McNeice, Crawford top Wanaka
Dylan McNeice won his 3rd-straight and Gina Crawford won her 6th women's title at Challenge Wanaka Sunday.
Men
McNeice completed a Challenge Wanaka three-peat and broke his own course record with a time of 8:37:14 over the rugged Wanaka bike and run terrain which gave him a 2:51 margin of victory over fellow New Zealander Dougal Allan and 12:32 ahead of 42-year-old 3rd-place finisher Courtney Ogden of Australia.
McNeice, completing a 2013-2014-2015 victory skein at Wanaka, posted a race-record 45:33 swim which created a 17:07 lead on Allan who suffered through a torturous 1:02:41 swim in 42nd place. Allan recouped 40 seconds of that deficit with a faster transition, then gained back 16:22 more as he posted a race-best 4:30:50 bike leg which smashed Richard Ussher’s 2010 race bike split record by 12 minutes and topped McNeice’s 4:47:12 split handily, whittling McNeice’s lead to 5 seconds going into T2.
When they finished transition and started the run, McNeice had a 12 seconds lead and never looked back. By 8 kilometers into the run, McNeice had a 1 minute lead on his way to a 3:00:59 marathon that was 2:39 faster than Allan’s run split.
Race commentator Mark Watson had a witty – and true – comment after the race: “The world is screwed if Allan can learn how to swim.”
McNeice agreed: “It was a lot harder than last year. Dougal rode so well and I honestly thought he was going to catch me. He pushed me and I ran that first lap [of the run] too hard. I really felt it on the last 15km, but I think that got me the title so it was worth the risk.”
McNeice’s 8:37:14 overall time broke his own 2014 race record by 1:34.
Women
Gina Crawford earned her 6th Challenge Wanaka women's title out of the 9 times this beautiful race has been contested. She did not race the 2007 inaugural, missed the 2011 race due to the birth of her son, and was beaten by Candice Hammond last year by 7 minutes 14 seconds.
This time around Crawford won wire-to-wire in a time of 9:31:51 with an 11 minutes 55 seconds margin of victory over Laura Siddall of Great Britain, 20:25 over 3rd-place finisher Michelle Bremer, originally from Mount Maunganui in New Zealand but now living in Sydney, Australia, and 34:06 over 4th-place finisher Simone Maier of Germany.
Crawford kicked off her fine day with a women's-best 50:55 swim which gave her a 5:36 advantage over Christie Sym, 5:53 over Bremer and 6:17 over Siddall. On the bike leg, Crawford’s 5:12:39 split was 1:05 faster than Siddall and gave her a 6:38 advantage over Siddall and 9:22 over Bremer. Crawford then sailed to an unhurried victory with a 3:22:25 marathon which was 6:18 faster than Siddall’s run.
“It’s always a tough race here but the crowds are fantastic,” said Crawford. “It pushes you to the finish so thanks to everyone for your support. I find it difficult leading. I really love chasing when it’s easier to keep focused and motivated. When you’re out front, you don’t know what’s happening behind you.”
Siddall impressed in only her second long distance triathlon since turning pro early last year.
Challenge Wanaka
Lake Wanaka, New Zealand
February 22, 2015
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Dylan McNeice (NZL) 8:37:14
2. Dougal Allan (NZL) 8:40:06
3. Courtney Ogden (AUS) 8:49:46
4. Carl Read (NZL) 8:50:47
5. Braden Currie (NZL) 8:56:11
Women
1. Gina Crawford (NZL) 9:31:51
2. Laura Siddall (GBR) 9:43:46
3. Michelle Bremer (NZL) 9:52:16
4. Simone Maier (GER) 10:10:58
5. Charisa Wernick (USA) 10:18:54
