Gambles defends & McQuaid conquers the pavement at Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens
Joe Gambles announced his return to racing in a big way, posting the fastest run of the day in 1:14:57 to successfully defend his Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens crown. Melanie McQuaid continued her strong road-triathlon season, scoring her first 70.3 win and underscoring her early season statements that the grading of the XTERRA World Championships course in Maui meant that it was now little more than a glorified dirt road, which would require a very different approach to training.
The Men
Brian Fleischmann gapped the field and exited the water in 25:14, about 45 seconds up on a group containing most of the favorites in Lake Stevens, WA. Luke Bell, Luke Mckenzie, James Cotter, and Matt Lieto all came out together in just under 26 minutes. Paul Ambrose seemed to have been gapped in the closing meters as he exited about 5 seconds back of that bunch in 26:00.
Joe Gambles was showing a bit of rust from over two months off racing exiting about two minutes back of the leaders, after what appears to have been a largely solely effort over the 1.2 mile course.
Out on the bike course, the main contenders stayed close together, though reports from the field have them riding at a legal 10.001m for most of the day. Gambles slowly worked his way back up on the bunch, and finally entered T2 in 2nd, just behind Luke Bell who broke away from the group in the latter part of the ride.
Once on the run, Gambles quickly overtook Bell, storming into the lead before the first checkpoint at mile 3.5, which had the fleet-footed Tasmanian clocking sub-5:30 miles. Gambles continued to pull away, showing no sign of the achilles injury that plagued him earlier in the year, forcing a rare DNF while in the lead at the Rev3 in Quassy.
"This is a huge boost for my confidence after coming back from injury. My swim was a little off, which put the pressure on my bike," said Gambles to slowtwitch. "At no point on the ride or run did I ease off! Luckily I found my run legs today!"
Paul Ambrose managed to sneak past Bell for 2nd, but the ever steady Aussie wracked up yet another podium finish at the 70.3 distance as he on for 3rd, just ahead of Steelhead winner James Cotter. Cotter managed only a 30second gap over part-time-Australian-part-time-Oregonian Luke McKenzie, who rounded out the top five.
A strong and deep pro field led to some great racing with the top-10 men all finishing within less than 10 minutes of each other.
The Women
Super swimmer Amanda Stevens put big gaps into the field, exiting the water in 25:56. Joanna Zeiger trailed in 27:01, and the rest of the contenders, including Sam Warriner, Samantha McGlone, and Melanie McQuaid, exited over three minutes back in about 29:19 and up. Americans Lindsey Corbin, Haley Cooper-Scott, and über-biker Tyler Stewart came out another two minutes back in 31:30. In what would seem to be an omen for the day, McQuaid led the Kiwi and her fellow Canadian – both Olympians in the non-drafting format where swimming is crucial – out of the water.
Once onto the bike, McQuaid piloted her TT bike the same way she's piloted her off-road wheels for many seasons – fast and furious. Only super-cyclist Stewart managed to outsplit McQuaid, but both women clocked sub-2:30 rides over the challenging course. The duo rolled into T2 about two minutes apart, with Kiwi Sam Warriner rolling in third. Swim-specialist Amanda Stevens came in fourth, trailed closely by 2006 Ironman 70.3 World Champ Samantha McGlone.
Once on the run, the top three held their spots, with McQuaid breaking the tape in 4:27:16, only 20 seconds ahead of Stewart, who ran well to finish 2nd. Sam Warriner had been in 2nd for much of the day, coming as close as 25 seconds behind McQuaid with about 3 miles to go. That was as close as she would come, though, and she paid the price for her efforts, falling back in the closing miles. Warriner managed to hold onto third by a somewhat comfortable margine despite her struggles, three and half minutes ahead of McGlone. McGlone managed to sneak by early leader Stevens, who had her work cut out for her holding of a fast closing Linsey Corbin for fifth and sixth respectively.
"The run was very hilly! I was so stoked to swim beside Sam Warriner today… that was cool. And the more I do these races… the more of these races I want to do. But first I have a little tri meet in Maui I need to be at," said McQuaid. "I started working with Jacky Evereardt of triathlon-hebdo.com fame in Europe and I think that is now tipping the balance between good-ish potential and execution. My first triathlon coach ever!"
Related image gallery
A 70.3 Lake Stevens gallery by Randy Sadler
Lake Stevens Ironman 70.3
Lake Stevens, Washington
Aug 15, 2010
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:57:47
2. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 3:59:07
3. Luke Bell (AUS) 3:59:53
4. James Cotter (USA) 4:00:55
5. Luke McKenzie (USA) 4:01:32
6. Jemani Francis (AUS) 4:03:11
7. Kirk Nelson (USA) 4:03:20
8. Guy Crawford (AUS) 4:05:46
9. Matt Lieto (USA) 4:06:11
10. Christopher Bagg (USA) 4:06:59
Women
1. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 4:27:16
2. Tyler Stewart (USA) 4:27:36
3. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 4:29:09
4. Sam McGlone (CAN) 4:32:41
5. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:33:13
6. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:35:38
7. Haley Cooper-Scott (USA) 4:40:12
8. Lauren Harrison (USA) 4:40:49
9. Eva Janssen (NLD) 4:43:37
10. MacKenzie Madison (USA) 4:46:44
