Escape From Alcatraz Crowns New Champions

Joe Maloy, Holly Lawrence best a talented field of short- and long-course stars.

The world’s top triathletes—from Olympic contenders to Ironman champions—took over the waters and streets of San Francisco for the prestigious Escape From Alcatraz triathlon. The iconic race features a 1.5-mile swim from Alcatraz Island to the San Francisco shoreline, an 18-mile hilly bike ride to Golden Gate Park, and an eight-mile trail run on Baker Beach and up the infamous 400-step “Sand Ladder.”

American Joe Maloy and Brit Holly Lawrence met and exceeded the tough course and even tougher fields to take top honors.

Men’s Race
Tommy Zaferes was first out of the water with a 29:50 swim split. Rio-bound athletes Joe Maloy and Ben Kanute were only one second behind and pushed past Zaferes in transition to lead the way on the bike course. Dye and 2016 Escape from Alcatraz champion Eric Lagerstrom quickly joined the fray as the four pushed up and over the challenging and technical bike course.

It was Dye who entered T2 first, clocking a 45:23 bike split. Kanute, Lagerstrom, and Maloy followed in rapid succession.

From there, Dye led for much of the run, but Maloy was undettered by Dye’s dominance. In the final miles, Maloy sidled up to Dye and the two sprinted to the finish. Maloy’s 2:05:45 finishing time was enough to edge out Dye by only 11 seconds for the win. Kanute crossed the finish line in third place with a 2:07:09.

Women’s Race
Rio-bound triathlete Katie Zaferes and veteran Sarah Haskins exited the water together, with more than 90 seconds advantage over Holly Lawrence and two minutes over the rest of the women’s field, which included Lauren Goss, Magali Tisseyre and 2013 Escape From Alcatraz Champion Heather Jackson.

Upon exiting T1, Haskins crashed on the bike, losing 25 seconds in the first mile to Zaferes. Though Haskins pushed hard to make up time and eventually pass Zaferes, her lead was short-lived as Lawrence came blazing through the course with a 51:20 bike split to lead the women’s race into T2.

Lawrence then coasted to the finish with an overall time of 2:20:54, 84 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Zaferes. Lindsey Jerdonek unleashed a stellar run to take third place, finishing in 2:23:50.

2016 Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon
San Francisco, Calif – June 12, 2016
1.5-mile swim, 18-mile bike, 8-mile run

Men
1. Joe Maloy (USA) 2:05:45
2. Cameron Dye (USA) 2:05:56
3. Ben Kanute (USA) 2:07:09
4. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 2:07:56
5. Andy Potts (USA) 2:08:41

Women
1. Holly Lawrence (GBR) 2:20:54
2. Katie Zaferes (USA) 2:22:18
3. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 2:23:50
4. Sarah Haskins (USA) 2:25:48
5. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:26:49