Tim Reed, Caroline Steffen prevail at Subic Bay
Tim Reed ran away from fellow Aussie Tim Van Berkel while Caroline Steffen of Switzerland dominated the bike and run legs to earn the pro titles at Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay.
Men
Reed and Van Berkel overcame a 1:13 deficit to swim leaders Alex Polizzi and Sam Betten with race-best 2:13:26 bike splits that led to a three-way tie at T2 shared by Van Berkel, Polizzi and Reed, while Nick Baldwin lurked 2:10 back.
After 16km of the half marathon, Reed surged to a 3:17 lead on Van Berkel and 4 minutes on Baldwin in third place. After a race-best 1:23:18 run split, Reed finished in 4:04:34 with a 4:03 margin of victory over Van Berkel (1:27:18 run) and 4:33 over third place finisher Baldwin (1:25:37 run split).
Previously at Subic Bay 70.3, Reed won in 2015 and took third in 2016 and 2017.
Women
Manana Iijima of Guam led the swim with a 27:01 split that gave her 53 seconds lead on Steffen, 1:13 on Laura Wood of New Zealand, and just over 4 minutes on Australians Dimity Lee Duke and Lisa Tyack.
After the top of the major climb 13 kilometers into the bike leg, Steffen led by 1:28 on Iijima, 2:52 on Wood, 3:28 on Duke and 6:35 on Tyack. After a women’s-best 2:24:54 bike split – 3:30 better then the next best effort by Duke – Steffen carved out a 7 minutes lead on Duke, 9 minutes on Iijima and 14 minutes on Wood.
With no need to adopt a suicidal pace in the hellish heat, Steffen cruised home with women's-best 1:34:18 run to finish in 4:29:15 with a 13:44 margin of victory over Duke (1:41:26 run split) and 17:08 over 3rd place finisher Wood (1:38:07 run).
Steffen thus added to her third podium finish at Subic Bay 70.3 after a win in 2016 and a runner-up in 2017.
Century Tuna Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay
Subic Bay, Philippines
June 2, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Tim Reed (AUS) 4:04:34 S 24:35 T1 1:07 B 2:13:46 T2 1:50 R 1:23:18
2. Tim Van Berkel (AUS) 4:08:37 S 24:35 T1 1:06 B 2:13:47 T2 1:53 R 1:27:18
3. Nick Baldwin (SEY) 4:09:07 S 26:31 T1 00:59 B 2:14:07 T2 1:54 R 1:25:37
4. Alexander Polizzi (AUS) 4:12:36 S 23:22 T1 1:12 B 2:14:54 T2 1:54 R 1:31:16
5. Sam Betten (AUS) 4:30:25 S 23:30 T1 1:27 B 2:18:25 T2 1:57 R 1:45:08
Women
1. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 4:29:15 S 26:53 T1 1:01 B 2:24:54 T2 2:11 R 1:34:18
2. Dimity Lee Duke (AUS) 4:42:59 S 29:59 T1 1:04 B 2:28:24 T2 2:09 R 1:41:26
3. Laura Wood (NZL) 4:46:23 S 27:01 T1 1:13 B 2:38:02 T2 2:02 R 1:38:07
4. Lisa Tyack (AUS) 4:50:39 S 29:54 T1 1:09 B 2:40:45 T2 2:07 R 1:36:45
5. Manami Iijima (GUAM) 5:02:19 S 25:55 T1 1:06 B 2:34:11 T2 2:06 R 1:59:03
