McKenna, Salthouse Tops at Geelong 70.3
Men's race
Steve McKenna climbed slowly through the ranks from a 5th-best swim with a 1:41 deficit, to a 4th place with an 8 seconds deficit after the bike leg. Once on the run, though, he turned on the jets. After a blistering race-best 1:10:54 half marathon – 54 seconds faster than the next best effort by Trent Thorpe – McKenna finished in 3:46:46 with a 2:37 margin over Tim Reed and 2:53 over third place finisher Thorpe. McKenna, nicknamed “Lizard,” earned at age 29 his first ever Ironman 70.3 title although he carded 70.3-distance wins at Challenge Malaysia, Korea and Vietnam five years ago and recently took a victory at the 2021 Hervey Bay 100.
Women's Race
Ellie Salthouse has a big career head start over McKenna as her Geelong win comes after a recent win at the 2021 Husky Triathlon, 2019 wins in 70.3s at Cozumel and Coquimbo and the Challenge Cancun Half. Under the guidance of coach Siri Lindley, Salthouse also scored wins at the Boulder 70.3 in 2016 and 2018, and 2016 wins at Miami and Challenge Melbourne.
On Sunday, Salthouse started with a women’s best 25:01 swim split that gave her 5 seconds lead on Grace Thek and 11 seconds on long-time rival Amelia Watkinson of New Zealand. Salthouse earned 1:19 advantage over Watkinson with a superior T1 transition, then earned 1:17 more with a women’s-fastest 2:19:19 bike split.
Starting the run with a secure lead on Watkinson, Salthouse finished with a women’s-fastest 1:19:05 half marathon that brought her to the line in 4:09:30 with a 5:06 margin on Watkinson and 9:22 on third-place Grace Thek.
Ironman 70.3 Geelong
Geelong, Australia
March 28, 2021
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Men
1. Steve McKenna (AUS) S 23:18 T1 2:20 B 2:08:36 T2 1:41 R 1:10:54 TOT 3:46:46
2. Tim Reed (AUS) S 23:21 T1 2:24 B 2:08:27 T2 1:45 R 1:13:29 TOT 3:49:23
3. Trent Thorpe (AUS) S 21:34 T1 2:39 B 2:10:04 T2 1:37 R 1:11:48 TOT 3:49:39
4. Tim Van Berkel (AUS) S 23:21 T1 2:27 B 2:08:19 T21:52 R 1:14:18 TOT 3:50::15
5. Levi Maxwell (AUS) S 2:48 T1 2:14 B 2:10:43 T2 1:46 R 1:12:58 TOT 3:51:57
6. Josh Amberger (AUS) S 21:37 T1 2:40 B 2:10:03 T2 1:33 R 1:17:32 TOT 3:53:23
7. Kieran Storch (AUS) S 24:37 T1 2:30 B 2:10:27 T2 1:45 R 1:14:31 TOT 3:53:47
8. Max Neuman (AUS) S 22:26 T1 2:29 B 2:09:23 T2 1:54 R 1:18:43 TOT 3:54:53
9. Lachlan Kerin (AUS) S 23:16 T1 2:30 B 2:08:20 T2 2:06 R 1:19:03 TOT 3:55:13 m
10. Fraser Walsh (AUS) S 24:38 T1 2:19 B 2:10:33 T2 1:41 R 1:18:16 TOT 3:57:24
Women
1. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) S 25:01 T1 3:59 B 2:19:19 T2 2:06 R 1:19:05 TOT 4:09:30
2. Amelia Watkinson (NZL) S 25:12 T1 2:42 B 2:20:36 T2 1:50 R 1:24:18 TOT 4:14:36
3. Grace Thek (AUS) S 25:06 T1 2:42 B 2:28:30 T2 1:55 R 1:20:40 TOT 4:18:52
4. Penny Slater (AUS) S 26:21 T1 2:57 B 2:25:02 T2 2:05 R 1:26:07 TOT 4:22:29
5. Chloe Lane (AUS) S 26:11 T1 2:54 B 2:31:25 T2 2:09 R 1:245:03 TOT 4:26:39
6. Kiralee Seidel (AUS) S 26:17 T1 2:47 B 2:31:59 T2 1:59 R 1:23:49 TOT 4:26:49
7. Laura Armstrong (AUSA) S 29:23 T1 2:55 B 2:28:50 T2 2:06 R 1:25:52 TOT 4:29:04
