Sanders Secures Second win of the Season: Ironman 70.3 Racine
Hamilton’s fast-rising star Lionel Sanders beat out Andrew Starykowitz at Ironman 70.3 Racine in Wisconsin today, just eight days after winning Ironman 70.3 Muncie. His winning time was 3:45:55. With the second fastest bike split of the day he trailed Starykowitz whose fast swim (24:25) and 2:00 bike split gave him a good lead heading into the run. But Sanders was calm and measured as he ran his way to the win with a 1:09 half marathon split. “I was feeling good in the days leading in so was expecting a decent performance,” he told TMC. “The swim went okay. I didn’t manage to catch any feet so I happy with it as a solo effort,” he said.
“On the bike I knew I had to step my game up from last week. I pushed 15 watts more than last week so I thought I was biking well. I ended up catching the lead pack around mile 45. I entered transition in second and was amazed to find I was eight minutes back from Starky. I would say his effort on the bike today would have been a world record on a faster course.”
“On the run I really just wanted to see if it was possible to catch him. Even at mile 11 I had no idea if I would. At mile 12.25 I caught him and made sure to put in a good surge to seal the deal. Overall I am very happy with the day.”
Starykowitz finished about a minute behind for second place in 3:46:37. Peter Robertson was third in 3:51:41.
The former 70.3 Ironman champ Melissa Hauschildt won with a big margin in 4:11:51. Helle Frederiksen was second in 4:16:22 and Lauren Barnett was third in 4:19:34.
After the race Frederiksen said, “Today took a lot of me! I had a solid swim, I felt good on the bike and pushed very hard yet my body seemingly halted my chances of any victory today beyond T2. I suffered hard with cramps in the second transition when getting my race shoes on, it was like all the energy zapped out of my legs. The run was a struggle today. Getting beat by Melissa, a 3 time World Champ, is acceptable but I was looking forward to a foot race. My running needs to be better and will be better in Mont Tremblant.”
