Charles, Buckingham win African IM Championship
Lucy Charles proved once again she is among the very best at the Ironman distance with a wire-to-wire, sub-nine hour winning time at the African Ironman Championship at Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa.
Charles combined women’s-best 47:32 swim and 4:57:22 bike legs and a women’s 3rd-fastest 3:05:42 run split to finish in 8:56:06 with a 6:52 margin of victory over fellow Brit Susie Cheetham and 11:04 over 3rd place finisher Linsey Corbin of the U.S.
Charles, only 24 years old, adds another major Ironman victory after her 2017 win at Ironman Lanzarote and 2017 2nd places at Ironman Frankfurt and the Ironman World Championship in Kona.
Kyle Buckingham pleased his home country fans with a come from behind 3:01 margin of victory over swim-bike leader Josh Amberger of Australia.
Buckingham thus earned his third Ironman win after victories at Lake Placid and Vineman. Buckingham finally won at Ironman South Africa after a 2nd place in 2014, 11th in 2015 and 2016, and 4th place in 8:08:58 last year. Overcome with excitement, Buckingham told Ironman Live: "On the final two kilometers, I can't even run, didn't know if it is a dream. It's a dream come true. Hard work [training over the last four months), but it paid off."
WOMEN
Former nationally ranked swimmer Lucy Charles set a women’s swim course record of 47:31, which gave her a 5:15 lead on Rachel McBride of Canada, 5:25 on Charlotte Morel of France, 8:10 on Saleta Castro of Spain, 8:14 on Emma Pallant of Great Britain, and 8:15 on Susie Cheetham of Great Britain and Linsey Corbin of the U.S.
After 90km of the bike leg, Charles increased her lead to 9:03 on McBride, 10:04 on Cheetham, 13:06 on Morel, 14:41 on Pallant and 16:03 on Corbin. At the 133km mark, Charles continued to cruise, while Cheetham cut her deficit to 9:39, with McBride 9:42 back, Morel trailing by 15:54, Corbin by 16:23 and Pallant by 16:25.
After a women’s-best 4:57:22 bike split, Charles opened a huge lead of 11:29 on McBride, 12:00 on Cheetham, 18:51 on Corbin, 20:36 on Genet, 21:32 on Morel and 23:46 on Pallant.
After a women’s 3rd-best 3:05:45 marathon, Charles finished in 8:56:06 with a 6:52 margin of victory over Cheetham (women’s 2nd-best 3:00:47 run split) and 11:04 on 3rd-place Linsey Corbin (women’s-best 2:58:17 marathon).
MEN
Josh Amberger of Australia led the men’s swim in 46:23 which gave him a 1:50 lead on Evert Scheltinga of Netherlands, 1:55 on Italians Giulio Molinari and Alberto Casadei, 1:57 and 1:58 on Maurice Clavel of Germany and Kyle Buckingham of South Africa, 2:04 on Eneko Llanos of Spain, 2:53 on two-time defending Ironman South Africa champion Ben Hoffman of the U.S., 3:28 on Matt Trautman of South Africa, and 3:50 on super biker Cameron Wurf of Australia.
By 43km of the bike leg, Amberger had a 1:22 lead on fast rising Ironman Wales champion Wurf, 1:48 on Molinari, 2:44 on Llanos, 2:46 on Hoffman, 2:50 on Clavel and 2:51 on Buckingham. Halfway through the bike, Wurf passed Amberger and led the Australian by 2:23, Molinari by 3:00, Buckingham by 5:22, Hoffman by 5:26, Clavel by 5:28, Llanos by 5:30, and 2013 Ironman South Africa winner Ronnie Schildknecht by 11:06.
After a race-best 4:19:45 bike split – 4 seconds off South African Raynard Tissink’s 2011 race record – Wurf had a 7:42 lead on Amberger (4:31:36 bike split), 9:44 on Buckingham, 9:48 on Clavel, 9:49 on Hoffman, 9:57 on Llanos, 15:58 on Molinari and 19:24 on Schildknecht.
After 10.5km of the run, Wurf held a 6:49 lead on Amberger, 7:48 on Buckingham, 8:33 on Clavel, 10:05 on Llanos, and 14:52 on Molinari. Unfortunately, Hoffman, who raced the Cape Epic mountain bike stage race a few weeks ago, fell off the pace with leg cramps.
Halfway through the run, Wurf maintained a 5 minutes lead on Amberger, 5:16 on Buckingham, 8:55 on Clavel, 11:03 on Llanos and 13:35 on Molinari. Schildknecht, the 2013 South Africa Ironman champion, was running fast and moved up to 7th, 15:01 arrears.
At 30km, Buckingham passed Wurf. By 31.5km the South African built a 1:04 lead on Wurf, 1:51 on Amberger, 5:05 on Clavel and 9:29 on Schildknecht.
After a race-best 2:48:42 marathon, Buckingham finished to the raucous cheers of his countrymen and women in 8:13:00 with a 3:01 margin of victory on Amberger (2:52:43 run), 5:51 on 3rd place Clavel (2:54:01 run), 7:07 on 4th-place Wurf (3:05:10 run), and 10:09 on 5th-place Schildknecht (2nd-best 2:49:03 marathon).
Standard Bank Ironman African Championship
Port Elizabeth, South Africa / Nelson Mandela Bay
April 15, 2018
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26/2 mi.
Results
Women
1. Lucy Charles (GBR) 8:56:06 S 47:32 T1 2:55 B 4:57:22 T1 2:34 R 3:05:45
2. Susie Cheetham (GBR) 9:02:58 S 55:48 T1 2:08 B 5:01:54 T2 2:23 R 3:00:47
3. Linsey Corbin (USA) 9:07:10 S 55:48 T1 2:37 B 5:08:15 T2 2:15 R 2:58:17
4. Rachel McBride (CAN) 9:18:34 S 52:47 T1 2:26 B 5:04:06 T2 2:21 R 3:16:56
5. Manon Genet (FRA) 9:21:59 S 59:43 T1 2:36 B 5:06:06 T2 2:14 R 3:11:22
6. Gurutz Frades (ESP) 9:30:14
7. Katharina Grohmann (GER) 9:35:07
8. Martina Kunz (SUI) 9:36:40
9. Maja Stage Nielsen (DNK) 9:37:21
10. Annah Watkinson (RSA) 9:38:30
Men
1. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 8:13:00 S 48:22 T1 2:04 B 4:31:51 T2 2:03 R 2:48:42
2. Josh Amberger (AUS) 8:16:01 S 46:24 T1 2:15 B 4:31:36 T2 2:04 R 2:52:43
3. Maurice Clavel (GER) 8:18:51 S 48:21 T1 2:03 B 4:31:57 T2 2:31 R 2:54:01
4. Cameron Wurf (AUS) 8:20:07 S 50:15 T1 2:34 B 4:19:45 T2 2:26 R 3:05:10
5. Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) 8:23:09 S 53:53 T1 2:26 B 4:35:37 T2 2:11 R 2:49:03
6. Jonathan Shearon (USA) 8:23:57
7. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 8:25:10
8. Giulio Molinari (ITA) 8:25:29
9. Philip Koutny (SUI) 8:26:18
10. Eneko Llanos (ESP) 8:31:56
