Llanos and Cave triumph in the desert
Gross takes eighth, Wurtele ninth.
Spain’s Eneko Llanos set a new course record and Great Britain’s Leanda Cave won her first Ironman race at Ironman Arizona today.
Llanos grabbed the race lead with a 4:20:54 ride, but lost that lead during the run to Great Britain’s Paul Amey by the 14 km mark. However, Llanos kept Amey within sight and with a little over 3 km to go, he surged away to win in 7:59:38, and smash the previous course record (8:07:16) set by TImo Bracht last year.
Amey crossed the line in second (8:01:29), and the Ukraine’s Viktor Zyemtsev ran a race best 2:43:30 to come from well behind to finish third (8:14:36). Kelowna’s Trevor Wurtele also ran well (2:51:32) to move up eight spots during the run to finish ninth (8:22:21).
“Had a great race. Crazy to only get 9th after a solid day like that. 8:22 and Ran 2:51 though,” tweeted Wurtele.
In fourth after the swim (52:08), Cave moved into second after a 4:51:06 bike ride, then ran down swim leader (48:34) Amanda Stevens of the United States with a top women’s marathon of 2:58:51 to take the win in 8:49:00. Cave has been on quite an impressive streak after a third place finish at the Ironman World Championships. Cave placed second at the ITU Long Distance Championships, and won Ironman 70.3 Miami.
American Linsey Corbin ran 3:02:27 to claim second (8:54:33), and Meredith Kessler finished third (9:00:14). Victoria’s Sara Gross used a 3:07:52 run to move from 18th off the bike to finish eighth (9:18:03).
Top 10 Men
1. Llanos, Eneko 7:59:38
2. Amey, Paul 8:01:29
3. Zyemtsev, Viktor 8:14:36
4. Abel, Torsten 8:16:44
5. Poulat, Stephane 8:18:55
6. Kienle, Sebastian 8:19:29
7. Jurkiewicz, Jeremy 8:19:38
8. Weiss, Michael 8:21:36
9. Wurtele, Trevor CAN 8:22:21
10. Bastie, Christophe 8:26:10
Top 10 Women
1. Cave, Leanda 8:49:00
2. Corbin, Linsey 8:54:33
3. Kessler, Meredith 9:00:14
4. Stevens, Amanda 9:09:39
5. Vesterby, Michelle 9:11:23
6. Williamson, Kelly 9:12:18
7. Calkins, Kathleen 9:12:40
8. Gross, Sara CAN 9:18:03
9. Dietrich, Susan 9:19:47
10. Wernick, Charisa 9:22:37
