Cameron Dye, Alicia Kaye Win Life Time Tri Tempe

The United States’ Cameron Dye and Alicia Kaye both came out on top at today’s Life Time Tri Tempe in Tempe, Ariz. Though the race has existed for several years, and was formerly known as the Nathan’s Triathlon, this was the event’s first time as part of the Life Time Tri Series.

Men’s Race
American Dustin McLarty led the men out of the non-wetsuit 1.5K swim in Tempe Town Lake in a time of 18:00. He was followed by Joe Maloy (USA), Hunter Kemper (USA), Jimmy Seear (AUS), Dye and others. Dye immediately pushed the pace on the two-lap 40K bike course and found his way to the front. After taking the lead within the first couple of miles, he only grew it from there. His 53:48 bike split was by far the fastest, giving him a solid gap of two minutes over Seear and Maloy. Kemper was in the mix early in the bike ride, but had to stop and replace a tire, putting him significantly behind the leaders to start the run.

As Dye took on the two-lap 10K run course, he looked solid and it appeared the victory was easily in his grasp. Maloy made him work for the win and cut into his lead, but there wasn’t enough space for him to find the top spot. Dye earned the victory in 1:48:16. Maloy’s 33:40 run split was the third fastest of the day, giving him the runner-up spot in 1:49:24. Seear was solid all day and earned the third spot.

“The water was so hot, I think everyone was a little afraid to put too much into it,” Dye said of the start of his race. “My goggles completely fogged up so I was lucky enough to find a pair of feet to blindly follow around, but once we got on the bike I felt pretty good. I was able to catch most of the guys by the first turn on Priest and then just tried to hammer. My legs came around about halfway through and then just really tried to cook the second lap, just out of sight out of mind… The run was actually hard. The grass was rough because it’s just hot enough out here that I was afraid my quads were going to cramp up the whole way. I’m sure doing the sprint in Vegas a couple of nights ago didn’t help that.”

This race caps off a hectic couple of weeks for Dye as his family was hit hard by the flooding in Boulder.

“I tried to throw a little 303 sign as I crossed the line because Boulder got hit pretty bad last week and my family was one of the unfortunate ones,” he said at the finish line. “We just remodeled a house for six months and then we got into for a week and then we were flooded out. I’m grateful to my in-laws for taking us in again. My wife is 21 weeks pregnant and we have a two-year-old so it’s been a little rough. Racing is a good mental break… It makes this win huge.”

Women’s Race
American Sara McLarty led the women’s swim, coming out of Tempe Town Lake in 19:09, with only fellow American Lauren Brandon able to keep pace. Contenders Helle Frederiksen (DEN) and Kaye were third and fourth, respectively, into T1, making for an exciting race to start the bike.

McLarty maintained her lead through the early miles, but Kaye caught her and blew apart the 40K bike ride. She built on her lead with every stroke of the pedal, ultimately posting a blazing bike split of 59:23. Frederiksen also rode hard and came into T2 just over a minute behind her training partner Kaye. From there it became a question of if the former Olympian could catch the super biker on the 10K run course. Though Frederiksen had the faster run split, it wasn’t enough to give her the top spot. Kaye capped off her day with a solid 37:07 run to earn the 1:57:46 victory. Frederiksen easily earned second at 1:58:28. American Lauren Goss also had an impressive run to earn third.

“My training partner Helle Frederiksen got out so fast on the swim and we really tried to stay on Sara McLarty’s feet, but she’s just a super swimmer,” Kaye said of the start of her day. “The two of us exited the water about a minute down. I put my head down and just really tried to push the pace on the bike… I know Helle is a fantastic runner so I was running absolutely terrified and I was able to hold on for the win, so I’m really, really pleased.”

2013 Life Time Tri Tempe
Tempe, Ariz. – Sept. 22, 2013
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run

Men
1. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:48:16
2. Joe Maloy (USA) 1:49:24
3. James Seear (AUS) 1:49:54
4. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:50:35
5. Ben Collins (USA) 1:50:46
6. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:51:23
7. TJ Tollakson (USA) 1:52:13
8. Kevin Everett (USA) 1:52:15
9. Jason Pedersen (USA) 1:52:53
10. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 1:53:10

Women
1. Alicia Kaye (USA) 1:57:46
2. Helle Frederiksen (DEN) 1:58:28
3. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:02:58
4. Sara McLarty (USA) 2:03:55
5. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:07:01
6. Lauren Brandon (USA) 2:07:39
7. Abby Geurink (USA) 2:09:15
8. Amanda Hahn (USA) 2:14:30
9. Leanna Lee (USA) 2:18:55
10. Nicole Truxes (USA) 2:19:38