Tamara Jewett and Sam Long highlight Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells-La Quinta field
The North American 70.3 season rounds out in California this weekend and there's lots of pros looking for one last hurrah for 2023
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Meg Oliphant/ Getty Images for Ironman
Over the last few years Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells-La Quinta has become the final pro race of the North American tri season, which is even more evident this year at Clash Daytona drops its pro race. While the $50,000 purse isn’t exactly huge, there’s still US$7,500 for first and $5,000 for second place, with the money working down to $1,000 for eighth place.
For the pros who aren’t completely cooked from a long season of racing, though, the 70.3 Indian Wells-La Quinta race provides one last go at some prize money and a chance to move up a bit higher on the PTO World Rankings, which in turn, means a larger pay check, too.
Jewett after another win
Last year’s runner-up to Paula Findlay, Canadian Tamara Jewett is looking to round out a  stellar season that saw her win Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in the spring to go along with the 70.3 Michigan title. Americans Jackie Hering and Lesley Smith will likely be the Canadian’s stiffest competition, but there’s lots of talent in the 27-deep women’s field to keep things interesting. (Especially if Great Britain’s Jodie Stimpson has managed to overcome her injury issues to be competitive.
You can find the full pro list here.
Long returns to defend his title
Sam Long has enjoyed lots of success on the US 70.3 scene thanks to a string of wins over Lionel Sanders and Jackson Laundry in St. George, Gulf Coast and Boulder in May and June, and he should be well-recovered from his full-distance third-place finish in Maryland in September. While Long won’t have to worry about taking on Sanders this weekend (although Sanders’ training partner Trevor Foley could very well be in the mix), Laundry would dearly love to close the 2023 season with a win. 2022 70.3 worlds runner-up Ben Kanute is in the field, and will no-doubt provide some front-running excitement early in the race alongside Tokyo Olympian Matt Sharpe. A couple of Norwegians (no, not those two) – Caspar Stornes and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn – could also be big factors in the race as well. There’s over 50 pro men registered for the race, so it seems safe to say that there’ll be some excitement on race day.
Coverage
There’s no live coverage of the race, but you can follow the racing through the Ironman tracker. The race starts at 7 am local time (10 am EST).
