An Incredible Trevor Foley–Sam Long Duel at Ironman 70.3 Happy Valley
Foley secured the win and the title of Ironman 70.3 North American Champion, moving one step closer to the Ironman Pro Series' $200,000 bonus.
Mel Sauve
During the pre-race pro panel, the audience laughed as Trevor Foley openly discussed the motivation that comes with chasing the Ironman Pro Series title (and, with it, “200 Gs”). With a full-distance victory already secured at Ironman New Zealand earlier this year, he arrived in Happy Valley with a simple goal: to finish within two minutes of the winner.
He not only achieved that goal, but took the win outright while treating fans to one of the most compelling head-to-head battles of the Ironman Pro Series season so far.
Race Recap
Morgan Pearson led the field out of the water in 23:15, spearheading a front group of three that also included Ben Kanute and Marc Dubrick, “The Shark.” As for other notable contenders, Matthew Marquardt exited 59 seconds back, Jason West 1:05 behind, Foley 2:27 down, and Sam Long 3:08 behind.
Unfortunately, Pearson suffered a mechanical near the start of the bike, causing significant delays for the American and effectively ending his hopes of contention.
At the pre-race panel, Foley and Long had spoken about the possibility of working together on the bike to ride their way to the front of the race. That is exactly what they did.
By the 40km mark, the pair had reduced their deficit to roughly 1:20 and continued to chip away at the leaders as the kilometres ticked by.
Marquardt ultimately entered T2 first, but only narrowly ahead of a chase group of five that included the hard-charging Foley and Long, along with Rasmus Svenningsson, Justin Riele, and Dubrick.
Long wasted little time making his move on the run, quickly closing down Marquardt and taking over at the front. Foley sat roughly 20 seconds behind, but by the 6-7km mark he had bridged the gap. By then, the pair had already established a 40-second advantage over the rest of the field – a margin that would only continue to grow as the race progressed.
Foley and Long exchanged the lead several times, neither willing to concede an inch as fans waited to see who would crack first. That answer finally came around kilometre 16, as Foley began to open a gap, gradually but decisively pulling away from Long. The dedicated run focus he had done with coach Sean Jefferson appeared to be paying off.
Foley crossed the line in 3:42:25 after a 1:09:50 half marathon. Long finished second, 1:10 back, while West rounded out the podium for third.
We caught up with Foley at the finish line, where he shared how much the victory meant to him and confirmed that fans can expect to see him next at Ironman Lake Placid in a month’s time.
Long revealed that his knee had flared up before the race and that he wasn’t even certain he would be able to start. Nevertheless, he gutted it out to finish second and said he was proud of his performance despite missing out on the win.
He also showed us the names of his sons printed on his race suit, a constant source of motivation and a reminder of the value of pursuing your dreams with everything you have.
West described a challenging day that began with adversity in the swim, forcing him to burn several matches early in the race while trying to recover. Nevertheless, he demonstrated remarkable resilience, running his way from eighth place in T2 onto the podium.
Stay tuned for our recap of the women’s race, where Paula Findlay secured her third consecutive Ironman 70.3 North American Championship title.