Ambrose and Keat win Ironman Louisville
Lewis cracks the top ten.
On a very hot and humid day in Louisville (30 degree plus temperatures, even the water temperature was over 28 degrees), Paul Ambrose (GBR) and Rebekah Keat (AUS) both obtained dominating victories thanks to their top bike splits.
Ambrose was second out of the water and quickly overtook John Flanagan (USA) with a 4:31:36 bike ride. Taking a double-digit lead (over 12 minutes) onto the run, he cruised to line in 8:29:50 for his first career Ironman win. Denmark’s Martin Jensen was second (8:41:54), and 2008 Champion Max Longree finished third (8:50:10) with the top marathon of the day (2:55:28) – the only one to run sub 3 hours in the sweltering heat.
Similarly, Keat’s 5:08:25 ride created a comfortable cushion for her heading into the marathon. Despite feeling fatigue from the heat of the day and the Challenge Copenhagen Iron distance race she won on August 15th, she still had the second best run (3:23:50) to finish in 9:33:15, ahead of the USA’s Kim Loeffler who ran the top women’s split of 3:21:08 to finish second (9:44:23). Fellow American Bree Wee was third (9:50:35).
Cindy Lewis had the top Canadian performance of the day. The 29 year old chiropractor from North York, Ontario, finished 8th among all women in a time of 10:33:59, and won the 25-29 age group. The fastest Canadian male was Tommy Dion of Sherbrooke, Quebec. He clocked 10:10:43 and finished third in the 18-24 age group.
Top 10 Men
1. Paul Ambrose (AUS) Â 8:29:59
2. Martin Jensen (DEN) Â 8:41:54
3. Max Longree (GER) Â 8:50:10
4. Patrick Evoe (USA) Â 8:53:14
5. Sergio Marques (POR) Â 9:05:04
6. Benjamin Schloegel (USA)Â 9:11:15 *M30-34
7. Josh Beck (USA)Â 9:20:15 *M30-34
8. Patrick Bless (USA) Â 9:20:34
9. Jesse Vondracek (USA) Â 9:25:52
10. Eric Schrading (USA)Â 9:32:51
Top 10 Women
1. Rebekah Keat (AUS) 9:33:15
2. Kim Loeffler (USA) 9:44:23
3. Bree Wee (USA) 9:50:35
4. Whitney Henderson (USA) 10:04:28 *W30-34
5. Lisbeth Kristensen (DEN) 10:12:06
6. Tina Eakin (USA) 10:13:53 *W40-44
7. Kebby Holden (USA) 10:25:20 *W35-39
8. Cindy Lewis (CAN) 10:33:59 *W25-29
9. Andrea Hutchins (USA) 10:39:30 *W30-34
10. Kendra Lee (USA) 10:42:52 *W30-34
Canadian Age Group Standouts
| 1 | Dion, Tommy | 22/6/3 | 22/M18-24 | 01:11:47 | 05:16:19 | 03:34:42 | 10:10:43 |
| 2 | Sanders, Lionel | 33/3/4 | 22/M18-24 | 01:15:04 | 04:56:32 | 03:53:45 | 10:14:31 |
| 3 | Lewis, Cindy | 22/3/1 | 29/W25-29 | 01:10:15 | 05:31:10 | 03:44:23 | 10:33:59 |
| 4 | Wragg, John | 11/6/3 | 60/M60-64 | 01:28:18 | 06:24:21 | 05:06:50 | 13:19:32 |
