Kansas 70.3 Photo Gallery
After last year's rains flooded parts of the run course, the 2009 Ironman Kansas 70.3 stayed mostly dry and fast thanks to cloudy mild temperatures and light winds.
After a sixth place thrashing at the Olympic distance Columbia Triathlon a few weeks prior, Chrissie Wellington was relieved to pull out a dominating win in 4:14:52. But she took even greater pleasure in her disaster-free NASCAR-style
4-minute pit stop to replace a flat, demonstrating that her endless practice mastering the deployment of the CO2 canister to inflate the tube had not been in vain.
On the men's side, Luke Bell, Tim O'Donnell,Paul Matthews and Stephen Hackett broke away on the bike. O'Donnell made a brave move to lead the run until Luke Bell ran him down with a mile and a half to go and finished in a swift 3:49:35.
All in all, a good hit out for all concerned.
Two-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington celebrates a smooth 4-minute tire change and a 4:14:52 win at the second Kansas Ironman 70.3 in Lawrence.
The road from Boulder to Lawrence is replete with the wonders of the prairie.
Catching up at the Saturday pro meeting
Last minute pre-swim stretch on a mercifully mild and mostly dry morning at Clinton Lake. Last year, the race course was swamped with heavy rains.
The morning cattle call for swim wave number four.
Paul Matthews of Australia led out of the swim and hung on well for third overall.
Joanna Lawn grits her teeth as she rides the dam with Nina Kraft. After an 8th at Rev3 the week before, the 6-time Ironman New Zealand winner ran hard to take third in Kansas.
Pip Taylor, now a Lawrence resident half the year, came up on Chrissie Wellington as she wrapped up a tire change, But that was as close as it got, as the 2009 Australian long course champ ran 1:23:02 to take second.
Photographer’s view from the back of an 1800cc Harley.
Luke Bell got his first win since last September in a brand new bright blue Zoot Uni. Aero all the way.
Two-time Ironman World Champ Tim DeBoom finished the bike 3:30 down to the front pack, ready to unleash his great run. But hampered by a grievously sore foot, he faded to 11th.
Luke Bell saw recent St. Croix winner Tim O’Donnell take off at a 5:15 pace and let him go. Sticking to his 5:25 per mile, Bell reeled in the US Naval Academy grad at Mile 11.5.
Tim DeBoom, Brandon Marsh and James Cotter duel it out early on the run. At the finish it was Cotter (4th) Marsh (6th) and a sore-footed DeBoom (11th).
Tim O’Donnell pushed to a 1 minute lead by Mile 10, then worn down with the accumulated soreness from a tough half Ironman the previous weekend, he faded. When passed at Mile 11.5, O’Donnell did not ask for whom the Bell tolls.
Brandon Marsh fights hard to hold off the legendary DeBoom on lap one of the run.
Wellington does exultation better than any tri in the business
The epitome of sportsmanship, Wellington does a fist pump to welcome and honor her closest pursuer, Pip Taylor.
If triathlon fails, Wellington can try out for the Rockettes. Here she high kicks with the Kansas State cheerleading squad.
James Hadley was disappointed finishing out of the top 10, but was consoled by Kansas legends Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion.
Simon Thompson was puzzled after falling from 3rd to 12th on the bike, but finished strong with a second-best run. He recovered from his 1:13:47 exertion with a massage.
