News & Racing

Australian Leon Griffin wins Rev3 Maine Olympic

Leon Griffin clinches his first major win of the season at the Rev3 Maine, edging out competitors with a late sprint finish.

Karl Hayes

August 27, 2013 — 12.22pm. 4 min read

Australian triathlete Leon Griffin took out the men’s title at the Rev3 Maine Olympic-distance triathlon on the weekend. After plenty of close finishes this season, ‘Griffo’ finally took a big W on North American turf this year.

After racing to a close second behind American Andy Potts recently at Timberman 70.3, Griffin had to find out the hard way what he had in the legs. ”A pretty solid race across the board again in all 3 legs meant I was never too far from the front…and the only question was whether I’d emptied the gas tank too much the previous weekend”, he told TriZone, ”In the end I had to call on the sprint legs I used to know well some 10 years ago when I was competing in the sprint events as a junior, and threw one too many surges in for David Thompson to match – taking the victory by a few seconds!”

Old Orchard Beach, Maine “Leon Griffin used patience and a strong swim-bike-run to grab the win today at Old Orchard Beach at last Olympic distance event on the 2013 REV3 circuit. Katie Hursey showed her recent world cup win was no fluke as she swam near the front of the race, entered T2 with a lead and then recorded run split faster than most of the men.

THE MEN

Chris Braden led the swim, exiting the calm, flat Atlantic just ahead of Brian Fleishman, Kyle Leto, David Thompson and Eric Limkeman. The 5 athletes attacked them beginning of the bike. Braden and Fleishman were dropped pretty quickly with Thompson driving a fast bike pace. Griffin had a quick transition, with a strong swim and found himself with the leaders immediately.

The rolling hills of the bike course did not separate the men and the 4 of them entered transition within 20 seconds of each other. Thompson immediately moved to the front of the race, with Griffin having a slow transition and exiting last. About a mile into the race, Griffin caught Thompson and they swapped the lead heading into the last mile.

“I felt better and better as the run went on,” said Griffin, who raced Timberman last weekend.
“By mile 5 I had my legs underneath me and was ready for the sprint.”

They entered the final straight together. Griffin threw in a surge with about 500 to go. Thompson responded. The speed was on. Unfortunately a police officer monitoring the course moved just as they turned up the final sprint, and both were stopped as they ran into the officer. Griffin was the first to react and get back to full stride and grabbed the finish tape 5 seconds ahead of Thompson.

Limkeman rounded out the top 3 with a solid run. Leto came in for 4th just behind.

One key athlete missing from the front of the run was Chris Foster, who had lost 2 minutes in the swim. Foster did however run himself up to 5th place with a blistering 31:47 run split, the fastest run on the day.

Braden showed his skills are stepping up as he finished 6th in this strong field.

“I was surprised at how nice the course was. The swim was pancake flat. That helped me a lot today,” Griffin said.

Limkeman remains in the lead of the series and Thompson moves into second. Richie Cunningham holds on to third. Cunningham is hoping to start Branson Rev3.

“Rev3 put on another world class event here in Maine. Old Orchard Beach is a great vacation spot and definitely on my list for a return visit,” Limkeman said.

“The race was fast from the gun. Our front group biked hard and were able to separate ourselves from the main pack heading into the run. From there, the guy with the best foot speed won. I’m looking forward to Branson.”

THE WOMEN

Radka VodiÄkovÃ¡ led out of the water with 20 seconds on Katie Hursey and 1:10 on Lindsey Jerdonek and Lauren Goss.

Goss quickly went to work on the bike, and shortly after grabbing the lead about halfway into the bike, she was issued a penalty for crossing the yellow line, resulting in a 2 min stand down. Jerdonek recorded the fastest bike split of the day, with VodiÄkovÃ¡ and Hursey closely behind. The three began the run stride for stride, but Hursey’s run was to be unmatched.

Hursey recorded a 34:46, only 2 seconds slower than the 4th place male run split and secured her the win. VodiÄkovÃ¡ crossed second and Goss 3rd. Jerdonek hung tough on the run for 4th, with Laurel Wassner in 5th.

Excited to come away with a win today at my first Rev3 experience! It was a blast to do this race with Off the Front Multisport and Rev3 put on a great, competitive and fun race! Thanks to all the volunteers who really made this race special,” said Hursey after the race.

Goss remains the solid forerunner in the women’s series standings.