The Weekend Box Sep 20 2015
The Weekend Box offers end of summer triathlon news of top pros atop the podium at Lanzarote 70.3, a U.S. woman and a South African man winning a 70.3 in Incheon, two U.S. pros winning Beijing International, Middaugh and Garrard prevailing at the XTERRA USA Championship in Ogden, and news of the 29th annual Malibu classic.
Eneko Llanos and Jodie Swallow win Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote
Three weeks before Kona, Eneko Llanos of Spain and Jodie Swallow of Great Britain won Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote by very different margins.
Llanos, an Ironman World Championship runner-up in 2008, came from behind on the run to edge runner-up Romain Guillaume of France by 16 seconds. Swallow, a world champion at the ITU long course and at the Ironman 70.3 distance, led wire-to-wire to a 12:12 margin of victory over runner-up Jeanne Collonge of France.
Men
Ricardo Hernandez of Spain led the swim in 23:38, with a closely packed group of four including Guillaume, Antony Costes of France, Llanos, and David McNamee of Great Britain close behind. Guillaume, the defending Lanzarote 70.3 champion, took the lead with a race-best, race-record 2:22:31 bike split helped by unusually calm winds on the hilly course. Llanos, the 2010 race winner, and Costes worked hard to minimize the damage and arrived in T2 just a minute behind Guillaume.
Guillaume held the lead until 15 kilometers on the run. But Guillaume’s 1:17:14 run finally succumbed to Llanos’ 3rd-fastest 1:15:37 half marathon. Llanos finished in 4:06:26 with a 16 seconds margin over Guillaume and 1:18 over 3rd-place finisher Costes.
McNamee, who closed with a second-fastest 1:15:32 run, finished 4th in 4:09:45 and Alberto Moreno Molins of Spain, who made up for a 25:12 swim with a race-best 1:14:22 run, took 5th, 11 seconds behind McNamee.
Women
Swallow was part of the men’s lead group and exited the swim in 23:52, with a 2:37 lead on Aida Valiño Gomez of Spain, 3:26 on Saleta Castro Noguiera of Spain, and a 5:06 lead on her most dangerous rival, Jeanne Collonge of France.
Swallow then posted women’s best splits for the bike (2:39:44, 33 seconds better than Collonge) and the run (1:22:58) to finish in 4:29:48 with a comfortable margin over Collonge and 25:17 over 3rd-place finisher Castro Nogueira.
Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote
Lanzarote, Spain
September 19, 2015
S 1.2mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Eneko Llanos (ESP) 4:06:26
2. Romain Guillaume (FRA) 4:06:42
3. Antony Costes (FRA) 4:07:44
4. David McNamee (GBR) 4:09:45
5. Alberto Moreno Molins (ESP) 4:09:56
Women
1. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 4:29:48
2. Jeanne Collonge (FRA) 4:42:00
3. Saleta Castro Nogueira (ESP) 4:55:05
4. Aida Valiño Gomez (ESP) 4:58:32
5. Michaela Renner-Schneck (GER) 4:59:01
Josiah Middaugh and Emma Garrard win XTERRA USA Championship
U.S. XTERRA stars Josiah Middaugh and Emma Garrard won the XTERRA USA Championship Saturday in Ogden Utah.
Middaugh and Garrard also won the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series. Middaugh finished the season with 390 points, 28 points ahead of Braden Currie of New Zealand, and Garrard finished with 370 points, 69 ahead of fellow U.S. competitor Suzie Snyder.
Men
Josiah Middaugh of Eagle-Vail Colorado won the XTERRA USA Championship for the second time in four years in 2:21:21, edging New Zealand’s Braden Currie by just 26 seconds after a fierce battle.
“It’s the most important race I’ve done so far this year, and to have that tight racing from start to finish is really magical,” said Middaugh, who is now an 11-time champion. “Braden Currie just never gives up. I was wishing that every once in a while he would, but he doesn’t. It was never over. I just kept having to dig deeper and deeper.”
The duo kept trading the lead on the bike and the run, and it wasn't until about 4 miles of the 7-mile trail run that Middaugh opened a 10 seconds gap and held it to the line. The gap ended up at 26 seconds as Currie walked through the finish chute, high fiving the fans.
“I knew that Josiah was going to create a big challenge today and I just had to give it everything I could,” said Currie, who beat Middaugh in a similar stride-for-stride duel earlier this year at the XTERRA Southeast Championship. “I thought I had a little more speed on the run downhills, but Josiah had the edge on the climbs. Somewhere in the middle he pushed and I tried to catch him at the top but he had a little too much for me.”
Women
After 8 straight runner-up finishes over two years on the XTERRA America Tour, Emma Garrard of Park City, Utah finally broke the tape, finishing in 2:50:06 with a 4:43 margin over runner-up Sara Schuler.
Catherine Sterling led the swim and stayed out front until halfway through the 18-mile mountain bike section when Sara Schuler and Garrard caught her. Garrard took the lead just before the big climb up Sardine Peak and crossed the line with a big smile, holding her 2-year-old son Torin in her arms for her first XTERRA USA Championship win. Schuler passed Sterling and finished 2nd, also holding her 2-year-old son in her arms at the finish. Sterling held 3rd to the finish, 3:25 behind Schuler.
“This is the first time I’ve ever held the mic,” said Garrard. “I’m so happy to be on the top step. Proud to be up here with the girls who pushed me so hard, not just today but for the last 10 years. It’s great to have my family here, and for XTERRA to be my family, too.”
XTERRA USA Championship
Ogden, Utah
September 19, 2015
S 1 mi. / MTB 18 mi. / TR 7 mi.
Men
1. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:21:21
2. Braden Currie (NZL) 2:21:47
3. Brian Smith (USA) 2:30:46
4. Alex Modestou (USA) 2:32:44
5. Matt Lieto (USA) 2:33:42
Women
1. Emma Garrard (USA) 2:50:06
2. Sara Schuler (USA) 2:54:49
3. Catherine Sterling (USA) 2:58:14
4. Jaime Brede (USA) 3:01:39
5. Maia Ignatz (USA) 3:05:35
Eric Lagerstrom and Lauren Goss win Beijing International Triathlon
First time Beijing International Triathlon competitors Eric Lagerstrom and Lauren Goss of the U.S. won the top shares of the $100,000 purse of the Olympic distance event on Sunday.
Fresh off a win at the 2015 Escape From Alcatraz, Eric Lagerstrom became the first man to win the San Francisco classic and the Beijing race back-to-back.
Lagerstrom passed Bennett for the lead midway through the run leg and finished in 1:54:42, with a 24 seconds margin on Bennett and 2:17 on 3rd-place finisher Reed.
“I never thought I would ever be racing ‘the greats’ Greg Bennett and Matt Reed,” said Lagerstrom. “I grew up seeing the legends on the covers of Triathlete Magazine, and to be racing with them and sharing the podium here in Beijing is unbelievable.”
Goss finished in 2:07:16, and topped runner-up Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic by 2:27 and 3rd-place finisher Felicity Sheedy-Ryan of Australia by 2:51.
“The bike course was technical, and the run course too, with 600-plus stair steps on the run,” said Goss. “This was the most beautiful course I have ever raced and the biggest win of my career.”
For the second year, the race started and finished in beautiful Garden Expo Park in the Fengtai District of Beijing. The race started in Garden Expo Lake, biked through the villages of Fengtai and up Qian Ling Mountain (the highest peak in southwest Beijing) and finished with a run through Garden Expo Park that included a 606-step stair climb.
Beijing International Triathlon
Beijing, China
September 20, 2015
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 1:54:42
2. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:55:06
3. Matt Reed (USA) 1:56:59
4. Cesc Godoy (ESP) 1:57:32
5. Graham O’Grady (NZL) 1:57:46
Women
1. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:07:16
2. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 2:09:43
3. Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) 2:10:07
4. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 2:10:11
5. Laura Bennett (USA) 2:10:57
Mary Beth Ellis and Matt Trautman win Ironman 70.3 Incheon
Matt Trautman of South Africa and Mary Beth Ellis of the United States won Ironman 70.3 Incheon on Sunday in Korea.
Men
Rudolf Naude of South Africa led the swim in 22:07, creating a 2 seconds lead on Frederik Croneborg of Sweden, 22 seconds on Mitchell Kibby of Australia, and 45 seconds on Trautman.
Strong cyclist Croneborg burst into a 1:23 lead at T2 with a race-best 2:12:07 bike split – 40 seconds better than Trautman and 7 minutes better than Mitchell Kibby, who followed a 25:04 swim with a 2:19:41 bike split. American Brad Williams also showed up with a 2:15:34 effort on the bike.
Trautman soon seized control of the race with a race-best 1:19:35 run, which brought him to the finish in 3:57:52 with a 2:31 margin of victory over Croneborg and 11:19 on 3rd-place finisher Kibby.
Women
Ellis dominated the women's race with women's best splits of 22:14 in the swim, 2:23:26 on the bike leg, and 1:27:50 for the hot and humid run. Ellis, this year’s ITU long distance World Champion, finished in 4:16:01 with a 29:22 margin over fellow U.S. competitor Renee Baker and 36:15 over 3rd-place finisher Sandra Fantini of France.
Ironman 70.3 Incheon
Incheon, Korea
September 20, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Pro Women
1. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 4:16:01
2. Renee Baker (USA) 4:45:23
3. Sandra Fantini (FRA) 4:52:16
4. Katja Rabe (GER) 5:06:02
Pro Men
1. Matt Trautman (RSA) 3:57:52
2. Frederik Croneborg (SWE) 4:00:23
3. Mitchell Kibby (AUS) 4:09:11
4. Brad Williams (USA) 4:09:52
5. Alistair Eeckman (USA) 4:10:29
Andi Böcherer and Celine Schärer win Ironman 70.3 Cozumel
Andi Böcherer of Germany had a close win and Celine Schärer of Switzerland sailed to a comfortable win at Ironman70.3 Cozumel.
Men
Böcherer swam 22:07 to lead James Hadley of Great Britain by 6 seconds, Drew Scott of the U.S. by 25 seconds, Leon Griffin of Australia by 29 seconds, Viktor Zyemtsev of Ukraine by 32 seconds, Raul Tejada of Guatemala by 1:28, Cody Beals of Canada by 1:31, and Michael Weiss of Austria by 3:20.
Cycling master Böcherer rocketed away from the field with a race-best 2:02:08 bike split that was just 26 seconds better than Weiss, but 3 minutes better than Beals and Tejada, and left the German with a 3:45 cushion on Weiss, 4:36 on Beals, and 4:45 on Zyemtsev.
Beals made a charge, but although his race-best 1:16:01 run split cut 3:50 from Böcherer’s lead, it still left the Canadian 23 seconds short of Böcherer’s 3:48:10 winning time. Zyemtsev’s 3rd-fastest 1:18:45 run brought him home 3rd, 3:08 behind the winner.
Women
Schärer’s 23:31 split led the swim and gave the Swiss a 1:05 lead on Georgia Stott of Australia, 1:07 on Jeanni Seymour of South Africa, 1:32 on Corrie Kristick of the U.S., and about 2:50 on a trio of U.S. competitors including Lesley Smith, Lauren Barnett, and Danielle Mack.
Seymour made a surge and passed Schärer with a women's-best 2:22:19 bike split that gave her an 18-seconds lead over her Swiss rival at T2, with the rest about 5 minutes back.
On another hot day in the this Yucatan paradise, Schärer’s 1:34:29 run split proved the fastest of all her rivals and brought her to the line in 4:25:47, with a 3:50 margin of victory over Seymour (1:38:27 run) and 10:35 over 3rd-place finisher Georgia Stott of the U.S.
After a mechanically troubled 3:01:13 bike split, fleet-footed U.S. competitor Lesley Smith’s women's-fastest 1:27:31 run split was only good enough to bring her home 7th, 34 minutes behind the winner.
Ironman Cozumel
Cozumel, Mexico
September 20, 2015
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Andi Bocherer (GER) 3:48:10
2. Cody Beals (CAN) 3:48:33
3. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 3:51:18
4. Michael Weiss (AUT) 3:51:35
5. Raul Tejada (GUA) 3:52:36
Women
1. Celine Schärer (SUI) 4:25:47
2. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 4:29:37
3. Georgia Stott (AUS) 4:36:22
4. Danielle Mack (USA) 4:41:27
5. Corrie Kristick (USA) 4:44:54
Carly Johann and Justin Rossi win Nautica Malibu Triathlon International
Carly Johann of Culver City, California and Justin Rossi of Reno, Nevada won the International Distance pro titles at the 29th Annual Nautica Malibu Triathlon in Zuma Beach, California.
Johann finished in 2:10:25 with a 10:36 margin of victory over Brittany Oliver of Ventura, California and 21:34 over Madi Serpico of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Rossi finished in 1:58:27 with a 1:49 margin over Chris Berg of La Jolla, California and 8:28 over 3rd-place finisher Reilly Smith of Santa Monica, California.
Nautica Malibu Triathlon
Zuma Beach, California
September 19, 2015
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Pro Women
1. Carly Johanm (USA) 2:10:45
2. Brittany Oliver (USA) 2:21:21
3. Madi Serpico (CAN) 2:32:19
Pro Men
1. Justin Rossi (USA) 1:58:27
2. Reilly Smith (USA) 2:06:55
3. Chris Berg (USA) 2:00:16
4. Michael Olzinski (USA) 2:12:15
5. Eric Marnoch (USA) 2:19:56
Getting more in Chicago
At times is is thrilling to get more than you bargained for, but more is not always better. That is also true for the age group Sprint participants at the WTS Chicago Grand Finals event. When the athletes got the medals around their necks after crossing the finish, they may have noticed longer distances engraved on the medals than they actually did. 1.5k / 40k / 10k and the words Open Sprint Distance. Pic below courtesy of Jeff Fine.
