Canadian Paula Findlay put in a truly dominant performance as she powered away to victory at the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championships in Pennsylvania.
In contention throughout, she took the lead on the bike section and never looked back, crossing the finish line at Beaver Stadium more than four minutes ahead of her nearest rival, Lydia Russell (USA).
Third place went to Australian Grace Thek, who was able to hunt down and pass a visibly tiring Grace Alexander, who had hardly been out of the top three positions all race before finally being caught in the latter stages of the half-marathon.
Here’s how it all played out…
Swim – Campbell first out of the water
Met with perfect swimming conditions in the still waters of the Foster Joseph Sayers Lake, it was Jenna Campbell (USA), Alexander (USA) and Hannah Berry (NZL) who set the early pace, with Findlay never too far back.
Emily Pincus (USA) joined the leaders midway through as they settled into a nice rhythm that kept them ahead of the chasing pack and ensured they were the first to exit the water.
Campbell set the fastest time with a 25:52 and was closely followed by Alexander (26:03), Pincus (26:05), Findlay (27:04), Berry (27:05) and Thek (USA) in sixth at 27:07.
Russell completed the swim in a time of 28:00 to exit in eighth place, 2:07 behind the leaders and with some work to do on the bike to catch them up.
Bike – Findlay takes the lead and powers away
Pincus didn’t stay with the leaders for too long as Campbell and Alexander continued to push at the front of the race; Findlay, however, was looking more and more threatening as she moved up into third and was less than a minute behind as they reached the 2km marker.
By the time they had travelled 15km, Findlay had caught Alexander, and the pair were slowly but surely driving away from Campbell, who was struggling to maintain the pace now being put out by the new leader.
As Campbell fell down the field, Berry was able to make her move up into third, but she was still around a minute behind the lead two, who, for now, were staying close together… but that didn’t last for long.
Findlay was itching to make her move and finally started to speed away around the 60km point, leaving Alexander with some serious pedal power pushing her further and further clear.
By 68km, Findlay had opened up a gap of 2:26 on her nearest rival, and by 88km that had grown to more than three minutes, with Alexander herself a further two minutes ahead of Berry in third.
As they entered T2, Findlay’s ride of 2:19:11 had given her a comfortable 3:16 cushion over Alexander, while she was also 5:38 ahead of Berry and 8:06 in front of fourth-placed Thek.
Russell was in fifth, 8:46 behind Findlay, but she was about to make up some impressive time on the run and catch most of the athletes ahead of her.
Run – No letting up from Findlay as Russell rises
With such a handsome lead, Findlay could afford herself the luxury of a cool, calm transition off the bike, and she set off for the half-marathon looking confident that she had already done enough to win the race.
Such confidence was justified, and by the time she had reached 8km, the gap to Alexander had extended to beyond the five-minute mark. Russell, however, had also made her way up through the field and was already closing in on Alexander.
By far the fastest woman at this point, Russell was putting in an average pace of 3:49/km, compared to Alexander’s 4:26/km and Findlay’s 4:06. But while Findlay had enough of a buffer not to worry, it wasn’t long before there was a change in the running order.
As they reached 12km, Russell had, as expected, taken over from Alexander into second place – although by this point she was almost six minutes behind the leader.
Alexander was unable to hit back, and when Thek then started to turn on the gas, she too overtook the American and settled into third spot.
Thek did have one moment of drama when she dropped her sunglasses and was forced to stop and turn back for them, but she was able to maintain her pace and position to come in behind the brilliant Findlay and Russell.
Results
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Total time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paula Findlay | CAN | 00:27:04 | 02:19:11 | 01:23:45 | 04:14:02 |
| 2 | Lydia Russell | USA | 00:28:00 | 02:26:44 | 01:19:05 | 04:18:10 |
| 3 | Grace Thek | AUS | 00:27:07 | 02:27:13 | 01:22:26 | 04:20:36 |
| 4 | Grace Alexander | USA | 00:26:03 | 02:23:16 | 01:27:24 | 04:20:53 |
| 5 | Hannah Berry | NZL | 00:27:05 | 02:24:44 | 01:25:05 | 04:21:13 |
