Del Corral and Gajer win Ironman Arizona
American Joe Umphenour led all Ironman Arizona competitors out of Tempe Town Lake today with a 48:32 split. Ten others were within 18 seconds of his lead, but the one that sat 4:14 back is the one that mattered most.
American Jordan Rapp, the 2009 Ironman Arizona champion, wrestled the lead on the bike by the 80 km mark, and he posted a 4:14:46 split to arrive at T2 with a 2:26 lead over Portugal’s Pedro Gomes, 6:18 over Canada’s Trevor Wurtele, and 6:31 over Victor Del Corral of Spain.
Having pulled off a stunning 2:37:29 marathon at Ironman Florida two weeks ago to make up an 18-minute deficit for the win, the question was whether Del Corral had enough in his legs to throw down another great marathon once again. Well, he did.
Del Corral caught Rapp at the 18 km mark and finished with a race best 2:43:58 marathon to grab his second victory in as many weeks and Ironman Arizona men’s title in 8:02:00. Rapp finished second in 8:06:13, and Jens Petersen-Bach of Denmark was third (8:07:53). Kelowna’s Trevor Wurtele put in a solid 8:12:34 day to finish sixth, and Vancouver’s Andrew Russell finished 20th (8:33:50).
Trevor Wurtele stated the following in a Facebook post – “Went for it, cracked a bit. 6th in the end. Happy with my effort today regardless. Also happy with a great 2013. And so stoked it’s time for a bit off season!”
Top 10 Men
| 1 | Victor | Del Corral | 00:54:03 | 04:20:13 | 02:43:58 | 08:02:00 |
| 2 | Jordan | Rapp | 00:52:45 | 04:14:46 | 02:54:54 | 08:06:13 |
| 3 | Jens | Petersen-Bach | 00:52:10 | 04:22:23 | 02:49:39 | 08:07:53 |
| 4 | Denis | Chevrot | 00:48:41 | 04:27:01 | 02:49:47 | 08:09:04 |
| 5 | Pedro | Gomes | 00:48:49 | 04:21:21 | 02:57:57 | 08:11:42 |
| 6 | Trevor | Wurtele | 00:53:49 | 04:19:55 | 02:54:47 | 08:12:34 |
| 7 | Marc | Duelsen | 00:53:01 | 04:21:40 | 02:56:12 | 08:14:29 |
| 8 | Christian | Brader | 00:56:49 | 04:25:24 | 02:52:38 | 08:18:44 |
| 9 | Matthew | Russell | 00:59:19 | 04:20:02 | 02:55:53 | 08:19:10 |
| 10 | Johann | Ackermann | 00:48:33 | 04:28:33 | 03:01:38 | 08:22:30 |
American Meredith Kessler led the swim for the women (50:14), hoping that she’d hold that position for the rest of the day to finally rise to the top of the podium in her 10th appearance in Arizona – she claimed second last year.
Kessler rode 4:45:34 to reach T2 first. She’d start the run 48 seconds ahead of Denmark’s Michelle Vesterby (who rode 4:42:59 to break Chrissie Wellington’s 4:47:06 course record from 2011), and 10:17 ahead of Germany’s Julia Gajer.
Kessler looked good early but slowly began falling apart during the marathon while Gajer ran strong. Gajer eventually caught Kessler with approximately 5 km to go, and finished with the top women’s marathon of 3:02:02 to take the Ironman Arizona women’s title in 8:52:49. Kessler settled for second (8:55:47), and Vesterby third (8:57:24). Toronto’s Miranda Tomenson finished 14th (9:38:52) in her Ironman debut, and Vancouver’s Christine Fletcher took 16th (9:45:21).
Top 10 Women
| 1 | Julia | Gajer | 00:53:24 | 04:51:47 | 03:02:02 | 08:52:49 |
| 2 | Meredith | Kessler | 00:50:14 | 04:45:34 | 03:16:05 | 08:55:47 |
| 3 | Michelle | Vesterby | 00:53:30 | 04:42:59 | 03:16:43 | 08:57:24 |
| 4 | Sarah | Piampiano | 01:02:48 | 04:46:24 | 03:12:49 | 09:05:57 |
| 5 | Asa | Lundstrom | 00:59:46 | 04:55:31 | 03:12:47 | 09:12:20 |
| 6 | Eimear | Mullan | 00:59:43 | 05:04:18 | 03:04:42 | 09:13:13 |
| 7 | Lisa | Ribes | 01:06:08 | 04:56:56 | 03:05:42 | 09:13:32 |
| 8 | Uli | Bromme | 01:02:50 | 04:52:29 | 03:15:13 | 09:15:00 |
| 9 | Beth | Shutt | 01:02:37 | 05:01:56 | 03:06:39 | 09:15:38 |
| 10 | Ariane | Monticeli | 01:02:58 | 05:02:54 | 03:11:37 | 09:21:53 |
| 14 | Miranda | Tomenson | 00:57:27 | 05:01:22 | 03:35:56 | 09:38:52 |
| 16 | Christine | Fletcher | 00:59:33 | 05:03:55 | 03:36:16 | 09:45:21 |
