Kahlefeldt, Blatchford win Busselton
Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia and Liz Blatchford of Great Britain won the men’s and women’s pro titles at Ironman 70.3 Busselton Saturday.
Pro Men
Kahlefeldt put together a 3rd-best 23:45 1.2-mile swim, a 5th-best 2:08:27 bike split and closed the deal with a 1:10:35 half marathon run to finish in 3:45:39 with a 2 minutes 50 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Tim Reed pf Australia and 3:46 over 3rd-place finisher James Hodge of Australia.
Hodge, who came into this contest with a 3rd at Geelong 70.3 and 5th at Auckland 70.3 and who won this race last year, led a breakaway 4-man pack in the swim with a 23:13 split, followed by Sam Appleton (23:42) Kahlefeldt (23:45) and Michael Fox (23:50). Tim Reed was next in line with a 25:02.
Hodge, a 21-year-old phenom who just a year ago won the Male 18-19 age group title at the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final in Beijing, continued his domination with a race-best 2:05:55 bike split that gave him a 2:53 lead Tim Reed (25:02 swim and 2nd-fastest 2:06:59 bike) and 3:04 on Kahlefeldt.
On the run, Kahlefeldt took the race by the throat with a blazing fast 1:10:35 run that was 2:49 better than Reed 6:35 better than Hodge.
Pro Women
British ITU star Blatchford combined a race-fastest 26:01 swim, 3rd-best 2:25:37 bike split and a race-best 1:23:53 run to finish in 4:19:07 with a 3:15 margin of victory over runner-up Australian Kate Bevilaqua and 5:02 over 3rd-place finisher Anna Ross of New Zealand.
Blatchford led the swim with a 26:01 clocking, followed by Lisa Marangon (26:38), Michelle Wu (28:34), Bevilaqua (28:58) and Ross (30:25).
Blatchford led the way with a 3rd-best 2:25:37 split that brought her to T2 with a total time of 2:51:38, followed 4 seconds later by Marangon (26:38 swim and 2nd-best 2:25:04 bike split). They were trailed by Bevilaqua (1:08 down). Ross (4:35 down) and Michelle Wu (7:55 behind).
On the run, Blatchford’s 1:23:53 run was 12 seconds faster than Ross, who advanced from 4th to 3rd pro at the finish. Bevilaqua’s 3rd-fastest 1:25:58 held for 2nd overall pro.
Age Group heroics
Rachael Smith, a 38-year-old Australian amateur who started in a separate wave, posted the fastest overall women’s time, highlighted by a women’s race-best 2:17:56 bike split which was 5:52 faster than the best bike split posted by a woman pro. Smith’s overall finish of 4:17:54 was 1 minute, 13 seconds faster than the time posted by Blatchford. Whether or not Smith gained any advantage by starting in an amateur wave that theoretically may provide some aerodynamic boost by allowing her to legally pass close to a long string of inferior riders, it was a great performance. Smith capped off her day with a 1:25:38 run that was the 3rd-fastest run by any woman on the day and could not be said by any measure to have been aided by her amateur wave start.
Ironman 70.3 Busselton
Busselton, Western Australia
May 11, 2013
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Pro men
1. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 3:45:39
2. Tim Reed (AUS) 3:48:29
3. James Hodge (AUS) 3:49:25
4. Sam Appleton (AUS) 3:49:30
5. David Mainwaring (AUS) 3:50:46
6. John Polson (AUS) 3:51:58
7. Michael Fox (AUS) 3:51:58
8. Alex Reithmeier (AUT) 3:53:17
9. James Alexander Lewin (AUS) 3:55:42
10. Matty White (AUS) 3:56:48
Pro Women
1. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 4:19:07
2. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 4:22:22
3. Anna Ross (NZL) 4:24:09
4. Lisa Marangon (AUS) 4:27:30
5. Michelle Wu (AUS) 4:30:07
