Published September 12, 2010 02:49PM
Australia’s Craig Alexander and Mirinda Carfrae turned in solid race efforts to repeat as Ironman 70.3 Muskoka winners. The race served as a final tune-up race for the Ironman World Championships for both athletes.
Canada’s Sean Bechtel led the med out of the water in a time of 23:54. Australia’s Paul Matthews and Alexander were right on his heels, entering T1 just seconds behind. Matthews immediately took off and tried to keep Alexander and others as far behind as possible. He turned in a bike split of 2:16:04 to lead heading into T2. From there, Matthews headed out onto the half marathon course and tried to keep pace with a fast-running Alexander. Despite a solid 1:17:15 half-marathon effort, Matthews was eventually taken over by the reining Ironman World Champion. Alexander’s 1:12:04 was by far the fastest run split of the day, giving him his third-straight victory at this race in 3:58:33. Matthews finished in just over four hours to earn second, with South Africa’s Raynard Tissink taking third on the podium in 4:05:13.
Unlike Alexander, Carfrae was unchallenged throughout the majority of the race. Canadian Jennifer Amaral led the women into T1 thanks to a swim time of 26:24. Another Canadian Ayesha Rollinson was second out of the swim. Carfrae turned in an impressive swim to head onto the bike in third position. Carfrae, who has been traditionally known for her strong running skills, cycled the fastest bike split of the women in 2:39:55. With Carfrae holding a lead heading onto the run, there was very little hope for her fellow competitors. She followed her strong bike with a field-leading half marathon time of 1:18:15 to take the win. New Zealand’s Joanna Lawn turned in a steady pace across all three disciplines to earn second nearly 12 minutes behind Carfrae. Rollinson crossed for the final podium spot in 4:51:19.
Ironman 70.3 Muskoka
Muskoka, Ontario, Canada – Sept. 12, 2010
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run
Men
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:58:33
2. Paul Matthews (AUS) 4:00:01
3. Raynard Tissink (RSA) 4:05:13
4. Chris Legh (USA) 4:06:48
5. Sean Bechtel (CAN) 4:10:48
Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:28:36
2. Joanna Lawn (NZL) 4:40:52
3. Claudia Johnston (CAN) 4:51:16 *
4. Ayesha Rollinson (CAN) 4:51:19
5. Amy Kirkham (CAN) 4:52:15*
* Age-group Athlete