True, Loeschke win Ironman 70.3 Austin
Sarah True of the U.S. and Franz Loeschke of Germany win Ironman 70.3 Austin.
True combined a women’s 3rd-best swim, 6th fastest bike split and closed hard with a women’s-best 1:19:26 half marathon to finish in 4:21:18 with a 1:44 margin of victory over Paula Findlay of Canada and 5:17 over 3rd place Jeanni Seymour of South Africa.
True’s win was her second straight 70.3 victory, coming one month after her win at Augusta 70.3.
Findlay's runner-up finish came in her first foray at the 70.3 distance and six weeks after her victory at the Beijing International.
Loeschke combined a 3rd-best swim, 4th-fastest bike split and 2nd-quickest 1:11:15 run to finish in 3:53:50 with a 1:16 margin of victory over Jesper Svensson of Sweden and 1:17 over Justin Metzler of the U.S.
Loeschke’s win tops his previous 2017 best, a 2nd place at Luxembourg 70.3.
Women
Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the swim in 25:21 which gave her a 1 second lead on Jeanni Seymour of South Africa, 2 seconds on True, 43 seconds on Findlay, 1:28 on Annie Thorén of Sweden, 1:50 on Brittany Oliver of the U.S., 2:11 on Christen Brown of the U.S., and 3:08 on Melanie McQuaid of Canada.
After 25 miles of the bike leg, Spieldenner held a 2 seconds lead on True, 5 seconds on Findlay, and 7 seconds on Seymour, with Christen Brown and Melanie McQuaid just over a minute and a half arrears.
After a women’s 3rd-best 2:30:46 bike split, Brown led the women into T2 by 3 seconds on True (2:33:32 bike split), 14 seconds on McQuaid (2:29:31 bike split), 30 seconds on Spieldenner (2:33:28 bike split), 45 seconds on Findlay (2:33:22 bike split), 47 seconds on Seymour (2:34:14), and 5:13 on Cecilia Davis-Hayes of the U.S. (women’s-fastest 2:28:52 bike split).
At the 3.1 mile mark, True took charge with a 1:06 lead on Findlay, 1:47 on Seymour, 1:52 on Spieldenner, and 2:19 on Brown. At the halfway mark of the half marathon, True maintained a 1:01 lead on Findlay, who was matching True stride for stride, while Seymour fell back to 2:27 and Spieldenner faded to 3:54 arrears.
True remained unbreakable, increasing her lead to 1:14 over Findlay at mile 9.2 while Seymour fell off to 3:14. At mile 11.4, True strengthened her lead to 1:33 on Findlay and 4:24 on Seymour.
After a women’s-best 1:19:26 run, True finished in 4:21:18 with a 1:44 lead on Findlay (1:20:19 run) and 8:17 on 3rd place Seymour (1:23:42 run).
Men
Jesper Svensson of Sweden led the swim in 23:35 which gave him a 52 seconds lead on Bruno Joaquim of Brazil, 58 seconds on Loeschke, 59 seconds on TJ Tollakson of the U.S., 1:00 on Paul Matthews of Australia, 1:36 on Justin Metzler of the U.S.,1:48 on Taylor Reid of Canada, and 2:13 on Matt Hanson of the U.S.
Halfway through the bike leg, Tollakson surged out front of a pack of seven – by 1:38 on Metzler, 1:42 on Loeschke, 1:44 on Matthews, 1:46 on Reid, 1:48 on Eli Hemming of the U.S., 1:49 on Svensson, and 1:51 on Timothy Winslow of the U.S.
After a race-best bike split of 2:11:52, Tollakson arrived at T2 2:52 ahead of Metzler, 2:56 on Reid, 2:59 ahead of Loeschke, and 3:01 on Svensson.
Loeschke took over the lead at 3 miles into the run by a 30 seconds margin on a tight pack including Tollakson, Metzler, Reid, and Svensson.
Halfway through the run, Loeschke increased his lead to 1:27 on Reid, Metzler and Svensson, with Tollakson 1:50 down and Matt Hanson making up time fast, reducing his deficit to 5:50.
Loeschke closed out his victory with a 2nd-fastest 1:11:15 run which gave him a 1:16 margin of victory over Svensson (1:12:32 run) and 1:17 on 3rd place Metzler (1:12:50 run). Tollakson (1:16:20 run) took 4th, 3:18 behind the winner and Reid (1:15:20 run) took 5th, 46 seconds behind Tollakson.
Ironman 70.3 Austin
Austin, Texas
October 29, 2017
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Sarah True (USA) 4:21:18 S 25:23 B 2:33:32 R 1:19:26
2. Paula Findlay (CAN) 4:23:02 S 26:03 B 2:33:22 R 1:20:19
3. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 4:26:35 S 25:22 B 2:34:14 R 1:23:42
4. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) 4:29:48 S 25:21 B 2:33:28 R 1:27:15
5. Christen Brown (USA) 4:31:27 S 27:31 B 2:30:46 R 1:29:23
Men
1. Franz Loeschke (GER) 3:53:50 S 24:33 B 2:14:46 R 1:11:15
2. Jesper Svensson (SWE) 3:55:06 S 23:35 B 2:15:28 R 1:12:22
3. Justin Metzler (USA) 3:55:07 S 25:10 B 2:14:19 R 1:12:50
4. TJ Tollakson (USA) 3:57:07 S 24:34 B 2:11:52 R 1:16:20
5. Taylor Reid (CAN) 3:57:53 S 25:23 B 2:13:58 R 1:15:20
