Haskins, Beals win Eagleman 70.3
Fast rising Canadian triathlete Cody Beals and U.S. star Sarah Haskins gave top performances to win Ironman 70.3 Eagleman by comfortable margins.
Women
With her Olympic distance non-drafting domain disappearing with the loss of the Life Time Fitness series and Hy-Vee race, the 2008 ITU World Championship runner-up Sarah Haskins seems to be taking well to the 70.3 distance which handsomely rewards her world-beating bike skills.
Haskins and her ITU-honed natatational powers did not lead the swim. Lauren Brandon beat all the men, including her husband Barrett Brandon, who was the fastest male, with a 26:02 split that was 32 seconds better than Haskins. No other pro woman broke 30 minutes on a choppy day in the Choptank (although 30-34 amateur Karen Burbella posted a 29:37 split).
While Haskins broke out front with a women's-best 2:19:10 bike split, Brandon hung tough, just 45 seconds astern after a 2:20:25 effort. Heather Leiggi was next best as her 2:21:15 bike split left her 9:18 arrears and Sarah Piampiano was 4th, 12:56 back.
After her strong start, Brandon fell off fast on her way to a 1:45:29 run split and a 4th place women's finish. With no challengers in sight, Haskins did not have to push the run and still managed a women's-best 1:28:59 which brought her to the line in 4:16:43 with a 11:21 margin on Heather Leiggi and 13:02 on 3rd-place finisher Piampiano, whose 2nd-best 1:29:12 run left her 1:41 behind Leiggi.
The win was Haskins' second 70.3 victory of 2015, coming after her win at San Juan.
Men
Barrett Brandon led the swim in the Choptank River with a 26:08 split that was 55 seconds better than TJ Tollakson, 2:00 quicker than Cody Beals, 2:20 faster than Raymond Botelho, 2:25 ahead of Thomas Gerlach and 2:27 in front of Jordan Rapp.
Whereupon Beals turned on the afterburners and rocketed through the pool table-flat bike leg in 2:01:58 which was 3:56 faster than Tollakson, 5:46 better than Rapp, 9 minutes quicker than Brandon and 9:09 better than Gerlach.
Starting the run with a 2:45 cushion on Tollakson, 6:42 on Rapp, 6:57 on Brandon and 9 and a half minutes on Botelho and Gerlach, Beals unleashed another race-best split – a 1:19:11 run – which brought him to the finish in 3:51:05 with a whopping 10:35 margin on runner-up Rapp (1:23:04 run) and 11:45 on 3rd-place finisher Brandon, who ran 1:23:37.
Ironman 70.3 Eagleman
Cambridge, Maryland
June 14, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Sarah Haskins (USA) 4:16:43
2. Heather Leiggi (USA) 4:28:04
3. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 4:29:45
4. Lauren Brandon (USA) 4:34:00
5. Nicole Valentine (USA) 4:38:44 * F30-34
Men
1. Cody Beals (CAN) 3:52:05
2. Jordan Rapp (USA) 4:01:40
3. Barrett Brandon (USA) 4:02:50
4. Thomas Gerlach (USA) 4:06:57
5. TJ Tollakson (USA) 4:08:52
