McMahon Second and Wurtele Third at St. George

Brent McMahon was just 22 seconds away from defending his title today at Ironman 70.3 St. George but raced his way to a gutsy 2nd place. Heather Wurtele raced solidly across all disciplines to take 3rd place.

In the men’s race Andy Potts was first out of the water with McMahon  46 seconds behind. Eventual winner Jan Frodeno and Australian Clayton Fettell were  hot on their heels. By 10 miles into the bike Joe Gambles, Andrew Yoder, Ben Hoffman, Tim Reed and Bevan Docherty had caught up. In the end the Michael Weiss, Sebastian Kienle and Andrew Yoder would all ride about 2:07.

Joe Gambles and McMahon led most of the run with Tim Don and Jan Frodeno in pursuit. In the end the Frodeno passed McMahon with about 1.5km to go and held him off to take the win. Tim Don was third.

Meredith Kessler led the women out of the water in 24:14 but Jodie Swallow, Julie Dibens and Mary Beth Ellis were also in the mix. Dibens rode the fastest among the pro women in 2:22:15 followed by Swallow, Kessler, Ellis and Heather Wurtele. Despite a penalty on the bike, Kessler would run down the Dibens and Swallow.  Wurtele would charge from slightly behind to grab third place among and incredibly strong field.

Ironman 70.3 St. George US Championships
St. George, Utah, USA / May 3, 2014
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run

Top men

1. Jan Frodeno (GER) 3:45:21
2. Brent McMahon (CAN) 3:45:43
3. Tim Don (GBR) 3:45:50
4. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:47:10
5. Andy Potts (USA) 3:47:33
6. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:48:39
7. Ben Hoffman (USA) 3:48:39
9. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 3:49:05
10. Sebastian Kienle (GER) 3:49:38

Top women

1. Meredith Kessler (USA) 4:11:53
2. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 4:12:29
3. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 4:14:31
4. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 4:16:10
5. Julie Dibens (GBR) 4:23:21
6. Rebekah Keat (AUS) 4:25:22
7. Margie Shapiro (USA) 4:25:55
8. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 4:26:08
9. Ruth Morrey (USA) 4:28:00
10. Linsey Corbin (USA) 4:28:17