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Heather Wurtele of Kelowna defended her North American Ironman 70.3 pro championship today with a victory in St. George, Utah.
Wurtele swam (1.9 kilometres), biked (113 km) and ran (21.1 km) the half ironman — in rainy, windy and cool conditions — in four hours 16 minutes 48 seconds (4:16.48) to finish first among the women and 23rd overall.
Holly Lawrence of Great Britain finished second in 4:18:04, while Meredith Kessler of the United States was third in 4:22:02.
In the men’s race, Lionel Sanders of Windsor, Ont. led the field with a time of 3:48.18, while Germany’s Sebastian Kienle (3:51:10) finished third and Joe Gambles (3:53:26) of Australia, third.
Brent McMahon of Victoria (born in Kelowna), crossed in 3:54.46, good for fifth place overall, while Trevor Wurtele of Vernon, now living in Kelowna, finished in sixth place with a clocking of 3:56:00.
Heather Wurtele, in winning her third straight 70.3 race of the season, said the weather was definitely a factor in the race today.
“The climate for this race is usually hot and dry, so the rain and cold and choppiness of the lake definitely made it more challenging for everyone,” she told Andy Griffin of stgeorgeutah.com. “You’re sort of just doing your thing and it doesn’t really faze you. It was a bit tricky in the transitions, my hands were so cold. I couldn’t really get my shoes on.
“I saw Holly struggling as well. We couldn’t really grab the tongues. We were just kind of shoving our feet inside. But it was just a bunch of small challenges like that.”
Wurtele said the competition has improved each year she has competed in the St. George Ironman 70.3 and the 2016 race was tougher than ever.
“All day, it was just a battle,” she explained to Griffin. “Sometimes in a race, in the last couple miles or so, you can kind of ease off. But the whole day today I felt like I was pushing max, max, max. It just goes to show the level of competition is so amazing and everyone is working incredibly hard.”
Wurtele found herself in familiar territory with a deficit coming out the water, but was looking at only a minute and half to claw back with plenty of racing remaining.
For much of the ride, Lawrence and Kessler exchanged the lead as Wurtele watched from close behind. It was not until late in the bike that Wurtele's impatience surfaced and she surged to the front of the race and dismounted her bike carrying a three-second advantage over Lawrence and close to minute on Kessler.
Much like the men’s race, Wurtele held the lead, but had a persistent Lawrence stubbornly holding the leaders' advantage to less than a minute throughout the run. Kessler faded out of contention for the win early in the run, but was running solidly enough to protect a podium finish.
Wurtele managed to stretch her lead out in the closing 1.6 kilometres to defend her North American title.
Meanwhile, Claire Young of Kelowna recorded a time of 5:13:36 to finish fourth in the women’s 40-44 age group. Her husband, James Young, placed fifth in the men’s 40-44 age category with a clocking of 4:45:15.
“It was totally epic. Rough, wavey and cold in the swim. Freezing cold and driving rain on the bike and a run so hilly it was, quite frankly, ridiculous,” wrote James Young on his Facebook page.
“I was so cold I couldn't rack my bike in T (transition) 2, get my shoes off and runners on and undo my helmet. Volunteers had to do it all. My hands were so cold starting the run that I couldn't hold cups at the aid station. A totally mental day.
“Thanks to Chris Blick @ Dimond Bikes for sorting my bike prior (looking good on the run dude) and Sean B. Garick @ Purplepatch fitness for keeping my head up over the last few tough months and also the guys at Riplaces for finally finding me some speed laces I like.
“Still buzzing . . . as you can probably tell from the long post. Epic, Epic. Epic.
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