Ottawa’s Ryan Cain takes fourth in Lake Placid
South Africa’s Kyle Buckingham and American Amber Ferreira battled through a day of difficult weather conditions to earn their first career Ironman titles at the 16th edition of Ironman Lake Placid.
Buckingham takes his first pro title, Cain runs to fourth
Tomas Martinek (CZE) exited the waters of Mirror Lake first (48:24), while Buckingham sat back in fourth (52:04), just 3:41 down. On the bike, the stormy weather hit but that didn’t stop the 2013 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 Age Group World Champion from getting after his first career pro title. Balazs Csoke (HUN) led the first lap of the hilly bike, but Buckingham amped up his effort and finished with a race best time of 4:43:47 to enter T2 first. Csoke came in 2:56 later, followed by Jonathan Shearon (USA). Buckingham closed with a 2:57:49 marathon and crossed the finish line in 8:38:43 to claim his first ever-professional Ironman title. Csoke held on for second (8:51:26), and Shearon clinched third (8:59:22). Ottawa’s Ryan Cain, ran the second best marathon (3:01:42) to move from sixth after T2, to finish fourth in 9:05:19.
“I started triathlon five years ago and IRONMAN was my first ever race, and this is my first ever win now so I am over the moon,” said an elated Buckingham, who is contemplating a Kona appearance in October. “It was tough, the course was hard. The wind, the rain made it a bit tough on the bike, and then on the run the hills killed me.”
“It was absolutely tough. The new pavement was awesome but the first loop was pretty hairy with all the thunder, lightning, and the rain,” said Cain, who finished fifth last year and is anxiously awaiting the birth of his first child in the next few days. “The run was just kinda survival mode out there. It was tough but I kept it rolling and dug deep there in the second half and got ‘er done.”
Top 5 Pro Men
1. Kyle Buckingham ZAF 8:38:43
2. Balazs Csoke HUN 8:51:26
3. Jonathan Shearon USA 8:59:22
4. Ryan Cain CAN 9:05:19
5. Vinny Johnson USA 9:09:56
Ferreira claims her first Ironman title
Third out of the water in 57:13, Ferreira quickly rode to the front to take control of the women’s race. At the completion of the 180 km bike, she led the race by 5:30 over fellow Americans Kim Schwabenbauer, and Kristin Lemos (8:56). With strong runners like Schwabenbauer, and American Lisa Roberts giving chase, Ferreira ran a career best Ironman marathon (3:08:35) to secure the women’s title in 9:31:28. Schwabenbauer finished second (9:38:14), and Roberts took third (9:40:04) with a 3:07:31 run.
“I’ve never led an Ironman before so this was new territory,” said Ferreira, who plans on tackling Ironman Mont-Tremblant next in the quest for Kona qualification. “I knew the girls behind me (Kim Schwabenbauer and Lisa Roberts) were definitely capable of running sub three marathons so I was just running scared the whole time. But I felt amazing.”
Top 5 Pro Women
1. Amber Ferreira USA 9:31:28
2. Kim Schwabenbauer USA 9:38:14
3. Lisa Roberts USA 9:40:04
4. Kristin Lemos USA 9:50:26
5. Jessica Jones Meyers USA 10:06:53
Adverse weather affects the Age Group race
Thunder and lightning in the area forced race officials to cancel the second loop of the swim for the Age Group athletes. The official age group results will include one loop of the swim, the bike, T2, and the run. T1 time will not be included.
