 Kiwi
triathletes have been in action at the Lake Stevens 70.3 Half Ironman distance triathlon yesterday (Sunday US time) in Washington.
Update - now includes Robin Reid his age group.
2008 top ranked ITU athlete Samantha Warriner of Whangarei placed fifth, with
Nelson triathlete Britta Martin three spots behind in eighth.
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In the men's
race Jamie Whyte placed fifth.
"I
had a good swim exiting with the main bunch but once on the bike the
pace picked up, with the strong cyclists looking to take full advantage of a
tough bike course," commented Whyte
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"I too was
looking to benefit on the bike, but my plan was stalled 15km into the ride when
I landed a yellow card (cycling infringement) for riding too close to the
centre line of the road. This penalty meant I had to get off my bike at a
penalty tent on the bike course and sign for my infringement. Meanwhile, the guys
I was riding with continued up the road and it took 10km of hard riding to
catch back up to them. This was the first time I have ever copped a penalty on
the bike while racing and it was a good learning experience."
"I entered
transition 2 just behind a group of three with eventual winner, Australian Joe
Gambles, further up the road. The run was hard work after the challenging bike
course. I caught two of the guys in front of me during the run, but
there were a few others that ran through from behind, to eventually finish
in 5th place," said Whyte.
For top Nelson triathlete Britta Martin the race was all
about clawing back from a bad swim to a very creditable 8th in a top
field.
"I was actually really surprised, what a strong woman
Pro field there was. I guess some of them use it as a preparation for Hawaii and a few were
there from the ITU Short Distance Circuit."
"I finished 8th at the end. I was a bit disappointed with it, because I
had a horrible swim where I went the wrong way and ended up coming out of the
water last and in a strong field like that, I guess you can't do any mistakes
like it.
My bike time was pretty good, I think one of the best, there was
only one faster time and the run was ok as well.
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I guess i should be happy,
considering, that I came out of the winter and into the main racing season for
those girls. It was definitely a good experience and I guess it will only make
me stronger, hopefully." Said Martin
Martin's partner, former Olympic cyclist Robin Reid, didn't
have the fastest of transitions, but he showed his cycling pedigree as he
blitzed the M30-34 field to win his age group category by more than eight
minutes.
Not an experienced swimmer, Reid showed the benefits of
early mornings at Richmond's
ASB pool as he completed the 1.9km swim in just under 34min to be within two
minutes of the age group leaders.
Once out on the bike course Reid made no race of it, putting
12 minutes on his nearest opposition and recording the third fastest time of
nearly 900 competitors in the race.
A handy run of 1hr 32min 58sec allowed Reid to coast home in
4hr 32min 14 sec for a comfortable victory in his triathlon debut.
The Swin 1.2
miles, Bike 56 mile & Run 13.1 mile race was convincingly won by Australian Joe
Gambles in a record time of 3:56:36, with Canadian Jeffrey Symonds seven minutes further
back, and Justin Park third
The women's race proved to be much closer, with Becky Lavelle winnng in 4:28:16,
with Canada's Heather Wurtele second in 4:29:24, and 2x ITU World Champion Australian Michellie Jones third.
Results
Men
1/ Joe Gambles [AUS] 3:56:36
2/ Jeffrey Symonds [CAN] 4:03:46
3/ Justin Park [Chapel Hill NC]
4:07:26
4/ Eric Limkemann [Daytona OH] 4:09:48
5/ Jamie Whyte [NZL] 4:11:26
6/ James Hadley [GBR] 4:11:41
7/ Matt Lieto [Bend OR] 4:12:24
8/ John Flanagan [Mililani HI] 4:12:44
9/ Mike Neill [CAN] 4:15:02
10/ Adam Jensen [Seattle WA] 4:15:21
Women
1/ Becky Lavelle [Los Gatos CA] 4:28:16
2/ Heather Wurtele [CAN] 4:29:24
3/ Michellie Jones [AUS] 4:31:07
4/ Melanie McQuaid [CAN] 4:36:19
5/ Samantha Warriner [NZL] 4:39:23
6/ Linsey Corbin [Missoula MT] 4:39:25
7/ Alexis Smith [Monterey CA] 4:42:57
8/ Britta Martin [NZL] 4:44:00
9/ Crystal Anthony [Beverly MA] 4:46:54
10/ Brianna Cash [Washington
DC] 4:47:16
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