Gomez Dominates Run To Take Hy-Vee Title

Spain’s Javier Gomez made it two-for-two today for Olympic silver medalists at the 2012 5150 Hy-Vee U.S. Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. He dominated the run to take home the top prize in multi-sport.

The professional men followed the women (where Lisa Norden defended her title) in Des Moines and were greeted with hot and humid conditions. Like the women, the men were vying for the opportunity to take home the top prize of $151,500 and the 10 prime bonuses worth $5,150 a piece.

Australia’s Josh Amberger kicked off the action on the swim, taking the first prime and leading the first of two laps in the 1500m swim in Gray’s Lake. Unlike the women’s race, it was a different athlete who took the second swim prize. Gomez headed into T1 with a narrow lead over Cameron Dye (USA), Amberger, Australia’s James Seear, Ben Collins (USA), Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee and others.

Collins pushed the pace early on in the bike leg and snagged the first two bike primes. Australia’s Paul Matthews led after the third lap, also earning a $5,150 prime.  It was defending champion Greg Bennett of Australia who emerged as the leader at the end of the bike. He held a 21-second lead over David Thompson (USA), a 42-second lead over Matt Reed (USA) and nearly a one-minute lead over Amberger, Seear, Hunter Kemper (USA) and Gomez.

Bennett held his lead after the first lap of the run, but was being chased down by a fast-running Gomez. By the time the men reached the end of lap two, Gomez had not only taken over the lead, he had built a lead of 40 seconds over Bennett. From there, the second half of the race became about competing for the second-place prize purse.

Gomez crossed the finish line at 1:51:21 to take the $151,500 win. American Olympian Kemper repeated his performance from 2011, taking second and earning $75,000. Bennett was forced to settle for third, but will still take home a nice check of $50,000 plus two $5,150 primes.

PHOTOS: 2012 5150 Hy-Vee U.S. Championship

5150 Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship
Des Moines, Iowa –Sept. 2, 2012
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run

Men’s Race
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:51:21 $151,500
2. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:51:59 $75,000
3. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:52:24 $50,000
4. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 1:52:46 $25,000
5. Matt Reed (USA) 1:53:24 $20,000
6. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:53:38 $18,000
7. Josh Amberger (AUS) 1:54:34 $16,000
8. Clark Ellice (NZL) 1:54:46 $14,000
9. David Thompson (USA) 1:55:18 $12,000
10. Paul Matthews (AUS) 1:55:55 $10,000

Prime #1 (swim)– Josh Amberger (AUS) $5,150
Prime #2 (swim)– Javier Gomez (ESP) $5,150
Prime #3 (bike)– Ben Collins (USA) $5,150
Prime #4 (bike) – Ben Collins (USA) $5,150
Prime #5 (bike) – Paul Matthews (AUS) $5,150
Prime #6 (out of T2) – Greg Bennett (AUS) $5,150
Prime #7 (run) – Greg Bennett (AUS) $5,150
Prime #8 (run) – Javier Gomez (ESP) $5,150
Prime #9 (run) Javier Gomez (ESP) $5,150
Prime #10 (run) – Javier Gomez (ESP) $5,150

Complete results.