Fast weekend tri action in Finland and Michigan
While U.S. age groupers were dueling at the home of Rock and Roll on the shores of Lake Erie, there were half distance contests with notable pro fields in northern Europe and in a Middle West resort. At Turku Finland, Sebastian Kienle battled Pablo Dapena Gonzalez and in Benton Harbor Michigan Eric Lagerstrom’s run outweighed Andrew Starykowicz’s überbiker skills.
Sebastian Kienle rules Challenge Turku
Men
Kienle came to Turku to win the race, collect the check and to gain qualifying points for the Challenge Family year-end World Bonus. Kienle fulfilled his desires, but not without stiff resistance from fast-trending Pablo Dapena Gonzalez of Spain.
Kienle started his day with a 27:26 swim split that left him 11th out of the water with a 3-minute deficit to Dapena, Daniel Baekkegard of Denmark and Thomas Davis of Great Britain.
"It took me quite some time to get into the race and to get the engine going," Kienle told Challenge media. "That made me angry." Fueled by his emotions, Kienle unleashed a 1:55:32 split for the 56-mile bike leg, his fastest ever at the distance, which gave him a 4:12 lead on Dapena starting the run. While Dapena and Kienle ran well, they virtually matched for the day’s best run splits – 1:12:10 and 1:12:04 – which left the German finishing in 3:38:09 with a 4:121 margin of victory over Dapena and 6:32 over 3rd place finisher Daniel Baekkegard of Denmark.
Women
Sarah Lewis of Great Britain wondered if she would be competitive in her first race in months, but she eked out a 52 seconds margin of victory over Australian Kerry Morris.
Lewis emerged from the swim with Kienle – men and women pros started in the same wave – but the women's field lacked swim talent so Lewis entered T1 just 3 seconds back of fellow Brit and women’s swim leader Claire Hann and a minute ahead of top rival Kerry Morris of Australia.
Morris soon charged past Lewis and after a women's-best 2:16:10 bike split entered T2 with a 40 seconds lead. “"It's been a long time that I had raced, so I wasn't sure at all," Lewis recalled. “"But it was a very flat, very smooth, and very fast race. And I got it!"
After a women’s-best 1:23:16 half marathon, Lewis crossed the line in 4:11:56 with a 52 second margin of victory over Morris, who closed with a 1:25:33 run.
Yvonne Van Vlerken of Netherlands, a but worn down after a race last week, took 3rd place, 2:41 behind the winner.
Challenge Turku
Turku, Finland
August 12, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Sebastian Kienle (GER) 3:38:09 S 27:26 T1 2:00 B 1:55:32 T2 1:03 R 1:12:10
2. Pablo Dapena Gonzalez (ESP) 3:42:20 S 24:21 T1 2:03 B 2:02:50 T2 1:03 R 1:12:04
3. Daniel Baekkegard (DEN) 3:44:41 S 24:23 T1 2:00 B 2:02:53 T2 1:05 R 1:14:21
4. Thomas Davis (GBR) 3:46:12 S 24:23 T1 2:00 B 2:02:54 T2 1:02 R 1:15:55
5. Ivan Kalashnikov (RUS) 3:46:42 S 25:51 T1 2:20 B 2:04:55 T2 1:14 R 1:12:25
Women
1. Sarah Lewis (GBR) 4:11:56 S 27:28 T1 2:09 B 2:17:25 T2 1:39 R 1:23:16
2. Kerry Morris (AUS) 4:12:48 S 28:23 T1 1:50 B 2:16:10 T2 00:55 R 1:25:33
3. Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED) 4:14:37 S 30:10 T1 2:04 B 2:15:31 T2 1:12 R 1:25:42
4. Bianca Steurer (AUT) 4:14:50 S 29:19 T1 1:58 B 2:16:16 T2 1:03 R 1:26:17
5. Claire Hann (GBR) 4:18:33 S 27:25 T1 2:27 B 2:19:34 T2 1:46 R 1:27:22
Lagerstrom, Haskins take Steelhead 70.3
Eric Lagerstrom ran down Andrew Starykowicz and Sarah Haskins held off Jackie Hering to win the pro titles at Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Men
Lagerstrom blitzed the swim with a 25:36 split which gave him a 1:29 lead on Igor Amorelli of Brazil, 1:35 on Andrew Starykowicz of the U.S., 2:49 on Taylor Reid of Canada and TJ Tollakson of the U.S., 2:53 on Nicholas Chase of the U.S. and 2:59 on Jackson Laundry of Canada.
Lagerstrom, a former ITU racer who switched to middle distance this year, held off Starykowicz and Amorelli for 40 miles before the American überbiker charge past. After a race-best 1:58:32 bike split, Starky arrived at T2 with a 19 seconds lead on Lagerstrom, and 29 seconds on Amorelli (1:59:12 bike split) with Laundry lagging 5:45 arrears and Tollakson and Nicholas Chase 11:01 behind.
In the first kilometer of the run, Lagerstrom took the lead and after 5 miles was in control with a 1:22 lead on Starykowicz and 2:30 on Amorelli. After 6.3 miles, Lagerstrom stretched his lead to 2:08 in Starky. 2:50 on Amorelli and 6:30 on Laundry.
After a a 2nd-fastest 1:18:17 half marathon (8th place Patrick Brady ran 1:14:55) , Lagerstrom finished in 3:48:02 with a 3:38 margin of victory on Starykowicz (1:22:04 run) and 4:13 on Amorelli (1:22:21 run).
Women
A year after the birth of her second child in April 2017, Sarah Haskins was back on the winning track this year after a victory at Escape From Alcatraz in June and the New York City Triathlon in July. But after a 2.5 year hiatus from the middle distance triathlon, Haskins decided to tackle the Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, Michigan this weekend.
Haskins started with a 28:34 swim which gave her a 1:05 lead on Robin Pomeroy, and 2:30 to 2:54 on a pack that include Holly Benner, Alissa Doehla, Jackie Hering, Molly Supple, Julie Patterson and Christen Brown.
After 34 miles of the ride, Haskins carved out a 2:49 to 23:10 lead on a pack that included Benner, Christine Cross, Brown, Hering, Pomeroy and Patterson. After a women’s second-fastest 2:17:53 bike split, Haskins arrived in T2 with a 2:29 lead on Benner, 2:37 on Cross (women’s-best 2:17:22 bike split), 3:53 on Hering, 4:42 lead on Patterson and 5:18 on Doehla.
Halfway through the 13.1 mile run, Hering sliced Haskins’ lead to 1:18 while Benner and Cross faded back to a 5 minute deficit. After 9.6 miles, Hering was running about 15 seconds per mile faster than Haskins and eyeing a finish line duel. However, Haskins stopped the bleeding of her lead and finished strong in 4:16:19 after a 1:25:23 half marathon which gave her a 1:27 margin of victory on Hering, who closed with a women’s–best 1:23:03 run but simply ran out of real estate. Christine Cross took 3rd place, 7:49 behind the winner.
Ironman 70.3 Steelhead
Benton Harbor, Michigan
August 12, 2018
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 3:48:02 S 25:36 T1 2:12 B 2:00:20 T2 1:39 R 1:18:17
2. Andrew Starykowicz USA) 3:51:40 S 27:11 T1 2:07 B 1:58:32 T2 1:49 R 1:22:04
3. Igor Amorelli (BRA) 3:52:15 S N/A T1 N/A B N/A T2 N/A R 1:22:21
4. Jackson Laundry (CAN) 3:5:32 S 28:35 T1 1:57 B 2:03:02 T2 1:42 R 1:20:18
5. TJ Tollakson (USA) 4:02:59 S 28:25 T1 2:10 B 2:08:15 T2 2:10 R 1:21:55
Women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 4:16:19 S 28:33 T1 2:21 B 2:17:53 T2 2:10 R 1:25:23
2. Jackie Hering (USA) 4:17:46 S 31:09 T1 2:13 B 2:19:19 T2 2:04 R 1:23:03
3. Christine Cross (USA) 4:24:08 S 31:41 T1 2:21 B 2:17:22 T2 1:58 R 1:30:48
4. Holly Benner (USA) 4:24:49 S 31:02 T1 2:13 B 2:18:00 T2 2:01 R 1:31:35
5. Julie Patterson (USA) 4:26:12 S 31:19 T1 2:04 B 2:20:05 T2 1:58 R 1:30:47
