Canadians Lionel Sanders and Heather Wurtele battled an impressive professional field of athletes to capture the titles at today’s Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship St. George triathlon.
Sanders, taking home victories at this year’s Ironman 70.3 Panama, Ironman 70.3 California - Oceanside and Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas, continued his winning streak with a finish time of 3:48:18. Wurtele, fresh off her wins at Ironman 70.3 Monterrey and Ironman 70.3 California - Oceanside, earned her fourth victory in St. George (also 2010, 2011 and 2015) with a time of 4:16:48.
Men’s Race
 Lionel Sanders(Photo: Donald Miralle / Ironman; click to enlarge) |
Out of the waters of Sand Hollow Reservoir, Cam Dye (USA), Tim O’Donnell (USA), and Michael Raelert (DEU) led a pack of seven men within seconds of each other. Ben Hoffman (USA), Trevor Wurtele (CAN) and Sebastian Kienle (DEU) followed closely at 2:30 behind, while Lionel Sanders (CAN) trailed at 4:30 down.
Once on the bike Dye, O’Donnell, Raelert, Matt Chrabot (USA) and Sylvain Sudrie (FRA) pushed the pace, while the rest of the field remained tight behind. Strong cyclists Sanders and Kienle turned up the heat on the second half of the bike with Sanders earning the fastest bike split by over 2:30, placing him in the lead, with Kienle closely following. Raelert, Collington, Dye and O’Donnell were next off the bike all looking at close to three-minute deficits to overcome a pair of talented runners.
For the first eight miles of the run, Kienle, while nearly a minute behind, continued to match Sanders' pace. Farther back, Joe Gambles (AUS) and Collington battled for who would take the final podium position. In addition to the fastest bike split of the day, Sanders recorded the fastest run split of 1:13:30, claiming the 2016 Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship, with a winning margin of 2:52 over Kienle. Gambles was eventually able to overtake Collington as he captured a third place podium finish with a time of 3:53:26.
Top five professional men’s results:
| Swim | Bike | Run | Finish | |||||
| 1. Lionel Sanders (CAN) | 27:39 | 2:03:57 | 1:13:30 | 3:48:18 | ||||
| 2. Sebastian Kienle (DEU) | 25:45 | 2:06:30 | 1:15:49 | 3:51:10 | ||||
| 3. Joe Gambles (AUS) | 24:48 | 2:09:29 | 1:16:04 | 3:53:26 | ||||
| 4. Kevin Collington (USA) | 24:51 | 2:09:36 | 1:17:23 | 3:54:40 | ||||
| 5. Brent McMahon (CAN) | 23:18 | 2:12:36 | 1:15:57 | 3:54:46 |
Women’s Race
 Heather Wurtele(Photo: Donald Miralle / Ironman; click to enlarge) |
Meredith Kessler (USA) and Holly Lawrence (USA) exited the water together with Ellie Salthouse (AUS), Mary Beth Ellis (USA), Emily Cocks (USA) Jeanni Seymour (ZAF), Magali Tisseyre (CAN) and Amanda Stevens (USA) just seconds off the leaders pace. Defending Champion Heather Wurtele (CAN) found herself in familiar territory with a 1:30 deficit coming out the water.
Once on the bike course, Lawrence and Kessler exchanged the lead as Wurtele continued to stay within striking distance. Wurtele would eventually surge to the front of the race and dismount her bike with a three-second advantage over Lawrence and close to a minute lead on Kessler.
Wurtele held the lead on the run while Lawrence maintained a consistent pace less than a minute behind. Wurtele stretched her lead out in the closing mile, capturing the 2016 Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship with a time of 4:16:48. Lawrence was next across the line just 1:17 behind to take second with a 4:18:04 finish. Kessler continued to hold her strong pace and protect a third place podium finish with a time of 4:22:02.
Top five professional women’s results:
| Swim | Bike | Run | Finish | |||||
| 1. Heather Wurtele (CAN) | 27:59 | 2:22:33 | 1:22:55 | 4:16:48 | ||||
| 2. Holly Lawrence (GBR) | 26:28 | 2:24:22 | 1:24:00 | 4:18:04 | ||||
| 3. Meredith Kessler (USA) | 26:27 | 2:24:50 | 1:27:16 | 4:22:02 | ||||
| 4. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) | 26:37 | 2:26:43 | 1:27:47 | 4:24:36 | ||||
| 5. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) | 26:30 | 2:31:39 | 1:25:08 | 4:26:52 |
One of more than 90 events in the global Ironman 70.3 Series, the Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship St. George triathlon led athletes along a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run on a course that utilised the beautiful city and surrounding landscape of St. George. Athletes began their day with a single-loop swim in the protected waters of Sand Hollow Reservoir. Once out of the water, participants embarked upon a single-loop bike course through the towns of Hurricane, Washington and St. George before proceeding up Snow Canyon parkway and through the picturesque Snow Canyon State Park. The single-loop run course wound through the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and offered amazing views of St. George while running along the bluff before returning to the finish line on Main Street in the heart of downtown.
Offering a total professional prize purse of $100,000, the race also awarded a total of 30 age-group qualifying slots for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, taking place in Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia on September 4, 2016.
