IronMan Branson 70.3 Results
Andy Potts was dominant in his wire to wire win, while Red Deer, Alberta’s Jenny Fletcher, who balances and international modeling career with her professional triathlon career, won her first IRONMAN 70.3 race in convincing fashion.
By Shawn Skene
Pott’s off the front from the gun
USA’s Andy Potts was in a league of his own in the water as he hit Moonshine Beach on Table Rock Lake, with a 22:56 swim. Potts had six pursuers between 2:29 and 2:46 in arrears, included Australians John Polson and Mathew Pellow, New Zealand’s Crawford Napier, American Matt Taylor and Argentina’s Mario De Elias.
By 20-miles into the bike Potts remained in the lead with Ben Hoffman (fresh off a win at IRONMAN Wisconsin two weeks ago) in second, 2:22 back. The American duo had Pellow (-3:10) and Polson (-3:18) trailing in third and fourth. At 38-miles, Potts had stretched his lead to 3:18 over Hoffman and continued to put Pellow and Polson out of contention for the win.
Pott’s untouchable
Entering T2 and out onto the run, Potts held a 3:27 advantage over Hoffman, 4:11 on Pellow and 8:10 on De Elias, who had surged to fourth during the late stages of the bike. Completing the opening half the run, Potts was running controlled with Hoffman 3:41 back, while Pellow was making a push towards second 12-seconds behind of Hoffman. At 11-miles, Potts was 4:01 up on Hoffman, with Pellow fading back to 5:27 off the leader’s pace.
Potts cruised to the win in a time of 4:04:23, with Hoffman holding on to second. Pellow appeared to have blown up in the closing two miles, allowing De Elias to claim the final podium placing.
Professional men’s results
1 Andy Potts 4:04:23
2 Ben Hoffman 4:08:22
3 Mario De Elias 4:12:37
4 Mathew Pellow 4:13:20
5 John Polson 4:14:26
Addler puts on swim clinic
American Joanna Addler put on a swim clinic in Table Rock Lake that saw her swim 3:41 faster than her closet rival, USA’s Tammy Richie. Canadian Jenny Fletcher was third out of the water 4:41 back, with Germany’s Nina Kraft following Fletcher up the beach seven seconds later.
Fletcher forges to lead
At 20-miles, Addler’s lead had shrunk to 1:47 over Fletcher, who was in second and moving forward fast. Kraft drifted off Fletcher’s pace and found herself in third, 2:40 back of the leader. Surging to the lead, Fletcher held a 57-second advantage over Addler at 38-miles, while Kraft was sitting back in third, 3:25 out of the lead.
Hitting the transition and onto the run, Fletcher carried a stunning 5:47 lead over Kraft, who was now in second. Addler, running in third, was 6:13 off the pace with the remainder of the field well off the pace. Over the open half of the run, Fletcher and Kraft were running at an almost identical pace with a 6:15 margin separating the two.
Over the last 6.5 miles Fletchers pace slowed, but she was able to hold off Kraft. Crossing the finish line in 4:43:29, Fletcher captured her first Ironman 70.3 title. Kraft crossed the line second in 4:45:50, 2:22 back of the winner, while American Caroline Gregory rounded out the top three.
Professional women’s results
1 Jenny Fletcher 4:43:29
2 Nina Kraft 4:45:50
3 Coroline Gregory 5:06:38
4 Tami Richie 5:11:04
5 Joanna Addler 5:12:55
Originally from: http://ironman.com/events/ironman70.3/branson70.3/model-win-for-fletcher-potts-the-class-of-the-field#ixzz27bGzyt1W