Trevor Foley secured his second win of the season as he took the tape and the North American IRONMAN 70.3 Championships in Pennsylvania on Sunday after a battle royale with compatriot Sam Long.
The pair had been well off the pace as they exited the swim in 19th and 28th, respectively, but once again showed their power in the saddle as they made up time on the leaders and positioned themselves perfectly for a decisive half-marathon chase.
Having both caught and left bike leader Matthew Marquardt (USA) behind, it was Foley who had the strongest legs at the end, pulling away with 5km remaining to win his first-ever race against Long in 14 attempts.
Third place went to another athlete who made his way up through the field, as Jason West – a former student at Penn State, where this event was being held – secured what was clearly an emotional podium place.
Here’s how the race played out…
Swim – Pearson powers into the lead
American duo Marc Dubrick and Ben Kanute made the most of perfect early-morning swim conditions as they set a strong early pace in the calm, crisp waters of Foster Joseph Sayers Lake.
They were soon joined and overtaken, however, by compatriot Morgan Pearson, who quickly stamped his authority on proceedings with a powerful display.
Kanute and Dubrick may have lost their lead, but the pair were able to cling on to Pearson’s heels, and the three all exited the water within a matter of seconds of each other.
Pearson came out first with a time of 23:15, followed by Kanute 23:17 and Dubrick 23:19. Marquardt was fifth to enter T1 in 24:14, and West was not too far behind him in a time of 24:20.
Foley was back in 19th as he completed his swim in 25:42, and Long – who has spent much of his last year working on improving his swim – exited in 28th, with a time of 26:23, a little over three minutes behind the leader.
As they mounted their bikes, Pearson looked in great shape, with Dubrick, Kanute, Marquardt and West all in close proximity. Pearson’s day, however, was to take a devastating turn for the worse within a matter of minutes.
Bike – Long and Foley make their moves
Pearson may have started the bike leg with high hopes of pushing on for a run at the podium, but his hopes were very swiftly dashed as he suffered a mechanical issue inside the opening kilometre.
While he was able to continue, the 32-year-old had fallen so far off the leaders that there was no chance of him resurrecting his bid; indeed, by the time they had reached the 9km mark, he was back in 31st and more than five minutes off the pace.
That left Marquardt, Kanute and Dubrick to lead the way, although, as expected, Long and Foley were already making their way up through the field and proving once again just why they are so dominant on the bike.
At the 9km mark, Long had already closed to within 2:40, and as the duo eagerly ate up the ground with every powerful turn of the pedals, they eventually made their way into second and third after 68km, less than a minute behind leader Marquardt.
By this time, Kanute had dropped down the field, and Justin Riele (USA), back from the serious injuries he sustained at Oceanside when falling from his bike, had joined the pack attempting to chase down Marquardt.
With Sweden’s Rasmus Svenningsson also joining the group, six riders headed into T2 within 40 seconds of one another, with Marquardt followed by the Swede, Riele, Long, Foley and Dubrick.
Long (2:02:57) and Foley (2:03:26) had once again put in strong rides on the bike, forcing themselves into contention as they chased Marquardt out of T2 into the half-marathon.
Run – Foley waits for his moment to break away
Long had said in the week that his policy for this race would be to ‘attack, attack, attack’, and that is precisely what he set about doing, as by choosing not to bother with putting any socks on, he was quickest in T2 and started the run with Marquardt very much in his sights.
Indeed, it didn’t take long for ‘yo, yo, yo’ to ‘go, go, go’ past his fellow countryman as Long hit the front with his strong, lengthy stride and steadily put some distance between him and his rival, who seemed to be struggling from his bike efforts.
However, if Long thought he was going to have things all his own way, he was sadly mistaken, as Foley also made his move past Marquardt and settled in alongside his big pal at the front of the race – the two giving each other a hand tap as they set off for what was to be a thrilling finale.
By the time they had hit the 10km mark, West – who started the run back in 8th spot – had already made huge inroads into the leaders and was settled into third, a minute behind the leading duo, who were looking very strong.
One of them had to make a move at some point, and while Long did attempt to pull away, it was Foley who had the stronger legs as he left his colleague back on his heels with around 5km to go.
Long tried to hit back, but he had nothing left in the tank; indeed, his main concern was not to completely blow up as he did at Oceanside when surrendering third place to Casper Stornes.
Foley crossed the line in 3:42:25 after a run-time of 1:09:50, while Long had done enough to finish in second at 3:43:35 (1:11:14), and West, who was a student at Penn State, was able to take an emotional third in 03:44:38 (01:10:11).
Marquardt, who had managed to compose himself after dropping off the lead, recovered from taking a fall at one of the aid stations to finish in fourth, ahead of Dubrick.
Men’s results
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Total time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trevor Foley | USA | 00:25:42 | 02:03:26 | 01:09:50 | 03:42:25 |
| 2 | Sam Long | USA | 00:26:23 | 02:02:57 | 01:11:14 | 03:43:35 |
| 3 | Jason West | USA | 00:24:20 | 02:06:57 | 01:10:11 | 03:44:38 |
| 4 | Matthew Marquardt | USA | 00:24:14 | 02:04:28 | 01:13:54 | 03:46:02 |
| 5 | Marc Dubrick | USA | 00:23:19 | 02:06:12 | 01:14:15 | 03:47:02 |
