Published July 27, 2014 07:52PM
Buckingham, Ferreira Get Breakout Wins At Lake Placid
South Africa's Kyle Buckingham (RSA) and the United States' Amber Ferreira earned breakout wins at Sunday's stormy Ironman Lake Placid.
Kyle Buckingham, the 2013 age group Ironman world champion, takes his first Ironman win. Photo: Liz Kreutz/Ironman
South Africa’s Kyle Buckingham (RSA) and the United States’ Amber Ferreira earned breakout wins at Sunday’s stormy Ironman Lake Placid.
Weather forecasts ahead of Sunday’s Ironman Lake Placid called for wet and stormy conditions, and that’s exactly what happened. Though the morning started dry, it poured on and off throughout the race, creating a tough day for all athletes. The later minutes of the swim featured lightning and thunder, forcing race officials to end the first leg of the race early. The professionals were able to get in complete swim times, but all age groupers’ overall times included only one lap of the swim due to the conditions.
Men’s Race
Hungary’s Balazs Csoke led the men out of T1, with Tomas Mertinek (CZE) not far behind. Top contender Buckingham exited the water at 52:04 and quickly went to work to try to catch Csoke. At the midway point of the ride, Csoke’s lead stood at 42 seconds over Buckingham, 6:04 over Joshua Rix (AUS) and 7:34 over Pedro Gomes (PRT). Buckingham earned a nearly three-minute lead before T2, and let his strong running legs do the work from there. He turned in a 2:57:49 marathon to cap off his day and earn an 8:38:43 win. Csoke finished second at 8:51:26, with Jonathan Shearon (USA) earning the bronze spot at 8:59:22.
Women’s Race
American Darbi Roberts was the first out of the water for the women at 54:11. Katrhryn Thomas (USA) followed at 55:25 and Ferreira was third at 57:13. Ferreira had a strong bike split (5:19:33) to earn a 5:30 lead over Schwabenbauer, who had the fastest bike split (5:18:31) of the day to make up for a slow swim. Ferreira capped off her day with a 3:08:35 marathon to claim the 9:31:28 victory. Schwabenbauer finished second at 9:38:14, with Lisa Roberts making it an all-American podium at 9:40:04.
Ironman Lake Placid
Lake Placid, N.Y. – July 27, 2014
2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run
Men
1. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 8:38:43
2. Balaz Csoke (HUN) 8:51:25
3. Jonathan Shearon (USA) 8:59:22
4. Ryan Cain (CAN) 9:05:19
5. Vinny Johnson (USA) 9:09:56
Women
1. Amber Ferreira (USA) 9:31:28
2. Kim Schwabenbauer (USA) 9:38:14
3. Lisa Roberts (USA) 9:40:04
4. Kristin Lemos (USA) 9:50:26
5. Jessica Jones Meyers (USA) 10:06:53