Naeth and Docherty win Ironman 70.3 Panama

Canada’s Angela Naeth and New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty won the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Panama titles today.

Naeth, a native of Prince George, B.C., swam 22:56, chased down Great Britain’s Leanda Cave with the top bike split of 2:26:31, then finished with a 1:21:45 half marathon to win with a time of 4:15:31. American Kelly Williamson took second (4:19:11) thanks to a 1:16:18 run. Margaret Shapiro of the USA finished third (4:19:34).

“As soon as I passed Leanda I knew the win was in my grasp. I knew as soon as I passed her I had to keep going strong,” said Naeth to Ironmanlive. “There were a few girls who were close. I wanted to start this year off with a bang – which I did.”

In the men’s race, American’s Chris Lieto and Lance Armstrong set the pace during the bike and Lieto ended up starting the run just a few seconds ahead of Armstrong. Armstrong eventually took to the lead just past the 5 km mark and that is where the chase for first began. Docherty, a winner of the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics and a bronze in 2008, chased hard (you can see a sample of his legendary running ability in the video below) with his stunning run of 1:12:50 he was able to catch Armstrong in the final kilometers of the run to take the victory in 3:50:13. Armstrong was just 42 seconds back in second, and Australia’s Richie Cunningham captured third (3:52:59).

“Uh…. that was painful! Can’t complain tho,” tweeted Armstrong. “Very happy with my race and 2 be back in the tri game. Congrats to @bevanjdocherty on the win.”

Bevan Docherty from 2005

Men

1. Bevan Docherty NZL 3:50:13

2. Lance Armstrong USA 3:50:55

3. Richie Cunningham AUS 3:52:59

4. Rasmus Henning DEN 3:53:38

5. Romain Guillaume FRA 3:54:44

6. Jesse Thomas USA  3:55:30

7. Chris Lieto USA 3:56:21

8. Ivan Vasilyev RUS 3:58:32

9. Oscar Galindez ARG 4:00:53

10. Bert Jammaer BEL 4:01:24

Women

1. Angela Naeth CAN 4:15:31

2. Kelly Williamson USA 4:19:11

3. Margaret Shapiro USA 4:19:34

4. Leanda Cave GBR 4:21:42

5. Tine Deckers BEL 4:25:29

6. Yvonne Van Vlerken NED 4:29:00

7. Natascha Badmann SUI 4:29:17

8. Michelle Vesterby DEN 4:30:20

9. Bree Wee USA 4:31:09

10. Dede Griesbauer USA 4:33:03

Get the full race coverage at Ironmanlive.