Weekend Recap: Coughlin Wins Ultraman
Mike Coughlin took the Ultraman World Championship in Hawaii this weekend and Katharine Calder-Becker was second in the women’s race. In Cozumel, Mexico Heather Wurtele finished fourth.
Ultraman success
Guelph’s Mike Coughlin, 42, trailed out of the water on Day 1’s 6.2 mile swim, but by the end of the day’s 90 mile bike ride he was out in front and would never look back. Fellow Canadian Tony O’Keefe, 54, was fifth at the end of Day 1.
Montreal’s Katharine Calder-Becker, 51, was second in the women’s race after the first day of racing, trailing Kailua-Kona, Hawaii’s Staci Suder, 42.
Coughlin was able to pad his lead over Day 2’s 170 mile bike ride, while Suder maintained her lead over Calder-Becker. The final day of the three-day Ultraman World Championship consisted of a double marathon (52.4 miles), during which Coughlin was able to hang on to take the title in 21:44:18. The last time Coughlin raced the Ultraman World Championship in 2011 he finished second. O’Keefe ended up fourth overall while Ottawa’s Kevin Willis, 55, who we featured in our November issue of Triathlon Magazine Canada, finished eighth. Another Canadian, Michael Owen, was next over the line in 25:05:50.
Suder took the women’s race in 28:29:28 ahead of Calder-Becker, who finished in a time of 30:57:17.
Other Canadians who managed to get to the finish line of this three-day ultra included Kevin Calder-Becker, who outran his wife on the last day to finish just ahead of her in 30:18:48, Peter Lopinski (33:54:57), Iona MacKenzie (34:01:34) and Will Rogers (34:20:57).
Europeans tops in Cozumel
While John Wragg was racking up his 200th Ironman finish, there was some exciting racing in the pro event in Cozumel. Germany’s Stefan Schmid opened up enough of a gap on the bike to hold off Matt Russell for the men’s title at Ironman Cozumel. Emma-Kate Lidbury pulled away on the bike to lead a who’s who of Ironman racing into T2 (Leanda Cave, Heather Wurtele, Camilla Pedersen and Corinne Abraham) but no one could hold off Abraham on the run as the woman from Wales ran her way to another Ironman title. Heather Wurtele hung on for fourth.
Top 5 Pro Men
| 1 | Schmid, Stefan | DEU | 0:47:02 | 4:26:55 | 2:53:44 | 8:12:27 |
| 2 | Russell, Matt | USA | 0:49:41 | 4:32:17 | 2:47:49 | 8:14:10 |
| 3 | Weiss, Michael | AUS | 0:49:40 | 4:29:41 | 3:00:13 | 8:24:24 |
| 4 | Brandon, Barrett | USA | 0:43:18 | 4:44:16 | 3:02:47 | 8:35:11 |
| 5 | Tejada, Raul | GUA | 0:48:56 | 4:50:39 | 2:56:12 | 8:39:14 |
Top 5 Pro Women
| 1 | Abraham, Corinne | GBR | 0:53:49 | 5:01:15 | 3:07:38 | 9:06:40 |
| 2 | Cave, Leanda | GBR | 0:47:21 | 5:05:22 | 3:16:17 | 9:13:29 |
| 3 | Pedersen, Camilla | DNK | 0:48:50 | 5:06:25 | 3:14:14 | 9:14:08 |
| 4 | Wurtele, Heather | CAN | 0:48:58 | 5:04:08 | 3:23:58 | 9:21:52 |
| 5 | Lidbury, Emma-Kate | GBR | 0:48:52 | 5:02:43 | 3:32:55 | 9:29:18 |
Complete results can be found at ironman.com
Photo: discomfortzone.com
