Andy Potts, Ellie Salthouse Conquer Cancun
Men
Andy Potts opened a big lead with race-best swim and bike splits, then held off a half marathon charge by Cody Beals of Canada to finish the half Iron distance Challenge Cancun in 3:49:26 with a 1:06 margin of victory over Beals and 2:18 over 3rd place finisher Ben Hoffman of the U.S.
Potts led the swim in 23:43 which gave him a 6 seconds lead on Ben Hoffman and 1:28 on Cody Beals. Potts and Hoffman rode together at the front for the first 25 kilometers, followed by a chase group including Canadians Beals and Taylor Reid, Elliot Bach, Jorge Fuentes and Chris Schroeder.
From then on, Potts kept pushing hard and entered T2 after a race-best 2:00:35 bike split which earned him a four minutes advantage on Hoffman and 7 minutes on the rest of the chasers. Halfway through the half marathon, Potts lost just 30 seconds to Hoffman. Behind Hoffman, Beals and Reid duked it out hard, and eventually Beals passed Hoffman for second place.
Potts closed with a 4th-best 1:21:42 run split which gave him a 1:06 margin of victory over Beals, who finished with a race-best 1:16:11 half marathon. Hoffman closed with a 2nd-best 1:19:52 run which brought him home in 3rd place, 1:12 behind Beals.
Women
Ellie Salthouse led a 1-2-3 sweep by Siri Lindley-coached stars Mirinda Carfrae and Yvonne Van Vlerken on a blazing hot day on the Yucatan Peninsula. Salthouse led the 1.9 kilometer swim in 25:30 which gave her a 1:47 lead on Amalia Isabel Sanchez of Mexico, 1:48 on fellow Aussie Carfrae, and 27:22 on Maddy Pesch of the U.S. Yvonne Van Vlerken of Netherlands, famed for her slow swim, trailed by 5:28.
Salthouse kept pushing on the bike leg, by 25 kilometers increasing her lead to near 3 minutes on Carfrae, 6 minutes on Pesch, and 7 minutes on Van Vlerken. By 57km, Salthouse increased her lead to 4 minutes on Carfrae, and far more on Pesch and Van Vlerken. After a women's-best 2:16:35 bike split, she had a 5 minutes lead on Carfrae and more than 10 minutes on the rest.
After a women’s-best 1:23:46 run, Salthouse finished in 4:09:37 with an 8:40 margin of victory over Carfrae (1:27:07 run) and 24:44 on Van Vlerken (1:33:16 run).
Challenge Cancun
Cancun, Mexico
April 28, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Andy Potts (USA) 3:49:26 S 23:43 B 2:00:35 R 1:21:42
2. Cody Beals (CAN) 3:50:32 S 25:11 B 2:05:49 R 1:16:11
3. Ben Hoffman (USA) 3:51:44 S 23:49 B 2:04:25 R 1:19:52
4. Taylor Reid (CAN) 3:54:34 S 25:09 B 2:06:06 R 1:20:14
5. Alan Carillo (MEX) 4:08:33 S 26:42 B 2:09:39 R 1:28:29
Women
1. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) 4:09:37 S 25:30 B 2:16:35 R 1:23:46
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:18:17 S 27:18 B 2:20:16 R 1:27:07
3. Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED) 4:34:21 S 30:58 B 2:26:18 R 1:33:16
4. Maddy Pesch (USA) 4:36:44 S 27:22 B 2:26:23 R 1:38:51
5. Elizabeth Nyitray (USA) 4:44:41 S 31:02 B 2:28:19 R 1:41:06
