Weiss, Watkinson take IM 70.3 South Africa
Bradley Weiss and Annah Watkinson lead home country sweep at Ironman 70.3 South Africa.
Men
Weiss overcame a 23 seconds deficit after the swim with a race-best bike split and a 3rd-best half marathon to finish in 3:53:51 with a 1:02 margin of victory over defending champ and fellow South African Matt Trautman.
Trautman unleashed a race-best run surge that cut Weiss’s 2:34 T2 lead to 3 seconds midway through the half marathon. But from that point on, Weiss shut the door on his rival and his 1:19:29 run provided a comfortable 1:02 margin over Trautman, whose 1:18:10 split was not enough to overcome Weiss’s superior swim and bike.
Women
Annah Watkinson opened with a women’s-best 17:39 swim that gave her a 24 seconds lead on Emma Pallant of Great Britain, and then issued a women’s-best 2:34:16 bike split that increased her advantage on Pallant to 1:02. Watkinson concluded a wire-to-wire romp with a women’s-fastest 1:24:49 half marathon – 1:12 faster than Pallant – that brought her to the line in 4:21:15 with a 1:57 margin of victory over Pallant and 22:51 over 3rd place finisher Jade Roberts of South Africa.
Ironman 70.3 South Africa
Buffalo City, East London
January 27, 2019
S 1k / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Pro Men
1. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 3:53:51 S 15:35 T1 2:42 B 2:14:25 T2 1:42 R 1:19:29
2. Matt Trautman (RSA) 3:54:53 S 16:05 T1 2:25 B 2:16:48 T2 1:28 R 1:18:10
3. James Cunnama (RSA) 3:56:26 S 16:08 T1 2:50 B 2:17:43 T2 1:30 R 1:18:18
4. Cyril Viennot (FRA) 3:58:56 S 16:08 T1 2:40 B 2:18:10 T2 1:38 R 1:20:22
5. Ryan Schmitz (RSA) 3:59:38 S 16:16 T1 2:35 B 2:15:34 T2 1:46 R 1:23:29
Pro Women
1. Annah Watkinson (RSA) 4:21:15 S 17:39 T1 2:49 B 2:34:16 T2 1:45 R 1:24:49
2. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:23:12 S 18:03 T1 2:29 2:35:14 T2 1:27 R 1:26:01
3. Jade Roberts (RSA) 4:44:06 S 18:52 T1 3:20 B 2:47:03 T2 2:04 R 1:32:48
4. Sabrina Stadelmann (SUI) 4:52:14 S 19:02 T1 3:21 B 2:50:55 T2 1:48 R 1:37:11
