Brazilians Santiago Ascenço and Carol Furriela were crowned the inaugural champions of Challenge Maceio at the weekend in 3:51:50 and 4:27:58 respectively. The day was marked by very hot conditions and a strong fight for the win, which went right to the wire.
A beautiful sunrise greeted the more than 1,000 athletes on Pajuçara Beach. First out of the water was Marcus Fernandes, followed closely by Igor Amorelli and Chicão Ferreira. Ascenço climbed on his bike about four minutes after the leaders, with the difficult task of closing the gap. Next to him was Felipe Manente.
On the bike, Fernandes and Amorelli soon left Ferreira and by the end of the 90km had a good advantage over Ascenso of about five minutes. With Fernandes in the penalty box in T2, Amorelli took the lead on the run but never looked comfortable due to stomach issues. Fernandes passed him on the second lap, taking the lead but all the while Ascenso was closing the gap. On the third and final lap, he overtook Fernandes and went on to win with 38 seconds to spare. Further back in the race, Ferreira and Toldi fought for third place with Ferreira rounding off the podium.
In the women's race, Carol Furriela led the swim in 28:20, closely followed by April Gellatly (USA) and Emma Pallant (GBR). Quickly, Gellatly took the lead on the bike, posting a 2:20:36 split and building a good advantage over competitors by the end of the 90km
However, Pallant and Furriela were both running strongly right behind her. By the halfway point of the run, Pallant had overtaken Gellatly, holding a comfortable lead in heat that had reached 35C and it seemed the race was hers. However, on the last lap, the Brit felt the intense heat and fainted in the final kilometres, a scene which was not seen by Furriela.
Crossing the line first, Furriela barely celebrated thinking she was in second, a situation quickly rectified by the announcer who pronounced her the women's champion of Challenge Maceio. Gellatly came in second, followed by Mariana Andrade. After recovering from her collapse, Pallant still managed to finish in fifth place.
For full results, visit http://challenge-maceio.com.br/br/resultados/half.
