Published December 5, 2010 10:07AM
Courtney Ogden and Kate Bevilaqua, both Western Australia residents, beat out the pre-race favorites by turning in strong performances on the marathon to take the wins at the 2010 Ironman Western Australia triathlon.
Australian super-swimmer Pete Jacobs kicked off the race by posting a field-leading 47:36 time on the swim. Next out of the water were Australia’s Luke Bell, Scott Neyedli and New Caledonia’s Patrick Vernay. Ogden was sixth out of the water, with only about 90 seconds to make up on the leader. When swim turned to bike, defending champion Vernay quickly found his way out to the front, but his lead was short lived. As Vernay started to struggle, Jacobs and Bell took charge on the ride. The pair rode together for the first half of the bike, before Jacobs eventually fell off. With Jacobs fading, Bell surged and headed into T2 with a lead of two minutes over Ogden.
Bell started the run looking fresh, with no one able to cut time into his lead. Bell’s legs did not hold up and right around the half marathon mark he was overtaken by Ogden. Ogden continued to look strong to the finish line, posting a 2:52:53 marathon to earn his second Ironman title in 8:14:01. Australia’s Matty White also turned in a solid run, earning second. Jacobs ran his way from eighth off of the bike to third at the finish line. Bell faded to fourth.
The women’s race started with the Czech Republic’s Lucie Zelenkova taking an early lead thanks to a 51:23 swim. Race favorite Rebekah Keat and Amelia Pearson, both of Australia, were next onto the bike. Two of the faster cyclists in the field, Bevilaqua and Canada’s Rhea Shaw, posted swim times of over an hour and had a lot of work to do to catch the race leaders. Zelenkova worked to extend her lead, but was quickly taken over by Keat and Pearson thanks to mechanical issues on the bike. Zelenkova continued to struggle with the condition of her bike, and was eventually forced to drop out of the race. With Zelenkova on the sidelines, Keat and Pearson opened up a lead of nearly eight minutes on the chase pack. While Keat and Pearson enjoyed the front, Bevilaqua and Shaw were hammering through the field.
By the time the women reached T2 Belivaqua had narrowly taken over the lead. Her lead was short lived as Keat surged in the early miles of the run. Belivaqua turned in a patient marathon, finding her way to the front and earning her first-ever Ironman win in 9:19:44. Keat earned second, with Pearson rounding out the podium.
Ironman Western Australia
Busselton, Western Australia – Dec. 5, 2010
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run
Men
1. Courtney Ogden (AUS) 8:14:01
2. Matty White (AUS) 8:18:06
3. Pete Jacobs (AUS) 8:21:16
4. Luke Bell (AUS) 8:21:33
5. Patrick Vernay (NCL) 8:23:22
Women
1. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 9:19:44
2. Rebekah Keat (AUS) 9:22:37
3. Amelia Pearson (AUS) 9:36:52
4. Kirsten Molloy (AUS) 9:47:47
5. Jessica Fleming (AUS) 9:49:41*
*Age-group athlete