Reed, Carfrae take Rev 3 wins
Matt Reed took a virtual wire-to-wire victory on one of the toughest half-Ironman courses in history to win the inaugural Rev 3 Triathlon with the lion’s share of an impressive $100,000 purse. Emerging triumphant in a field with four world champions, 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Mirinda Carfrae took home $16,000 for her 52-second margin over runner-up Rebeccah Wassner Sunday in Middlebury, Connecticut.
“Oh god, that was the hardest course I’ve ever done!” said Reed regarding the relentless hills of the Connecticut countryside that tested a tough field on the bike and run. Reed emerged from the swim just a few seconds behind the swim winner just under 22 minutes, rode a strong 2:15 bike, and finished with a 1:19 run to hold off the late race surge of runner-up Joe Gambles of Australia by 95 seconds.
“I didn’t scout out the run course before the race and it was a mistake,” said Reed, who earlier this year won Ironman 70.3 California. “The hills were ridiculous, crazy. I had a decent lead on the bike and tried to stay in control but I got tired about Mile 10.”
Aussie Joe Gambles, coming off a 5th place finish at the half-ironman distance classic Wildflower in May, ran a 1:17 to take a career-best $12,000 prize for second place. “That’s the most I’ve won in one day,” said Gambles. “I was surprised I had cut Matt’s lead to 90 seconds near the end, but Matt wasn’t going to let me get any closer. I was really glad to see the finish at Mile 13.”
Tim O’Donnell, continuing his rise to the elite of the half Ironman capped by his recent win at St. Croix, ran down David Thompson with a mile to go to take third place in 4:03:02, 31 seconds ahead of the recent USA Triathlon long course duathlon national champion.
The women’s race was much closer and featured a rugged battle among four contenders who were within 30 seconds of one another at the 8-mile mark of the run.
Six time Ironman Hawaii winner Natascha Badmann, at age 43 continuing her remarkable comeback after suffering career-threatening injuries in a bike crash at Kona in 2007, passed early leaders Joanna Zeiger and Rebeccah Wassner control midway through the bike. After a 2:29 ride, Badmann had a 1:15 lead over Zeiger, 1:30 on Wassner, 2:38 on recent Honu 70.3 winner Belinda Granger and 3:15 on Carfrae.
By Mile 7, Carfrae had tracked down Badmann, with Zeiger and Wassner another 20 seconds back. After a soft touch on Badmann’s elbow as a mark of appreciation, Carfrae proceeded to open a large gap.
After a few more miles, Wassner, coming off Olympic distance wins at the St. Anthony’s and Columbia triathlons, took sole possession of second place. At Mile 10, Zeiger passed Badmann, but by Mile 11.5, Badmann fought back and took permanent possession of third place.
Coming down the stretch, Wassner continued to cut down slightly on Carfrae’s lead, but at the end, Carfrae hit the finish first in 4:27:26 and her 1:23:07 run held off Wassner by 52 seconds. Badmann, coming off a significant win at the New Orleans Ironman 70.3, took the final spot on podium just 48 seconds after Wassner. Joanna Zeiger, the 2008 Ironman 70.3 World champion, took fourth in 4:30:41.
“I had an OK swim which left me a little bit down,” said Carfrae. “But I think I got up on the right side of the bed, because I was able to bike away from some pretty strong girls (including 11-time Ironman-distance winner Belinda Granger, 2002 ITU World Champion Leanda Cave). Still, my work was cut out for me because I was 3:20 back of Natascha and a minute or two behind Rebeccah and Joanna. Luckily, I had my running legs today.”
Rev 3 Triathlon
Middlebury Connecticut
June 7, 2009
D 1.2 mi/ B 56 mi./ R 13.1 mi
Results
Men
1. Matt Reed (Boulder CO) 3:59:28 — $16,000
2. Joe Gambles (AUS) 4:01:03 — $12,000
3. Tim O’Donnell (Boulder CO) 4:32:02 — $8,000
4. David Thompson (St. Paul MN) 4:03:33 — $5,500
5. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 4:07:33 — $4,000
6. Michael Lovato (Boulder CO) 4:08:47 — $2,500
7. Paul Amey (GBR) 4:11:11 — $1,500
8. Jordan Rapp (USA) 4:11:38 — $500
Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:27:26 — $16,000
2. Rebeccah Wassner(USA) 4:28:18 — $12,000
3. Natascha Badmann (SUI) 4:29:06 — $8,000
4. Joanna Zeiger (Boulder CO) 4:30:41 –$5,500
5. Amanda Lovato (Boulder CO) 4:33:19 — $4,000
6. Lisa Mensink (USA) 4:33:57 — $2,500
7. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:36:23 — $1,500
8. Jo Lawn (NZL) 4:36:49 — $500
A complete gallery of images of the amazing Rev3 event can be seen on the site of Clarke Rodgers, the man who provided us with the images above. Check out sportzfoto.com
