Aussies On Top At 70.3 Lake Stevens

Veteran Chris Leigh (AUS) narrowly edged out Timothy O’Donnell (USA) and Trevor Wurtele (CAN) for the win, while the women’s race was more one-sided with Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) dominating to the finish line.

O’Donnell led the men out of the water with a swim time of 22:52 and went on to post the fastest bike split time of 2:18:59 in cold, wet conditions. As is the case in many triathlons, this race came down to run performance. Legh posted a field-leading 1:14:26 half marathon to take the close win in 4:01:29. O’Donnell crossed the finish line 20 seconds later, with Wurtele rounding out the close podium exactly 40 seconds after O’Donnell.

In the women’s race, Canada’s Tenille Hoogland used her short-course swim speed to lead the female wave into T1. From there, the bike and run were all about Carfrae. Her 2:37:43 bike split and 1:19:31 half-marathon were by far the best of the group, propelling her to the 4:26:38 win. Hoogland finished nearly 12 minutes later in second. American Mackenzie Madison earned third.

Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens
Lake Stevens, Wash. – July 15, 2012
1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run

Men
1. Chris Legh (AUS) 4:01:29
2. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 4:01:49
3. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 4:02:29
4. Karl Bodine (USA) 4:14:16
5. Chris Bagg (USA) 4:14:37

Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:26:38
2. Tenille Hoogland (CAN) 4:38:28
3. Mackenzie Madison (USA) 4:42:27
4. Uli Bromme (USA) 4:42:48
5. Gillian Clayton (CAN) 4:45:11

Complete results.