Cody Beals, Carrie Lester top IM Mont-Tremblant
Cody Beals of Canada broke 8 hours and defended his title while Carrie Lester of Australia dominated the women’s field at Ironman Mont-Tremblant.
As Beals already secured his Kona slot with a win at Ironman Chattanooga last September, Lionel Sanders did not fight back when Beals passed him in the closing miles of the marathon and punched his ticket to Kona with a second place finish, 7:04 behind Beals’ 7:58:34 performance. Nathan Killam completed a 1-2-3 Canadian sweep of the men’s podium with a 3rd place finish 30:41 behind the winner.
With a Kona slot already in hand thanks to her win at Ironman France, Carrie Lester put together an impressive 8:48:26 winning time that gave her a 16:05 margin of victory over Sarah True., who thus earned the one available Kona slot after suffering a heat-induced meltdown and DNF a mile from the finish while leading the Ironman European Championship at Frankfurt in July.
Jodie Robertson of the U.S. took 3rd, 27:50 behind the winner.
MEN
Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches of Canada killed the men’s swim with a 48:16 split that gave him 2:20 lead on fellow Canadian and defending champion Cody Beals who led an 8-man chase pack including Canadians Wouter Monchy, Nathan Killam, Eliot Scymanski, U.S. competitor Justin Daerr, Cedric Boily of Canada, U.S. competitor Andrew Yoder, Antony Costes of France. Most relevant, co-favorite Lionel Sanders, coming back from a long period of rehab, exited the water 3:32 back of the leader and 1:12 back of defending champion Beals
Looking forward, Desroches will need that all of that lead and a much better than usual bike leg as Beals and Sanders should build a substantial lead on Desroches during the bike leg. However, Nathan Killam looms as a threat as he left the swim 4 seconds back of Beals, has decent bike and a strong run leg and could be the man to hound Sanders to the finish.
With just one Kona spot at issue, Beals already qualified with his win at Ironman Chattanooga last fall. So Sanders can allow Beals to win – if he can make sure to beat Desroches and Killam.
By 33km of the bike leg, Sanders charged to second place, 53 seconds behind Desroches and 3 seconds ahead of Beals, while Killam loomed 1:22 behind Beals. At 55km, Sanders snatched the lead by 2 seconds over Beals, 28 seconds over Desroches, 3:05 over Andrew Yoder and 5:01 over Killam. Halfway through the 180 kilometer bike leg, Sanders maintained a 4 seconds lead on Beals who was 7:33 ahead of Desroches, 9:00 over Yoder, 12:48 over Killam.
By 140km, Sanders started to gradually pull away to a 20 seconds lead on Beals, then made a serious surge to a 5 minutes lead on Beals and 13 minutes on Desroches with 10 kilometers to go. After a race-best 4:15:13 bike split, Sanders entered T2 with a 5:05 lead on Beals, 15:06 on Desroches, 22:40 on Killam, 24:40 on Cedric Boily and 30:52 on Scott Defilippis.
While seemingly safe as a second place behind Beals will provide the Kona slot, Sanders kept on the pedal to start the run, maintaining a 5:05 lead on Beals, 19:58 on Desroches and 24:13 on Killam at the 10 kilometer mark of the run. By the halfway mark of the run, Beals trimmed Sanders’ margin to 4:03. After 25 km, Beals trimmed his deficit to 3:42 while Killam and Desroches showed no signs of a threat – 28 minutes down.
Showing signs not of weakness but rather strategic intelligence, Sanders allowed Beals to within 3:42 at 30 kilometers. At 35 kilometers, Beals passed Sanders and opened a 1:42 lead while Killam showed no sign of an attack, 25 minutes arrears.
Feeling strong, Beals capped off a 7:58:34 winning finish with a race-best 2:42:28 marathon that gave him a 7:04 margin of victory over Sanders, who earned the Kona slot with a 2:53:58 marathon. Killam finished with a 2:56:34 marathon that took him to the finish in 8:29:15 to take 3rd place, 30:41 behind the winner.
WOMEN
True led the swim with a 50:11 split that gave her a 6 seconds margin over Meredith Kessler of the U.S., 1:12 over Lester, 3:50 over Sheila Treleaven, 7:50 over Kyra Wiens, 9:26 over Ginger Howell of the U.S., 9:29 over Jodie Robertson of the U.S. and 11:08 over Pamela-Ann Bachelder of Canada.
Taking off like a shot, Lester opened a 4:49 lead on True after 72 km, with Kessler (+10:37), Robertson (+16:44), and Burke (+21:16) falling further out of contention. After 12km, Lester’s lead ballooned to 9:29 over True, 17:26 over Robertson, 20:00 over Kessler, 23:02 over Burke and 27:55 over Bachelder. After a women’s-fastest 4:48:21 bike split – 9:55 better than the next best effort by Melanie Burke, Lester arrived at T2 with a 15:09 lead on True, 20:16 on Robertson, 26:59 on Burke, 32:22 on Kessler and 37:10 on Bachelder.
Showing no signs of distress, Lester cruised to the finish with a women’s-best 3:03:51 marathon which brought her to the line in 8:48:26 with a 15:46 margin of victory over True (3:04:51 run) and 27:50 over 3rd place finisher Robertson (3:11:28 run).
Ironman Mont-Tremblant
Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
August 18, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Cody Beals (CAN) 7:58:34 S 50:36 T1 3:11 B 4:20:54 T2 1:26 R 2:42:28
2. Lionel Sanders (CAN) 8:05:38 S 51:48 T1 2:28 B 4:15:13 T2 2:13 R 2:53:58
3. Nathan Killam (CAN) 8:29:15 S 50:40 T1 2:38 B 4:37:17 T2 2:08 R 2:56:34
4. Cedric Boily (CAN) 8:34:45 S 50:51 T1 3:09 B 4:38:20 T2 1:55 R 3:00:33
5. Scott Defilippis (USA) 8:38:22 S 53:35 T1 3:13 B 4:42:51 T2 2:19 R 2:56:27
Women
1. Carrie Lester (AUS) 8:48:26 S 51:23 T1 2:59 B 4:48:21 T2 1:53 R 3:03:51
2. Sarah True (USA) 9:04:31 S 50:11 T1 3:24 B 5:04:17 T2 1:49 R 3:04:51
3. Jodie Robertson (USA) 9:16:16 S 59:40 T1 3:44 B 4:59:35 T2 1:50 R 3:11:28
4. Pamela-Ann Bachelder St. Pierre (CAN) 9:30:13 S 1:01:19 T1 3:29 B 5:15:05 T2 1:40 R 3:08:41
5. Melanie Burke (NZL) 9:34:31 S 1:07:42 T1 3:53 B 4:58:06 T2 2:20 R 3:22:31
