Peterborough Half Iron Results
Guembel wins again, a penalty costs Johnston.
Make it two wins in two weekends for St. Catherine’s Wolfgang Guembel. After winning the Welland Half Iron last weekend, Guembel added the Peterborough Half Iron title to his collection yesterday, while the women’s race was decided by a penalty.
As expected, it was a two-man duel between Guembel and Caledon’s Sean Bechtel – won their last two head to head battles. While Guembel made it out of the water first (24:43), Bechtel had a quick transition and headed out on the bike first. Guembel re-gained the lead with the top 2:14:29 bike split, but Bechtel remained close until the run where Guembel ran a race best 1:19:19 – no one else ran sub 4:00/km pace, to take the win in 4:00:28. Bechtel settled for second (4:06:31), and Peterborough’s Jeremy Tucker was third (4:23:35).
For the women, race favourite Claudia Johnston, who raced Ironman Coeur d’Alene last weekend, took a healthy lead (8:48) onto the run and while New York’s Shannon Desrosiers ran a blazing 1:28:39 (sixth best overall), she actually finished just one second behind Johnston. However, after being assessed a 5-minute penalty, Johnston ended up second (4:49:55), and Desrosiers took home the win in 4:44:56. Peterborough’s Kathy Eggenberger finished third (5:00:01).
Montreal’s Mathieu Borduas (5:52/2:30:03/1:39:41 – 4:16:48) and Oakville’s Helene Desrosiers (7:37/2:48:52/1:56:28 – 4:55:29) won the Half Iron Duathlon (2km run, 85 km bike, 21.1 km run), and Ottawa’s Falk Gottlob (38:16/2:31:32 – 3:11:58) and Miranda Tomenson (28:44/2:45:46 – 3:15:55) won the Half Iron Swim (2km swim, 90 km bike).
Peterborough Half Iron Top 5
Top 5 Men
1. Wolfgang Guembel (St. Catherines, ON)Â 4:00:28
2. Sean Bechtel (Caledon)Â 4:06:31
3. Jeremy Tucker (Peterborough)Â 4:23:35
4. Glen Flint (Toronto)Â 4:24:29
5. Jonathan McMillan (Orillia)Â 4:27:41
Top 5 Women
1. Shannon Desrosiers (Colton, NY)Â 4:44:56
2. Claudia Johnston (Nottawa, ON)Â 4:49:55
3. Kathy Eggenberger (Peterborough)Â 5:00:01
4. Katie Snowden (Toronto)Â 5:02:00
5. Kristen Bridges (Pembroke)Â 5:03:50
