McKenzie, Vodickova win Challenge Asia-Pacific
Australian Luke McKenzie and Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic won the top $8,000 prizes at the Challenge Asia-Pacific Championship in Taiwan.
Men
McKenzie prevailed by 1:22 in a hard-fought battle with fellow Aussie Max Neumann, with New Zealander Mike Phillips another 1:24 back in third place.
McKenzie combined a 5th-best 25:30 swim split, a race-fastest 2:02:50 bike split, and a dominating 1:14:16 half marathon run split to finish in 3:48:03 with a 1:22 margin of victory over Neumann and 2:46 over 3rd place finisher Phillips.
Neumann led the swim with a 24:10 mark and opened a 2 minute lead with his 4th-best 2:03:15 bike split and near-best 1:26 bike-to-run transition. But McKenzie, the runner-up at the 2013 Ironman World Championship, zoomed past to the victory with an unmatched 1:14:16 run that was 2:54 better than Neumann and Phillips.
Women
Vodickova started with a women’s-fastest 27:25 swim, added to her lead with a women’s-best 2:14:37 bike split, and closed with a women’s second-quickest 1:21:21 run to finish in 4:09:01 with a 10:14 margin of victory over three-time Ironman World Champion Mirinda Carfrae of Australia and 13:21 over 3rd place finisher Beth McKenzie of the U.S.
Carfrae, coming off a 5th place finish at Kona, gave up time to Vodickova on the swim, bike, and, uncharacteristically, five more minutes with a 1:26:34 run. Beth McKenzie gave up 4:30 on the swim and 9:26 on the bike leg before posting the women's-fastest 1:20:38 run.
In an unofficial battle of the married couples with children, Luke and Beth McKenzie prevailed with 1st and 3rd places over Rinny Carfrae and Tim O’Donnell’s 2nd and 4th places.
Challenge Asia-Pacific Championship
Taitung, Taiwan
November 18, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 3:48:03 S 25:30 T1 3:44 B 2:02:50 T2 1:43 R 1:14:16 – $8,000
2. Max Neumann (AUS) 3:49:25 S 24:10 T1 3:22 B 2:03:15 T2 1:26 R 1:17:10 – $5,000
3. Mike Phillips (NZL) 3:50:49 S 25:28 T1 3:43 B 2:03:02 T2 1:25 R 1:17:10 – $3,600
4. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 3:55:36 24:14 T1 3:26 B 2:04:31 T2 1:33 R 1:21:50 – $2,400
5. Jaroslav Kovacic ( ) 3:57:47 S 25:25 T1 3:54 B 2:02:55 T2 1:25 R 1:24:06 – $1,500
Women
1. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 4:09:01S 27:25 T1 3:54 B 2:14:37 T2 1:42 R 1:21:21 – $8,000
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:19:15 S 29:48 T1 4:09 B 2:16:59 T2 1:43 R 1:26:34 – $5,000
3. Beth McKenzie (USA) 4:22:22 S 31:55 T1 3:53 B 2:24:03 T2 1:50 R 1:20:38 – $3,600
4. Naomi Washizu (TWN) 4:34:47 S 30:06 T1 5:04 B 2:29:47 T2 1:31 R 1:28:17 *F 35-39
5. Marion Tuin (NED) 4:55:07 S 32:28 T1 4:32 B 2:32:50 T2 1:59 R 1:43:17 – $2,400.
