Amberger, Spieldenner at Calgary
Josh Amberger of Australia and Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. took the overall titles at Ironman 70.3 Calgary.
Men
Amberger led the swim in 22:02, which gave him a 1 minute lead on Jarrod Shoemaker of the U.S., 2:07 on Matt Lieto of the U.S., 2:27 on Steve Mantell of the U.S., and 2:48 to 2:59 on Canadians Shawn Wilyman, Jeff Symonds, James Cook and Nathan Killam.
After a killer 1:58:57 bike split, Amberger carved out am 8:08 lead on Mantell (2nd-best 2:04:39 bike split), 8:52 on Lieto, 11:02 on Killam, 11:05 on Sam Long of the U.S., and 12:46 on Wilyman.
After a 4th-best 1:18:27 run, Amberger finished in 3:40:52 with a 9:49 margin of victory on Long (1:17:12 run), and 11:07 on 3rd-place Mantell (1:20:17 run).
Nathan Killam took 4th in 3:55:39 and Shoemaker ran 1:17:44 to take 5th, 2:39 back of Killam. Symonds did the best he could to make up for a 2:23:04 bike split, running a race-best 1:15:09 split to finish 8th in 4:04:30.
Amberger’s win comes after a 2nd place at Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene.
Women
Spieldenner led the women's swim in 23:34, which gave her a 45 seconds lead on Kelsey Withrow of the U.S. 1:03 on Katy Evans of the U.S., 2:29 on Caitlin Snow of the U.S., 2:38 on Liz Lyles of the U.S., 2:41 on Robin Pomeroy of the U.S., and 2:43 on Rachel McBride of Canada.
Halfway through the bike leg, Spieldenner maintained a 20 seconds lead on McBride, 2:54 on Lyles, 3:30 on Evans, 3:34 on Withrow and 3:45 on Sarah Cameto of the U.S. After a women’s-best 2:18:02 bike split, McBride led the women into T2 by 12 seconds over Spieldenner, 4:48 on Lyles, 5:20 on Cameto, 5:43 on Withrow. After a 2:27:44 bike split, super runner Caitlin Snow was in 10th place, 9:52 arrears.
Throughout the 13.1-mile run, Spieldenner and McBride ran together up to a sprint finish where Spieldenner closed with a 1:27:55 half marathon and a 4:14:49 overall finish which gave her a 4 seconds margin of victory over McBride and 46 seconds on 3rd-place Malindi Elmore of Canada, who had the women’s 2nd-fastest 1:22:48 run.
Liz Lyles finished with a 3rd-fastest 1:24:55 run split to take 4th, 59 seconds behind Elmore and 2:37 ahead of Snow, who ran 1:22:29 to finish 5th.
Spieldenner’s win comes after a 4th place finish at Vineman 70.3 and 5th place at St. Anthony’s Triathlon.
Ironman 70.3 Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
July 24, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Josh Amberger (AUS) 3:40:52
2. Sam Long (USA) 3:50:41
3. Steve Mantell (USA) 3:51:59
4. Nathan Killam (CAN) 3:55:39
5. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 3:58:18
Women
1. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:14:49
2. Rachel McBride (CAN) 4:14:53
3. Malindi Elmore (CAN) 4:15:35
4. Liz Lyles (USA) 4:16:34
5. Caitlin Snow (USA) 4:19:11
