Weekend Recap: Ironman 70.3 Latin American Championship Brazil
It was a Uplace-BMC Pro Triathlon Team day in Brazil this past Sunday with a win by Denmark’s Helle Frederiksen and runner up finish by teammate Sofie Goos. Fresh off of winning Challenge Bahrain, Frederiksen dominated from start to finish, claiming the Latin American Championship title with ease in a time of 4:04:17. Goos was 13 minutes back in 4:17:15. American newcomer Ruth Brennan Morrey was third in 4:18:16. The former semi-pro soccer player is starting to make a name for herself on the distance scene.
From the swim, Frederiksen was out in front, leaving the water in 25:27 with American Haley Chura on whom she quickly opened up a gap on the bike, clocking an impressive 2:10 over the 90km ride. A chase pack was about two minutes back out of the swim and that gap continued to grow. Frederiksen ran the second fastest time of the day in 1:24.
After the race Frederiksen said, “Winning this race really mattered to me. The start of the year has been a little unsettled with numerous changes in location and a little niggle but today I was hungry to put all that aside and secure my place on the start line for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. It’s always special to win a race from start to finish. I felt great throughout, the big lead off the bike allowed me to really control the run and take my foot off the gas early on. It’s fantastic to share the podium with Uplace-BMC team member, Sofie Goos. We’re so far from team base of Belgium but able to put the team colors 1-2 on the podium.”
On the bike, Goos quickly moved up to the lead chase group and entered T2 in third, 19 seconds off Chura. She grabbed second place at the start of the run and held it until the end even as Brennan Morrey began to turn up the heat.
In the men’s race, British star Tim Don was first in 3:41:47 followed closely by Timothy O’Donnell in second in 3:42:40. Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield was third in 3:45:48 The race started out with O’Donnell dominating the swim and bike. He left the water followed by Igor Amorelli and Tim Don and put the hammer down on the bike to open a gap. On the run however, Don found another gear cranking out a 1:13 half marathon to cut into O’Donnell’s 1:16 half marathon split and take the lead.
