Ben Kanute, Paula Findlay Earn Oceanside 70.3 Victories
A week after Ironman California in Sacramento was cancelled, fine weather greeted the field at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside.
Ben Kanute won his second Oceanside 70.3 title on the strength of a fastest swim, fourth fastest bike split and a third-best 1:11:39 half marathon to finish in 3:46:32. His time was good enough for a 2:24 margin on Miki Taagholt of Denmark and 3:03 lead on 3rd-place Sam Appleton of Australia.
Paula Findlay of Canada combined a third-fastest 26:14 swim, a dominating 2:20:31 bike split, and 4th-quickest 1:21:43 run split to finish in 4:14:05 with a 2:10 margin over Emma Pallant of Great Britain and 6:47 over third place Jeanni Metzler of South Africa.
Men’s Race
Kanute won wire-to-wire, starting with a race-best 23:34 swim that gave him a 1 second margin on Sam Appleton of Australia, 3 seconds on Eric Lagerstrom of the U.S., 4 seconds on Jason West of the U.S. and Miki Taagholt of Denmark.
Kanute tied for 3rd-fastest 2:06:39 bike split. A 2nd-quickest 1:11:39 half marathon brought him to a victory, leading home Denmark's Miki Taagholt by 2:24 and 3:03 over Sam Appleton of Australia. Lagerstrom wrote on social media that he hit a pothole on the bike and crashed.
Kanute’s win was his second at Oceanside 70.3, and his race resume includes a 2nd place at the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, and four wins at Escape From Alcatraz.
Women’s recap
Manami Lijima of Guam led the swim with a 25:48 split that gave her a 2 seconds lead on Jeanni Metzler of South Africa, 25 seconds on Paula Findlay of Canada, 53 seconds on Ali Brauer of the U.S., and Mollie Hebda of the U.S. Carrie Lester of Australia was 6th-fastest, 56 seconds back and Emma Pallant-Browne of Great Britain was 8th-, 1:34 arrears. Multi-time Oceanside champion Mirinda Carfrae was 9th out of the water, 4:12 back of the leader. 4
In a superior bike performance, Findlay led the women with a 2:20:31 split that gave her a 6:11 lead on Jeanni Metzler and 6:22 on Pallant and was 3:16 quicker than the next-best effort by Danielle Lewis. Mirinda Carfrae suffered a puncture on the bike leg and did not make an expected charge into contention.
Pallant made the best effort to chip away at Findlay’s lead, but the Brit’s women’s-best 1:17:34 run split could only cut Findlay’s lead to 2:10 at the finish. Metzler ran a 5th-best 1:22:06 to take the final spot on the podium, 6:47 behind.
Findlay began her career with a spectacular 5 wins on the ITU circuit in the 2010 and 2011. After switching to long course, Findlay found great success with a win at St. George 70.3 in 2018, then in 2019, she won the first Challenge Daytona, took second at St. George 70.3, took 4th at Oceanside 70.3, won the high-dollar PTO Championship at Challenge Daytona in 2020, and took 4th at St. George 70.3 earlier this year.
Ironman 70.3 Oceanside
Oceanside, California
October 30, 2021
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Men's Results
1. Ben Kanute (USA) S 23:34 T1 2:21 B 2:06:39 T2 2:20 R 1:11:39 TOT 3:46:32
2. Miki Taagholt (DEN) S 23:39 T1 2:24 B 2:06:36 T2 2:47 R 1:13:32 TOT 3:48:56
3. Sam Appleton (AUS) S 23:36 T1 2:26 B 2:06:35 T2 2:32 R 1:14:28 TOT 3:49:35
4. Chris Leiferman (USA) S 25:46 T1 2:40 B 2:07:348 T2 2:28 R 1:11:45 TOT 3:50:25
5. Jason West (USA) S 23:39 T1 2:25 B 2:11:04 T2 2:29 R 1:11:32 TOT 3:51:08
6. Brent McMahon (CAN) S 23:41 T1 2:19 B 2:10:33 T2 2:19 R 1:13:25 TOT 3:52:15
7. Ben Hoffman (USA) S 24:24 T1 2:50 B 2:09:02 T2 2:29 R 1:14:16 TOT 3:52:58
8. Igor Amorelli (BRA) S 24:22 T1 2:49 B 2:09:01 T2 2:45 R 1:15:18 TOT 3:54:14
9. Dylan Gillespie (USA) S 23:40 T1 2:22 B 2:06:39 T2 2:35 R 1:22:17 TOT 3:57:31
10. Andre Lopes (BRA) S 25:19 T1 2:30 B 2:14:11 T2 2:30 R 1:14:47 TOT 3:59:16
Women's Results
1. Paula Findlay (CAN) S 26:14 T1 2:55 B 2:20:31 T2 2:445 R 1:21:43 TOT 4:14:05
2. Emma Pallant (GBR) S 27:22 T1 2:40 B 2:26:02 T2 2:41 R 1:17:34 TOT 4:16:16
3. Jeanni Metzler (RSA) S 25:50 T1 2:43 B 2:27:19 T2 2:57 R 1:22:06 TOT 4:20:53
4. Danielle Lewis (USA) S 31:48 T1 2:56 B 2:23:47 T2 2:49 R 1:21:29 TOT 4:22:47
5. Grace Thek (USA) S 27:19 T1 2:54 B 2:31:56 T2 2:43 R 1:20:51 TOT 4:25:42
6. Carrie Lester (AUS) S 26:44 T1 2:54 B 2:28:04 T2 3:01 R 1:25:34 TOT 4:26:15
7. Ali Brauer (USA) S 26:41 T1 3:09 B 2:28:04 T2 8:13 R 1:29:09 TOT 4:35:13
8. Manami Lijima (GUAM) S 25:48 T1 3:16 B 2:40:58 T2 3:12 R 1:28:45 TOT 4:41:58
9. Lara Gruden (USA) S 30:03 T1 3:01 B 2:38:25 T2 3:12 R 1:30:43 TOT 4:45:23
10. Summer Deal (USA) S 34:10 T1 3:52 B 2:39:19 T2 3:20 R 1:25:31 TOT 4:46:09
