Destination Ironman: The Weekend 70.3 Wrap-Up

Those pros not in full-on Kona mode scattered the globe this weekend to make an easy buck at 70.3 races in South Korea, Mexico, and the Canary Islands. Looks nice, eh? When I hit the lottery, I’ll plan on hitting up some of these destination races too. Here’s what went down:

Ironman Lanzarote 70.3

No wetsuits for pros at the start of Ironman Lanzarote 70.3 on Saturday morning at this weekend’s first destination race, based out of Club La Santa on the volcanic island of Lanzarote. A P-750 event with $25,000 up for grabs, this year’s race saw the return of not only defending champ Will Clarke but all of the top 4 men from 2014, while Jodie Swallow headlined the women’s start list.

10 men exited the swim within 15 seconds, setting up a tight start to the bike, while Swallow wasted no time creating a 3 minute gap on her competition coming out of T1. While Swallow’s swim was fast (23:52), for comparison, Helle Frederickson – the course record holder – swam 22:57 on the same course last year. Swallow had picked up an 8 minute lead over the women (and ahead of many pro men) by the 20km mark, while the men’s field shifted and spread out, with Romain Guillaume, Eneko Llanos and Antony Costes coming in close in 1-3, and David McNamee following 3 minutes back in 4^th. No wind meant fast bike times, with Guillaume setting a course record in 2:22:31. Going into the run, Swallow led Jeanne Collonge by a 7 minute margin, while further back Saleta Castro and Aida Gomez were left to duke it out for 3^rd. The top 3 men remained tight all the way to the finish, but Llanos bested the competition in 4:06:27, followed 16 seconds later by Guillaume in 2^nd, and Costes 1 minute back in 3^rd.

Men

1. Eneko Llanos – 23:50/2:23:38/1:15:37 – 4:06:26
2. Romain Guillaume – 23:40/2:22:31/1:17:14 – 4:06:42
3. Antony Costes – 23:41/2:23:57/1:17:04 – 4:07:44
4. David McNamee – 23:51/2:27:18/1:15:32 – 4:09:45

Women

1. Jodie Swallow – 23:52/2:39:44/1:22:58 – 4:29:48
2. Jeanne Collonge – 28:58/2:40:17/1:28:40 – 4:42:00
3. Saleta Castro – 27:18/2:54:39/1:29:11 – 4:55:05
4. Aida Gomez – 26:29/2:53:32/1:35:01 – 4:58:32

Ironman Incheon 70.3

The inaugural Ironman Incheon 70.3, a P-500 event with a $25,000 purse, was held in Songdo, Korea – site of the 2014 Asian Games. Much of the course in this modern “eco-city” is based around Songdo’s Central Park, modeled after the New York landmark. Incheon was originally scheduled for July, but postponed due to an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in South Korea. And we were worried about the water in Rio… The pro start list could politely be described as “small but select” with just 4 women and 11 men, and highlighted by several Sutto athletes, including Mary Beth Ellis and Matty Trautman (recently 15^th at 70.3 Worlds).

Mary Beth Ellis was the leader from the beginning in the women’s field, taking out the swim in 22:14, already 4 minutes up on her competition, and going on to bike a solid 2:23:26 – now 20 minutes up on Renee Baker and Sandra Fantini. Rudolf Naude led the men out of the water, alongside Fredrik Croneborg (Ironman Taiwan Champion and Bahrain 13 member) and Mitchell Kibby. Croneberg took the lead in the bike (2:12:07), but Trautman caught up on the run and held on all the way to the finish line, followed in by Croneborg and Kibby. A duo of Americans, Brad Williams and Alistair Eeckman, rounded out the podium in 4^th and 5^th.

Women

1. Mary Beth Ellis – 22:14/2:23:26/1:27:50 – 4:16:01
2. Renee Baker – 26:20/2:39:18/1:41:12 – 4:45:23
3. Sandra Fantini – 26:05/2:39:05/1:43:18 – 4:52:16

Men

1. Matt Trautman – 22:52/2:12:47/1:19:35 – 3:57:52
2. Fredrik Croneborg – 22:09/2:12:07/1:23:40 – 4:00:23
3. Kibby Mitchell – 22:29/2:19:41/1:24:34 – 4:09:11
4. Brad Williams – 25:04/2:15:34/1:26:36 – 4:09:52
5. Alistair Eeckman – 25:05/2:18:57/1:23:54 – 4:10:29

Ironman Cozumel 70.3

Cozumel. Where normal people go to get sunburnt and rip-roaringly drunk on margaritas, and where triathletes go to show off their latest aero gear…err, race 70.3 miles. Ironman Cozumel 70.3 is a P-750 event with a $60,000 prize purse. Notable names lining up this year included The Proper Starykowicz, Cody Beals, Andi Boecherer, Lauren Goss, Laurel Wassner, and Lauren Barnett.

Some current in the tropical fishbowl that is Chankanaab Park didn’t slow down Andi Boecherer, the first man out of the water in 22:07, with Starky just 4 seconds behind him. Boecherer proceeded to put 2 minutes on his competition out on the bike course, after Starky dropped out with an “irreparable flat.”

Canadian youngster Cody Beals had an impressive run that took him within 23 seconds of the win, but he couldn’t catch Boecherer before the tape. Celine Schaerer picked up a minute-plus on Georgia Stott and Jeanni Seymour during the swim, although Seymour slipped by and was able to hold off Schaerer until the 2^nd half of the run – when it appears that Seymour faded massively, as Schaerer took the win by a whole 4 minutes.

Men

1. Andi Boecherer – 22:07/2:02:08/1:19:51 – 3:48:10
2. Cody Beals – 23:38/2:05:14/1:16:01 – 3:48:33
3. Viktor Zemtsev – 22:39/2:06:16/1:18:45 – 3:51:18
4. Michael Weiss – 25:27/2:02:34/1:18:47

Women

1. Celine Schaerer – 23:31/2:23:44/1:34:29 – 4:25:47
2. Jeanni Seymour – 24:38/2:22:19/1:38:27 – 4:29:37
3. Georgia Stott – 24:36/2:27:35/1:39:08 – 4:36:22
4. Danielle Mack – 26:27/2:27:39/1:39:37 – 4:41:27

photo credit: Lanzarote via photopin (license)

photo credit: Incheon | Airport Road via photopin (license)  

photo credit: Cozumel Mexico 2011-5914 via photopin (license)