Published June 27, 2010 11:25AM
New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty and Nicky Samuels came out on top at today’s Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon, which was forced to become a duathlon due to a tragic incident at yesterday’s sprint-distance race. The two Kiwis, who specialize in ITU draft-legal racing, outpaced their competition to take the victories at the first race of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series Race To The Toyota Cup.
Docherty used his ITU run speed to develop a lead on the first 5km run segment. He turned in a time of 15:26, which was more than 30 seconds faster than his closest competitor. American David Thompson was second into T1 and headed onto the bike course hoping to keep Docherty within his sights. Thompson eventually caught Docherty, but the lead was short lived. As soon as the par headed onto the 10km run, Docherty used his run speed to take the lead. From there, Docherty’s lead only grew as he took the win in 1:49:11. Thompson easily held on to second in 1:49:47. Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield turned in a steady effort throughout the day to finish in third at 1:51:32. Last year’s Lifetime Fitness Series Champion Matt Reed (USA) finished fourth at 1:55:48.
Like Docherty, Samuels used her strong running legs to take an early lead on the first 5km run segment. She turned in a 17:46 run. Behind her was American Jenna Shoemaker at 18:25. Once on the bike, Samuels rode out front before Shoemaker caught her at the end. The pair headed onto the final run segment within seconds of each other. As she showed in the first part of the race, Samuels proved to be the stronger runner. She turned in a 10km run time of 38:27 to win the race at 2:02:20. Shoemaker crossed 15 seconds later for second. The pair proved to be head and shoulders above the rest of the competition, with third place American Nicole Kelleher crossing nearly five minutes later for third.
Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon
Philadelphia, Penn.—June 27, 2010
5km run, 40km bike, 10km run
Men
1. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 1:49:11
2. David Thompson (USA) 1:49:47
3. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 1:51:32
4. Matt Reed (USA) 1:55:48
5. John Kenny (USA) 1:56:15
Women
1. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 2:02:20
2. Jenna Shoemaker (USA) 2:02:35
3. Nicole Kelleher (USA) 2:07:12
4. Pip Taylor (AUS) 2:09:42
5. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 2:09:54