Jackie Hering, Jason West Prevail in Chattanooga
Strong fields and intense competitors helped make the Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga a worthy North American Championship.
Men
Ben Kanute led the swim in 24:17, 20 seconds ahead of a pack including Eric Lagerstrom, Brennen Smith, Jason West, Luis Ortiz and Tim O’Donnell – back in form in his first major race after a yearlong recovery from his heart attack.
On a happy note, O’Donnell kept up a healthy pace and led the men into T2 after a 2:00:29 bike split – closely followed by Rudy Von Berg, Steven McKenna of Australia, West and Oceanside 70.3 winner Jackson Laundry of Canada.
No hope of jousting back and forth duels on the run as Jason West took off like a rocket and unleashed a 1:09:09 half marathon that brought him to the line in 3:37:15 with a 57 seconds margin on Matt Hanson (1:09:59 run split) and 2:38 on third place Rudy Von Berg (1:11:51 run split.)
West told Tri247: “I’m just blessed to come out and have a result like this on a big day. Sometimes you’ve got to play the long game and really sell out for the big one.”
Hanson surprised himself with his late race heroics after a 13th place finish at the Ironman World Championship in St. George two weeks ago. “I felt alright on the run going uphill but the downhill, the quads were still pretty tender from St. George,” Hanson told Tri247. “Jason had a great day, so I’m happy to come in second.”
Von Berg said he was ready to settle for 5th place before he found himself running next to Jackson Laundry of Canada – the same man who out dueled him for the win at Oceanside 70.3. “I didn’t want to hurt that bad,” he told Tri247. “The competitor mindset always takes over. I did a couple of surges, and just a mile from the finish I did a third one and finally broke him.”
Women
Before the race, Jackie Hering could breathe easy when word got out that Olympic champion Flora Duffy withdrew due to a COVID infection. Similarly, Hering kept her cool as pre-race odds had her overshadowed by a highly rated duo – Canadian Paula Findlay and California-based Brit Holly Lawrence. Still the 37-year-old was undaunted as she took aim at one of the biggest races of her career.
Lawrence, who suffered a spectacular-looking road rash due to a bike crash training a week ago, questioned herself whether she should be racing. But once she hit the water, things looked up as she emerged from the Tennessee River with a 40 seconds lead on her nearest pursuers.
Hering started smooth and easy and came out of the water in 5th place, 1:17 back of Lawrence and 4 seconds back of Findlay.
Lawrence admitted she struggled early on the bike until Hering rode past and offered some encouraging words. Whereupon Lawrence, Findlay and Henig banded together and carved out a 5-to 10 minutes advantage on the field.
Once the run began, Findlay took an early lead, but surrendered to Hering, who was headed for a women’s second-best 1:18:12 half marathon that was 4 minutes better than Findlay and 6 minutes better than Lawrence. Hering thus finished in 4:03:35 with a 3:40 margin on Findlay and 6:47 on third place finisher Lawrence.
Hering told Tri247 her patient approach did the job. “I was trying to run my own steady race at a pace I thought I could maintain. If they (Findlay and Lawrence) would have gone out ahead of me, I would have let them go and I would have just done my thing because that’s the only way I can do it.”
Lawrence said good company on the bike helped her weather the pain. “The girls were super-strong on the bike. They’re my competitors but they’re in it with you and they’re cheering you on. We were exchanging tactics on the run, she [Paula] was telling me (I had) ages until fourth place.”
Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga – North American 70.3 Championship
Chattanooga, Tennessee
May 22, 2022
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Men's Results
1. Jason West (USA) S 24:36 T1 1:49 B 2:00:52 T2 00:51 R 1:09:09 TOT 3:37:15
2. Matt Hanson (USA) S 25:00 R1 1:42 B 2:00:36 T2 00:58 R 1:09:59 TOT 3:38:12
3. Rudy Von Berg (USA) S 24:45 T1 1:39 B 2:00:47 T2 00:54 R 1:11:51 TOT 3:39:53
4. Jackson Laundry (CAN) S 24:52 T1 1:46 B 2:00:29 T2 1:07 R 1:12:09 TOT 3:40:21
5. Steven McKenna (AUS) S 24:46 T1 1:42 B 2:00:41 T2 00:55 R 1:14:29 TOT 3:42:32
6. Tim O’Donnell (USA) S 24:43 T1 1:50 B 2:00:29 T2 00:57 R 1:15:01 TOT 3:42:59
7. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) S 24:33 T1 1:46 B 2:00:55 T2 1:03 R 1:15:34 TOT 3:43:48
8. Trevor Foley (USA) S 27:07 T1 2:01 B 2:03:26 T2 00:57 R 1:11:03 TOT 3:44:31
9. Ben Kanute (USA) S 24:17 T1 1:48 B 2:01:08 T2 1:03 R 1:17:45 TOT 3:45:59
10. Luciano Taccone (ARG) S 25:16 T1 1:48 B 2:05:33 T2 00:54 R 1:12:37 TOT 3:46:05
Women's Results
1. Jackie Hering (USA) S 26:45 T1 2:02 B 2:14:12 T2 1:25 R 1:18:12 TOT 4:03:35
2. Paula Findlay (CAN) S 26:41 T1 2:04 B 2:14:13 T2 1:14 R 1:22:06 TOT 4:06:16
3. Holly Lawrence (GBR) S 25:27 T1 1:51 B 2:16:33 T2 1:12 R 1:24:22 TOT 4:09:23
4. Lesley Smith (USA) S 28:15 T1 2:02 B 2:24:26 T2 1:24 R 1:17:51 TOT 4:13:57
5. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) S 29:24 T1 1:57 B 2:19:40 T2 1:13 R 1:22:56 TOT 4:15:08
6. Danielle Lewis (USA) S 30:28 T1 1:54 B 2:17:41 T2 1:10 R 1:24:22 TOT 4:15:34
7. Kelly Fillnow (USA) S 30:55 T1 2:26 B 2:19:56 T2 1:03 R 1:25:36 TOT 4:19:54
8. Grace Alexander (USA) S 26:08 T1 2:13 B 2:22:18 T2 1:17 R 1:31:15 TOT 4:23:10
9. Tamara Jewett (CAN) S 28:11 T1 2:23 B 2:38:10 T2 1:56 R 1:14:54 TOT 4:25:32
10. Sarah Bishop (USA) S 31:30 T1 2:27 B 2:25:08 T2 1:34 R 1:25:54 TOT 4:26:30
