IRONMAN 70.3 Des Moines: Holly Lawrence wins

Great Britain’s Holly Lawrence and the United States’ Jason West produced claimed victories at IRONMAN 70.3 Des Moines in Idaho.

In the inaugural running of the event, Lawrence led from start to finish. She was followed home by fellow Brit Emma Pallant-Browne in second with USA’s Jackie Hering third.

Consistency was key for West on his way to the top step of the podium as he recorded a top-five split in each discipline to win by 1:22 from fellow American Collin Chartier. Canada’s Jackson Laundry completed the podium places.

Lawrence dominates from the start

Lawrence was in no mood to contest first place in Idaho as she led from the front and was rarely threatened during her romp to victory.

The fastest in the water, Holly entered T1 48 seconds ahead of Grace Alexander in second place. Jeanni Metzler, Pallant-Browne and Hering rounded off the top five heading into the bike leg.

Lawrence’s relentless pace saw her extend her lead on the bike, the Brit producing a field-leading 1:04:03 split. This increased her advantage to 2:54 over Pallant-Browne and 2:59 over Hering.

Pallant-Browne did manage to record the fastest run of the entire field – taking 1:13 out of Lawrence’s lead in the final discipline on her way to second place. It was not enough to threaten Holly though, who claimed victory with dominant display and a time of 2:53:45.

Consistency the key for West

A lead group of eight exited the water within 10 seconds of each other in the men’s event, with eventual podium placers West and Chartier in the leading pack heading into T1.

West, however, was quickest in transition and opened an eight-second gap on exit – an advantage he extended in the early stages of the bike leg to lead by nearly half a minute at midway.

Chile’s Martin Ulloa slowly closed the gap and overtook West heading into T2, with the American holding a further 30-second advantage over the chasing pack.

West was not to be beaten though, as he quickly overtook Ulloa on the run and began to establish a healthy lead of 1:30 from now second-place man Chartier. Laundry was the big mover in the field on the run, he jumped from seventh to third to earn a well-deserved podium.