Hayes, Blatchford prevail at Liverpool 5150
Stuart Hayes overcame Fraser Cartmell’s one minute lead off the bike with a superior run and Liz Blatchford took a commanding lead on the bike and withstood Anna Cleaver’s surging run to win the men’s and women’s titles at Liverpool UK 5i50 Sunday.
Clear skies and not too cold temperatures greeted the athletes in Liverpool and Stuart Hayes and Fraser Cartmell came out of the water together in 17:19.
Once one the bikes, Cartmell's 57:06 was fastest among the Pros and allowed the Scot to be first back into the bike-run transition. The 58:12 bike split of Hayes wasn't too shabby either and brought him back into T2 in second position. Jonathan Hotchkiss managed a 57:54, but he was a minute down after the swim and had lost another 10+ seconds in transition.
Hayes then ran 32:21 to take his first win of the season in 1:49:18 and Cartmell hung on to second place in 1:49:52. Behind him Richie Nicholls ran a 31:18 and closed to within 12 seconds to take third.
"It felt great to win my first 5150 event and my first win of the season. If I don't qualify for team GB for the Olympic Games I will be focusing more on this style of racing," said Hayes to slowtwitch. "I had to work really hard on the bike to keep Frazer from getting too much time on me and this made it a really tough day, but I like this style of racing because the best man wins."
For Liz Blatchford all fell into place in Liverpool with a 17:29 swim to start her day, swimming well among the lead men and setting her up for a good controlling position in the race.
Rolling through the streets of Liverpool, Blatchford added more time to her lead with a 1:02:50 bike split. That time was just about 1 minute faster than Anna Cleaver's 1:03:53 and over 4 minutes quicker than Emma Davis who was running in third position.
Blatchford then had the fastest run split in 35:53 to take a dominating win in 1:57:46. Anna Cleaver finished second in 2:03:39 and Emma Davis took the final podium spot in 2:06:48.
"I had a good day feeling strong over all 3 legs. We started with the men and I managed to exit the swim in 4th place overall. I then proceeded to try and put as much time between myself and the other girls on the bike. I felt great running and held a comfortable pace without having to go all out," said Blatchford to slowtwitch. "I was pleased to take my first 5150 win and have now qualified myself for the big one in Des Moines in September. Looking forward to that."
Liverpool UK 5i50 Triathlon
Liverpool, Great Britain
June 26, 2011
S 1.5 k / B 40 k / R 10k
Elite Men
1. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:49:18
2. Fraser Cartmell (GBR) 1:49:52
3. Ritchie Nicholls (GBR) 1:50:04
4. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 1:51:29
5. Beau Smith (GBR) 1:53:16
Elite Women
1. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 1:57:46
2. Anna Cleaver (NZL) 2:03:39
3. Emma Davis (IRL) 2:06:48
4. Holly Lawrence (GBR) 2:08:42
5. Victoria Johnston (GBR) 2:10:31
