70.3 Philippines to Jacobs, Granger
Pete Jacobs successfully defended his title at the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines in 3:51:43. Belinda Granger passed long time leader Amanda Stevens on the run to take the women's race.
Aussie Pete Jacobs led the rain drenched race from start to finish and although it appeared for a while that he might be challenged by Wildflower winner Jesse Thomas on the run, that came not to be. The American struggled on the run and lost quite a bit of time to the speedy Aussie. Thomas in fact reached the finish 21 minutes later, but surprisingly managed to hold on to second place. Cameron Brown took the final podium spot 24 seconds behind Thomas.
"I felt flat until half way on the bike, then was able to put a few extra minutes into Jesse, who also hurt himself on the bike, but perhaps it took more of a toll on his lethal run than he expected. Was great to race a new star of the sport and push myself on my previously weakest leg (the bike) to get the win," said Jacobs to slowtwitch. "I have a lot of room for improvement before Kona and this race gives me extra motivation to put 100% into the next 8 weeks."
Amanda Stevens had a great swim and came out of the water in second position overall. Her time of 24:56 put her almost 3 minutes ahead of Belinda Granger and Bree Wee.
Stevens pushed hard on the bike too and recorded a very solid 2:23:19 bike split. Belinda Granger had gained a few more seconds on the bike, but still was almost 2.5 minutes behind starting the run.
Out on the run though a 1:37:24 half marathon would not prove to be sufficient for Stevens. Granger clocked a 1:32:15 and took the win and the title. Granger's winning time of 4:26:03 was fast enough to place her 8th overall, just 33 seconds behind her husband Justin Granger.
Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines
CamSur, Philippines / August 14, 2011
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top men
1. Pete Jacobs (AUS) 3:51:43
2. Jesse Thomas (USA) 4:12:30
3. Cameron Brown (NZL) 4:12:54
4. Erich Felbabel (HKG) 4:17:44
5. Assad Attamimi (SGP) 4:18:08 * AG M35-39
6. Dane Cantwell (HKG) 4:24:25 * AG M30-34
7. Justin Granger (AUS) 4:25:30
8. Arland Macasieb (???) 4:26:31
9. Anthony Devos (BEL) 4:26:57 * AG M18-24
10. Sandro Angelastri (SUI) 4:35:04 * AG M50-54
Top women
1. Belinda Granger (AUS) 4:26:23
2. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:28:34
3. Bree Wee (USA) 4:35:16
4. Katya Meyers (USA) 4:39:37
5. Lucy Smith (CAN) 4:41:07
6. Monica Torres (PHL) 4:55:15
7. Amanda Carpo (PHL) 5:07:38
8. Marion Kim Mangrobang (PHL) 5:11:33
9. Alessandra Gonzales (PHL) 5:12:31
10. Andrea Bess (USA) 5:18:50 * AG W30-34
