Matthews Dominates, Wellington Edges Out Cave At 70.3 Kansas

Three-time Ironman world champion Chrissie Wellington faced tough competition from fellow Brit Leanda Cave, while Australia’s Paul Matthews cruised through the day at Ironman 70.3 Kansas.

Men’s Race

American Gavin Anderson led a large pack of men out of the swim with a time of 24:36. The pack also included Matthews, Andres Castillo of Columbia, David Kahn of the United States, Luke Bell of Australia and others. Matthews and Bell posted the two fastest bike splits of the day to start the run in first and second respectively. Matthews’ lead only grew from there as he posted a 1:12:45 half marathon to take the 3:49:44 win. Kahn ran down Bell with a 1:17:08 half marathon to earn second. Bell hung on for third.

Women’s Race

Great Britain’s Leanda Cave used her swimming strength to emerge as the first women out of the water in 26:49. American Tami Ritchie was next at 27:20. Cave’s real competition, Wellington, was third into T1 and was nearly a minute behind the lead. Cave took advantage of that gap and rode hard to a 2:22:02 bike split. Despite a strong 2:24:09 bike split, Wellington found herself in an unfamiliar spot heading onto the run… not in the lead. Cave’s gap proved to be not quite enough as Wellington turned in an impressive 1:16:41 half marathon to take her third-straight win at this race. Cave easily earned second, with American Whitney Garcia earning third.

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Ironman 70.3 Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas – June 12, 2011
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run

Men
1. Paul Matthews (AUS) 3:49:44
2. David Kahn (USA) 3:55:46
3. Luke Bell (AUS) 3:56:13
4. Romain Guillaume (FRA) 3:59:17
5. Joe McDaniel (USA) 4:00:53

Women
1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 4:11:08
2. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:15:13
3. Whitney Garcia (USA) 4:27:17
4. Madeleine Oldfield (AUS) 4:29:18
5. Jackie Arendt (USA) 4:32:39

Click here for complete results.