Cody Beals successfully defends his Ironman 70.3 Eagleman title
Fergus, Ontario’s Cody Beals was victorious for a second year in a row at this morning’s Ironman 70.3 Eagleman, taking a minute off his time last year and finishing in 3:50:02. Beals crossed the finish line six minutes before the runner-up, completing swim in 27:41, the bike in 2:03:41 and the run in 1:16:21.
Beals started the day coming out of the water among the front men in third, building his lead on the bike and solidifying his gap before T2. On the run, he continued to crush the field, clocking the fastest split of the day for the half-marathon, two minutes faster than runner-up Adam Otstot from Virginia, and nearly eight minutes faster than third place finisher Thomas Gerlach. While Beals didn’t break the bike course record he set last year, his 2:03:41 split meant he was averaging over 43 km per hour in windy and hot conditions.
“I’m thrilled to successfully defend my title on another scorching day at Ironman 70.3 Eagleman,” he told TMC after the race. “After some hiccups earlier in the season, my lead up to Eagleman was very confidence inspiring. I met my goal of not only repeating my win, but also defending in style with the fastest bike and run splits. This historic race holds special significance for me and I’ll certainly be back.”
Kristen Marchant also had a good race at Eagleman this morning, narrowly missing the podium for a fourth place finish in 4:32:59. Fellow Canadian pro Jordan Monnink placed 10th in the men’s field, crossing the line in 4:12:20.
“First 70.3 of the season done,” Marchant posted on social media. “Great swim and bike, but the heat proved too much on the run, with most of the contents of my bike nutrition left on the run course and not able to keep fluid down (yes, excuses and 100% my fault). I struggled through what seemed like a death march to fourth place. Not the goal I had set for myself, but a baby step in the right direction. Great to see other triathletes from Ontario here and super congrats to Cody Beals on defending his title.”
It was a great day for Canadian age-groupers as well in Maryland, with several finishing on the podium in their respective categories.
