Potts, McQuaid rule Oceanside
Andy Potts added another chapter in his 4 for 6 domination at Oceanside and multiple XTERRA champion Melanie McQuaid proved for the second time ever she could win on pavement at Ironman 70.3 California Saturday.
The Men
Potts won wire to wire with a nicely calibrated race-best 22:48 swim, 4th-best 2:13:08 ride and a 3rd-best 1:14:34 run that brought him to the finish in 3:54:03 with a 68-seconds margin over runner-up Richie Cunningham and 79 seconds over third place Jesse Thomas. On a cool, gray day that began in 58-degree water, Potts went 1:46 faster than he did last year winning a fierce duel with Rasmus Henning.
"This race is special to me," said Potts. "I've won here 4 times and been second twice and this was my first WTC race which was my introduction to Ironman and 70.3 racing. It's a great confidence boost to start the year and it's always been a tough test against top competition."
Potts seemed in control all day as he led key Australian challengers Cunningham and Paul Ambrose and the USA's Matt Reed by 1:24 to 1:29 out of the water, fended off bike charges by slower swimmers playing catch up — 2011 Wildflower winner Jesse Thomas (3rd best 2:12:27 bike split) and Leon Griffin (2nd-best 2:12:07 bike split) and arrived in T2 with a 1:45 lead over a tight pack of chasers including Griffin, Ambrose, Cunningham, and Matt Lieto, who fought hard to come back from an 11th best 25:33 swim with a race-best 2:11:46 bike.
Thomas made an early surge on the run, advancing from 7th at T2 to join Ambrose, Griffin and Cunningham in an aggressive chase pack which whittled Potts' advantage to 1:16 in the first lap of twp on the run.
Ambrose was the first to fall back, then Griffin dropped off the pace. Thomas then made a surge that he could not sustain and the battle-hardened veteran Cunningham passed the former NCAA steeplechase star with 500 meters to go. "I got over enthusiastic and at the end was out of gas," said Thomas.
The Women
McQuaid, dusting herself off after a meltdown in the final mile ay the XTERRA World Championship in Maui last October, overcame a 2:37 deficit in the swim with a race-best 2:22:44 bike and held on with a 4th-best 1:24:47 run to finish in 4:19:13 with a 2:44 advantage over runner-up Heather Jackson and 4:27 over early leader and third place finisher Meredith Kessler.
The cool water temperatures and mid-50 degrees Fahrenheit atmosphere left most competitors numb for miles into the bike and even on the run, sbut suited the 38-year-old Canadian well as she was 7 minutes 5 seconds faster than Mirinda Carfrae's winning time last year. Jackson was herself 4 minutes 31 seconds faster than her time in the stirring duel to the finish with Carfrae last year, but could only duplicate her runner-up finish.
McQuaid's sizzling bike split was 3:54 better than Canadian Rachel McBride, who finished 4th, and 5:18 better than the third-best women's split posted by Jackson.
McQuaid gave thanks to her new Trek bike for her dominating second leg. "I often had the strongest bike in XTERRA and I was disappointed with my bike splits when I came to pavement races," she said. "I have an unusual body type – long legs and short torso — and I never felt strong on the bikes in road triathlons. The Trek bike has a lot of adjustments which make it possible to fit me beautifully and today I could ride with all my power and ability."
McQuaid emerged from the swim 9th, 2:37 down to Kessler, and proceeded to treat the women's field like a game of Pac Man, surging past early leader Kessler roughly 16 miles into the ride. By the time she hit T2, she had 3:31 over McBride, 3:36 over Kessler and 6:37 over Jackson. Current XTERRA World Champion and one-time Oceanside runner-up Lesley Paterson had buried her chances with a 30:51 swim and 2:35:19 bike.
On the run, Jackson made a noble charge to second place with a race-best 1:20:51 run but could only chop 3:53 from McQuaid's margin. Kessler hung on to second place until late in her 1:24:47 run (exactly the same time as McQuaid's) when Jackson stormed past.
Ironman 70.3 California
Oceanside, California
March 31, 2012
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / TR 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Andy Potts (USA) 3:54:03
2. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:55:11
3. Jesse Thomas (USA) 3:55:22
4. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:57:03
5. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 3:59:41
6. Matt Reed (USA) 4:00:38
7. Chris McDonald (AUS) 4:00:48
8. Ben Hoffman (USA) 4:01:29
9. Stephen Kilshaw (CAN) 4:02:33
10. Matt Lieto (USA) 4:02:37
Women
1. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 4:19:13
2. Heather Jackson (USA) 4:21:57
3. Meredith Kessler (USA) 4:23:40
4. Rachel McBride (CAN) 4:26:01
5. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:29:46
6. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 4:31:50
7. Rachel Challis (USA) 4:34:34
8. Beth Walsh (USA) 4:35:21
9. Amber Ferreira (USA) 4:38:54
10. Haley Scott-Cooper (USA) 4:39:32
