Cody Beals tops swim-canceled IM Chattanooga
Due to record rains and major flooding, Ironman officials canceled the swim portion of Ironman Chattanooga and shifted the course to a 116-mile bike leg and a marathon run.
After a timed bike start, Cody Beals of Canada recorded the fastest bike leg and marathon run leg to finish in 7:10:22 with an 11:32 margin of victory over runner-up Matt Russell of the U.S. and 12:43 over defending champion and 3rd place finisher Kirill Kotsegarov of Estonia.
The win was Beals’ second is a row for a scheduled Ironman after he finished first at his debut Ironman (at the full distance) at Mont Tremblant this summer.
Given that competitors in this Pro men only event started on the clock at different times, it was not until 32.9 miles into the course that race timers discovered that Beals was leading Stephen Kilshaw by 33 seconds, Markus Thomschke by 1:30, Matt Russell by 2:02, Kirill Kotsegarov by 2:22, Scott Defilippis by 3:42 and Joe Gambles by 4:25.
After 80 miles of the bike leg, Beals led Russell by 2:27, Kotsegarov by 2:59 , Kilshaw by 7:11 and Defilippis and Gambles by 8 and a half minutes.
After a race-best 4:20:25 split, Beals finished the bike leg with a 2:23 lead on Kotsegarov and 3:17 on Russell.
As Beals failed to increase his bike lead for the final 80 miles of the bike, his chasers might have hoped that they could run him down. Until the running started. After 5 miles of the run, Beals opened his lead to 3:16 on Kotsegarov and 6:01 over Russell. After 10 miles, Beals chugged along at a 6:14 per mile pace and increased his margin to 4:32 on Kotsegarov and 8:46 on Russell. After 20 miles, Beals pulled relentlessly away, leading Kotsegarov by 9:26 and Russell by 12:16.
After a race-best 2:48:17 run – 65 seconds faster than his run split at Ironman Mont Tremblant – Beals finished in 7:10:22 with an 11:32 margin of victory over Russell and 12:43 over Russell.
Just 10 months after he survived a horrible accident in which he suffered serious injuries when hit by a vehicle during the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Russell managed to finish 3rd at Ironman Mont Tremblant behind Beals and Lionel Sanders and thus qualifed for another shot at Kona.
The Chattanooga race was Russell's second straight 3rd place finish at a scheduled Ironman event.
Ironman Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
September 30, 2018
B 116 mi/ R 26.2 mi.
Results
Pro Men Only
1. Cody Beals (CAN) 7:10:22 B 4:20:25 T1 1:41 R 2:48:17
2. Matt Russell (USA) 7:21:54 B 4:23:41 T1 2:31 R 2:55:45
3. Kirill Kotsegarov (EST) 7:23:05 B 4:22:47 T1 2:13 R 2:58:08
4. Adam Otstot (USA) 7:32:12 B 4:30:35 T1 1:47 B 2:59:52
5. Scott DeFilippis (USA) 7:32:46 B 4:37:21 T1 3:12 R 2:52:15
