Challenge Salinas results 2023: Dubrick and Bravo take the titles in Ecuador

Marc Dubrick (USA) and Elizabeth Bravo (ECU) took the titles at the final Challenge Family event of 2023.

That was the inaugural edition of Challenge Salinas in Ecuador which brought the the season to a close in hot and windy conditions.

Pro Men – USA v Canada battle

The men’s race always looked likely to be a battle between Dubrick and Canada’s Jackson Laundry and so it proved.

Dubrick led out of the swim one minute ahead of Laundry but by the second lap of the bike it was Laundry who was in front and he came into T2 first.

However, the it was Dubrick who handled the 30C heat and 85% humidity best of all on the run, crossing the line in 3:47:10, nearly four minutes ahead of Laundry, with Justin Riele (USA) completing the podium.

“It was a great race, I was really happy with it,” said Dubrick. “I was solo on the swim, I didn’t really want to bring anyone with me and I thought it was a big group on the bike but we split apart as it was really hard.

“There was a huge cross wind on the far side of the course and we had three laps of that. Jackson was up the road and I knew I couldn’t give him too much time or I wouldn’t be able to catch him on the run. I got on the run feeling good and let the legs do the talking!”

It was Dubrick’s first middle-distance win after recent runner-up spots at IRONMAN 70.3 Indian Wells and 70.3 Los Cabos.

Pro Women – Bravo bags home win

In the women’s race, all three main contenders came out of the water together with Margareta Bicanova (SVK) leading and Bravo and Margie Santimaria (ITA) neck and neck just two seconds behind.

Bravo and Santimaria quickly rode away on the bike, staying together until the second lap when Bravo broke clear.

Onto the run and for a while it looked like Santimaria would challenge Bravo’s lead, closing the gap to just 20 seconds. However, the local athlete and three-times Olympian made the most of her hometown advantage and further increased the gap to take the win in convincing style in 4:21:14. Santimaria came in second in 4:28:36 Bicanova was third in 4:49:02.

Bravo was also the winner of IRONMAN 70.3 Ecuador on in July and she said afterwards: “I’m so happy to win today here in my home of Ecuador and in the first Challenge Family race in Ecuador.

“The swim was really nice as it is like a pool with warm water. The bike was really windy but it’s a super fast course and the run was so hot!”

Santimaria’s second place was enough to push her up into the top five in the final standings of the Challenge Family World Bonus, her goal for the weekend.