Farlow, Crawford rule Challenge Wanaka
Aaron Farlow, a rising Ironman star from Australia, won his second Ironman-distance event Saturday as he bested defending champion Jamie Whyte of New Zealand by 10 minutes even to take the men’s crown at Challenge Wanaka.
New Zealander Gina Crawford, coming back strong after the birth of her first child six months ago, edged Britta Martin of Germany by 3 minutes 33 seconds to win her fourth Challenge Wanaka title and her 9th Ironman distance win.
Farlow, who won Ironman UK last year for his first victory at the distance, combined a third-best 50:43 swim, race-best 4:44:51 bike and race-best 3:02:41 run to hit the tape in 8:41:53 with a comfortable margin over runner-up Whyte and third place finisher Kieran Doe of New Zealand.
Doe, the 2007 Ironman Canada champion, suffered a concussion, broken wrist, a bruised shoulder and tendon damage in his hands on January 12 when hit by a car while training on his bike. Doe’s third place finish was a brave effort when many thought he could not recover well enough to start at Wanaka.
Doe (47:44) and Bryan Rhodes both broke 48 minutes and the course swim record, three minutes ahead of Farlow and more ahead of Whyte (51:53), Courtney Ogden (51:38) Jimmy Johnsen (52:50), and Keegan Williams and Petr Vabrousek.
Doe and Rhodes set the early pace on the bike, with Farlow bridging the gap to the leaders about Mile 45 as Rhodes dropped back with the first of three flats. Farlow made a surge in the final 30k, about the time Rhodes dropped out his third flat. Farlow hammered home to T2 with two minutes in hand over Doe and more on Whyte.
Farlow but his stamp on the race with a first half marathon in 1:28:27 which gave him a 2-plus minutes margin on Doe and Whyte. By the end of the run on Wanaka’s challenging hills, Farlow’s race-best 3:02:41 marathon was 6:14 better than Whyte, 13:01 faster than Doe, 4:56 quicker than Courtney Ogden and 2:18 better than Petr Vabrousek.
Farlow’s margin of victory was 10 minutes over Whyte, 15:24 over third place Doe, 26:49 over 4th-place Courtney Ogden and 27:12 over Vabrousek.
Gina Crawford won wire to wire with a race-best 54:21 swim, then held firm on the bike and held off the fast-closing run of Britta Martin of Germany to finish in 9:44:06 with a 3:33 margin of victory over Martin and 13:36 over third place finisher Simone Maier of Germany.
Challenge Wanaka
Wanaka, New Zealand
21 January 2012
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Pro Men
1. Aaron Farlow (AUS) 8:41:53
2. Jamie Whyte (NZL) 8:51:43
3. Kieran Doe (NZL) 8:57:17
4. Courtney Ogden (AUS) 9:08:42
5. Jimmy Johnsen (DEN) 9:09:05
6. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 9:15:21
7. Scott Defilippis (USA) 9:16:00
8. Simon Cochrane (NZL) 9:23:15
Pro Women
1. Gina Crawford (NZL) 9:44:06
2. Britta Martin (GER) 9:47:39
3. Simone Maier (GER) 9:57:42
4. Candice Hammond (NZL) 9:58:39
5. Julia Grant (NZL) 10:01:49
6. Nicole Ward (AUS) 10:12:39
7. Tamsyn Hayes (NZL) 10:16:23
