Bozzone Continues 70.3 Streak, Morrison Repeats In St. Croix
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New Zealand’s Terenzo Bozzone competed in his third half Ironman in three weeks, while Scotland’s Catriona Morrison showed she is back to full strength by repeating at the Caribbean race.
The day started with Scotland’s Fraser Cartmell leading the pack into T1. A group of athletes, including Bozzone and the United States’ Tim O’Donnell, kept pace with Cartmell and exited just seconds later. Bozzone and O’Donnell quickly went to work on the bike and left the other racers behind. The pre-race favorite, Australia’s Craig Alexander, was forced out the race early on due to a crash on the bike. With Alexander on the sidelines, the two lead cyclists, Bozzone and O’Donnell, were left to battle for the win. In a close finish, Bozzone won the race at 4:06:02. O’Donnell crossed just 37 seconds later for second. Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield used a fast half marathon to take third at 4:10:38.
While the race-heavy weekend in the United States kept the women’s field in St. Croix very small, it wasn’t lacking power. Germany’s Nina Kraft led the women out of the water and headed onto the bike with nearly a one minute lead. Morrison, proving she has made significant gains in her swim fitness over the winter, exited second with New Zealand’s Samantha Warriner and Australia’s Mirinda Carfrae right on her heels. Carfrae didn’t make it much further as she was forced out of the race due to illness. Once Carfrae was joined by Kraft on the sidelines, it became a one-woman race. Morrison carried a slight lead off of the bike, but excelled on the run. Her half marathon of 1:24:39 gave her the win at 4:31:06. Warriner came in over 11 minutes later, with New Zealand’s Erin O’Hara completing the podium over 23 minutes after Morrison crossed the line. Because Morrison turned in such a dominating performance, only the top two women left with prize money due to the World Triathlon Corporation’s rule that prize-recipients must finish within eight percent of the winner’s time.
Ironman 70.3 St. Croix
St. Croix , U.S. Virgin Islands – May 2, 2010
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run
Men
1. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 4:06:02
2. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 4:06:39
3. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 4:10:38
4. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 4:11:40
5. Fraser Cartmell (GBR) 4:13:07
Women
1. Catriona Morrison (GBR) 4:31:06
2. Sam Warriner (NZL) 4:42:28
3. Erin O’Hara (NZL) 4:54:27
4. Heather Gollnick (USA) 5:00:23
5. Amanda Lovato (USA) 5:03:12