 B 2:42:22 T2 2:42 R 1:27:02
5. Suzie Richards (GBR) 4:43:25 S 18:22 T1 4:52 B 2:44:21 T2 3:44 R 1:32:09
