Martin Jenson and Angela Naeth too strong at Racine 70.3

Danish pro Martin Jenson overtook uber-biker Andrew Starykowicz on the run leg to take the 2013 Ironman Racine 70.3 title, his first 70.3 win, in a time of 3:47:05, ahead of Andrew Starykowicz and Ivan Vasiliev. Canadian Angela Naeth collected her third 70.3 title for 2013 after riding through the top ten women to reach T2, and ultimately the finish line, in first position, ahead of Mirinda Carfrae and   Catriona Morrison, from Scotland.

Men’s Race

Dane Martin Jenson laid down the fastest swim of the day in 24:01 to exit the water with a short gap over a lead pack lead by Russian brothers Ivan (+0:09) and Denis   Vasiliev (+0:06)  which also contained the likes of Andrew Starykowicz (+0:11), and Australians Paul Ambrose (+0:11) and Brad Kahlefeldt (+0:12). Fellow Australian contenders Leon Griffin and Tim Reed exited a little back, 0:21 and 0:26 behind the leader, respectively.

Andrew Starykowicz laid down an impressive 2:02:36 bike split which stretched the field and gave him a 1:45 lead over Jenson   who recorded the second-fastest bike split, into T2. Ambrose was third onto the run, 5:32 back, a few seconds ahead Tim Reed (+5:35). Former Duathlon World Champion Leon Griffin was still in the mix, having dismounted some 7 minutes back in fifth position.

Starykowicz lost over a minute of his lead in the first 5km and eventually surrendered the lead back to the fast Dane, Martin Jenson, before the 10km mark. Jenson ran on to record a 1:15:16 to take the win 1:29 ahead of Starykovicz who held on for second place in 3:48:34. Russian Olympian Ivan Vasiliev used a race-fastest 1:13:31 half-marathon to take third place, after surrendering almost 8 minutes on the bike to the leaders. Reed didn’t quite have the race he was looking for in his third 70.3 in the last four weeks, but did pass compatriot Paul Ambrose for fourth, whilst Leon Griffin finished in sixth place.

No word yet as to why, but dual-Olympian and Busso 70.3 champion Brad Kahlefeldt fell out of contention after mile 30 on the bike, and posted a DNF.

Women’s Race

American super-swimmer and rookie pro  Haley Chura  led the women’s field out of the water with a 1-minute lead over fellow American Jenna Parker, and a 2:28 minute lead over Olympian Barbara Riveros. Australian Mirinda Carfrae was sixth out of the water, 2:50 back, whilst fellow contenders Catriona Morrison and Angela Naeth found themselves exiting 3:12 and 3:37 back, respectively.

Naeth wasted no time on the bike and had moved up to second place by the Mile 30 marker, 1:28 back of Parker. Reaching T2 in first place on the back of 2:19:17 bike split, Naeth held a 1:23 lead over Catriona Morrison, who also made a lot of time up on the bike. Parker was third into transition 1:42 back, whilst early Carfrae was 3:29 back, ahead of swim leader Chura who came in sixth, 4:48 down on Naeth.

Onto the run, Morrison began chipping away at Naeth’s lead and found herself 4-seconds behind after 10km. Naeth gritted her teeth and fought back, to rebuild a 30+second lead by 16km. Carfrae, who we know is one of the sport’s best runners, had run herself into third but was quickly running out of real estate, almost two minutes behind.

Naeth crossed the line in 4:15-flat, 52 seconds ahead of Carfrae who passed Morrison for second place. Carfrae’s 1:20:23 was the fastest run of the day. Morrison held on to third, capping a solid day for her.