Andrew Starykowicz and Heather Wurtele held on for wins at IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman.
Another win for Starykowicz
Eric Limkemann was first to emerge from the water of the Choptank River with Andrew Yoder (USA), Bevan Docherty (NZL), Tim O’Donnell (USA), Andrew Starykowicz and James Cotter (USA) all within a minute.
Once on the bike Starykowicz stormed to the front and put time into everyone but a persistent Yoder, who kept the leader close in his sights. Yoder went to the front of the race on at least one occasion, letting Starykowicz know he wasn’t going to run away with the lead unchallenged. At the conclusion of the 56 miles, Starykowicz had managed to build up a gap ranging three to over eight minutes on the contenders of the field with the exception of a pesky Yoder, who was just 18 seconds back.
Once on the run, Starykowicz extended his lead as Yoder faltered in the first half of the run. Behind Starykowicz, O’Donnell was charging toward the front of the race in second, and eliminated all but 55 seconds of the 3:02 advantage he spotted the leader coming off the bike. Leon Griffin (AUS) was in the process of laying down the fastest run of the day and gaining positions, however since he started the run over eight minutes down, he was running to steal a podium placing at best.
Over final miles, Starykowicz was feeling the heat being applied by O’Donnell’s blistering run as the finish line couldn’t come quick enough. Starykowicz held off O’Donnell to capture the IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman title with a six second winning margin. Griffin finished off the podium with his 3:52:11 clocking.
Wurtele does it again
Anna Cleaver (NZL) established a full minute lead running into T1 over a chase pack of five that contained Darbi Roberts (USA), Radka Vodickova (CZE), Rebecca Wassner (USA), Ashley Clifford (USA) and Cait Snow (USA). Canadian’s Rachel McBride and Heather Wurtele were close to three minutes off the pace.
McBride and Wurtele rode away from the field and dismounted their bikes within 12 seconds of each other, with Snow next into transition five minutes later. The remainder of the field were well over eight minutes off the leader's pace.
Early into the run, Wurtele grabbed the lead and immediately put time into McBride. Nearing the first half of the run, the gap between Wurtele and McBride grew to 1:50, while behind, Snow was unleashing her typically swift run, but was still 3:25 behind with 6.5 miles to go in the race.
Wurtele maintained her pace and showed no signs of panic as Snow ran herself into second and was closing fast over the closing miles of the race. Wurtele took the win with her 4:11:03 clocking, 36 seconds faster than Snow, while McBride held on to snatch the last spot on the podium.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Andrew Starykowicz USA 3:47:27
2 Tim O'Donnell USA 3:47:32
3 Leon Griffin AUS 3:52:11
4 Bevan Docherty NZL 3:52:51
5 Eric Limkemann USA 3:53:30
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Heather Wurtele CAN 4:11:03
2 Caitlin Snow USA 4:11:39
3 Rachel McBride CAN 4:17:37
4 Radka Vodickova CZE 4:19:01
5 Ashley Clifford USA 4:23:39