With wins at Subaru IRONMAN Canada, Marino Vanhoenacker and Bree Wee secure spots at the 2014 IRONMAN World Championship.
Vanhoenacker back to his winning ways
Race-favorite Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) was first to exit Alta Lake in 50:56. Paul Ambrose (GBR), Jeff Symonds (CAN), 2013 IRONMAN Canada champion, Trevor Wurtele (CAN), and Matt Lieto (USA) chased the leader out of the water.
Ambrose's impatience surfaced early in the bike when he put the hammer down and stormed to the lead at a torrid pace. Vanhoenacker was reluctant to go with Ambrose as the effort was more than he wanted to exert that early in the race. Wurtele, Symonds and Lieto were unable to match the pace and started to lose time.
After following for close to 40 km, Vanhoenacker eased into the lead on a long decent and pulled away from Ambrose and the entire field. Heading into the transition, Vanhoenacker was 9:33 ahead of Ambrose, 10:16 in front of Wurtele and 19:44 up on Lieto.
Early in the run Vanhoenacker put time on everyone except Symonds, who started to pick off the men in front of him as the run unfolded. Spotting Vanhoenacker almost 20 minutes, Symonds was really gunning for second, and his race-best run allowed him to snag that spot as Wurtele and Ambrose faded in the last half of the run. Vanhoenacker, who remained solid on the run, captured the Subaru IRONMAN Canada title in 8:16:10. Symonds ran his way to second with his 8:25:22 clocking. Ambrose was tough all day and rounded out the podium in 8:33:10.
Wee wins by being tough
The women’s race was much tighter affair with a number of lead exchanges throughout the bike and run. Anna Cleaver's (NZL) 53:09 swim was the class of the field and gave her a 2:51 advantage over Karen Thibodeau (CAN), 2:51 on Bree Wee (USA) and 3:10 on Jackie Arendt (USA). Mackenzie Madison (USA) dug herself into hole with her 58:53 split that saw her mount her bike 5:45 after Cleaver.
Once on the bike, the field started to tighten up. Before the first half of the ride was completed, Thibodeau jumped to the lead with Arendt, Wee and Madison keeping in close contact. Wee, Arendt and Cleaver exchanged positions behind the leader during the last loop, while Madison made the largest move towards the front—by the time she reached T2 she was 31-seconds ahead of Thibodeau and 1:14 in front of Wee.
Madison’s lead yo-yoed for the opening 20 km of the run, which is when Wee finally moved into the lead, while Thibodeau was next to pass Madison, staying within striking distance of the leader. Wee’s race-best run of 3:17:41 moved her well into the lead and to her second IRONMAN title in 9:46:35. Thibodeau claimed second with her 9:51:35, while Madison finished off the podium, stopping the clock at 9:52:46.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Marino Vanhoenacker BEL 8:16:10
2 Jeff Symonds CAN 8:25:22
3 Paul Ambrose GBR 8:33:10
4 Trevor Wurtele CAN 8:42:59
5 Andrew Drobeck USA 8:50:32
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Bree Wee USA 9:46:58
2 Karen Thibodeau CAN 9:51:35
3 Mackenzie Madison USA 9:52:46
4 Jackie Arendt USA 9:59:06
5 Anna Cleaver NZL 10:05:23