Currie nips Hoffman in Santa Cruz sprint finish
After a fog-shortened swim, Braden Currie edged Ben Hoffman at the line and Liz Lyles topped fellow U.S. competitor Linsey Corbin by 1:15 at Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz. Braden and Lyles each took home $5,000 top prizes earned in high quality fields that included some competitors who qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship held the same day in Chattanooga.
Men
Australian Jake Montgomery led the 750-meter swim shortened by a heavy fog which delayed the start by an hour. Montgomery started with a 3 seconds lead on Matt Franklin and, on key competitors, 4 seconds on Currie, 5 seconds on Tim O’Donnell of the U.S., 6 seconds on Hoffman, 17 seconds on Andi Böcherer of Germany, 37 seconds on Cody Beals of Canada, 1:17 on Jordan Rapp of the U.S., and 12:08 on Jozsef Major of Hungary.
After 20 miles of the bike leg, Böcherer held a 15 seconds lead on a pack of three including Montgomery, Hoffman and Franklin. One minute arrears were chasers Currie, O’Donnell, Kyle Buckingham, Cameron Good, Kennett Peterson and Cody Beals. After 20 more miles, Böcherer carved out a 2:17 to 2:20 lead on Montgomery, Franklin and Hoffman, with a pack of six including Buckingham, Beals, O’Donnell, Peterson, Currie, and Good two more minutes back.
After a race-best 2:02:13 bike split, Böcherer held a 4:4:18 lead on Montgomery, 4:19 on Hoffman, 4:25 on Franklin, 4:38 on O’Donnell, and 4:44 on Beals, while Currie stood 8th, 4:45 behind the leader.
Böcherer held the lead through 8 miles of the run leg, then disappeared from the official run splits. After Böcherer’s disappearance from the run record, Currie and Hoffman were duking it out within 1 second with O’Donnell lurking 13 seconds behind. The duel for the win held the two leaders together right to the line with the New Zealander prevailing by a lean after a race-best 1:12:38 run. O’Donnell took 3rd, 1:34 arrears after a 1:14:18 run.
Women
Kelsey Withrow led the 750-meter swim in 11:24 which gave her a 5 seconds lead on Leanda Cave, 9 seconds on Heather Lendway, 43 seconds on Liz Lyles, 1:14 on Emma-Kate Lidbury, 1:16 on Linsey Corbin, and 1:56 on Cecilia Davis-Hayes.
After 40 miles of the bike leg, Lyles held a 2 seconds lead on Withrow, 1:04 on Corbin, 1:19 on Lidbury, 1:21 on Cave, and 1:24 on Lendway. After a women’s 2nd-fastest 2:27:36 bike split, Lyles held a 4 seconds lead on Withrow (2:28:24 bike split), 17 seconds on Corbin (women’s-best 2:27:25 bike split), 1:36 on Lidbury, 1:38 on Davis-Hayes, 1:40 on Cave, and 1:44 on Lendway.
After 7.8 miles of the run, Lyles surged to a 1:44 lead on Corbin, 3:04 on Withrow, and 4:05 on Cave. Lyles closed with a women's-best 1:24:14 half marathon which brought her to the finish in 4:08:24 with a 1:15 margin of victory over Corbin (1:25:22 run) and 3:04 on 3rd-place finisher Withrow (1:27:11 run).
Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
September 10, 2017
S 750 m / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Braden Currie (NZL) 3:33:57 S 9:52 T1 2:30 B 2:07:19 T2 1:12 R 1:12:38
2. Ben Hoffman (USA) 3:33:58 S 9:55 T1 2:34 B 2:06:46 T2 1:21 R 1:12:57
3. Tim O’Donnell (USA) 3:35:31 S 9:54 T1 2:34 B 2:07:06 T2 1:14 R 1:14:18
4. Cody Beals (CAN) 3:37:19 S 10:25 T1 2:40 B 2:06:34 T2 1:12 R 1:16:02
5. Jake Montgomery (AUS) 3:37:58 S 9:49 T1 2:37 B 2:06:48 T2 1:21 R 1:16:57
Women
1. Liz Lyles (USA) 4:08:24 S 12:07 T1 3:04 B 2:27:36 T2 1:24 R 1:24:14
2. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:09:39 S NA T1 NA B 2:27:25 T2 1:16 R 1:25:22
3. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 4:11:28 S NA T1 NA B 2:28:24 T2 1:30 R 1:27:11
4. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:11:55 S NA T1 NA B 2:30:08 T2 1:28 R 1:26:02
5. Cecilia Davis-Hayes (USA) 4:13:58 S NA T1 B 2:28:22 T2 1:19 R 1:28:16
