It looked like it would be the Sammy Appleton (AUS) show for the second week in a row after he claimed the Santa Rosa title last weekend. The Aussie was first out of the water and backed it up with the fastest bike split on the day.
With Ben Hoffman (USA), Callum Willard (NZL) and Matt Chrabot running much of the run together, Appleton still managed to hold them off for in the early miles of the race. Nearing the end of the first of two laps of the run, the wheels fell off Appleton's race and he start to hand back half of his 4:30 lead he enjoyed at the start of the run. By 9.5 miles, Appleton succumbed to the pace of the pack of three runners and could only watch the trio, and the win, run away from him. Nearing the finish line, it was down to Millward and Hoffman, with Millward crossing the finish line just two seconds faster than Hoffman for the win. (Millward is no stranger to close finishes in IRONMAN 70.3 races. You may recall the Kiwi was involved in a rare tie for the win with big Matty Reed at the 2012 IRONMAN 70.3 Boise.)
In the women's race it was a start-to-finish dominating performance by Ellie Salthouse (AUS). The Aussie was out of the water with the lead pack and then laid down the fastest bike and run splits on the day and was rewarded with the victory by a winning margin of eight and half minutes.
Salthouse's return to the podium makes the win that much sweeter as she has been struggling with a hamstring injury that has prevented her from racing to her full potential for much of the last two years. A healthy Salthouse will likely have an impact at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship coming up in September in South Africa.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Millward, Callum NZL 3:47:04
2 Hoffman, Ben USA 3:47:07
3 Chrabot, Matt USA 3:48:08
4 Appleton, Sammy AUS 3:51:06
5 Libin, Alex USA 3:56:23
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Salthouse, Ellie AUS 4:03:57
2 Seymour, Jeanni ZAF 4:12:27
3 Smith, Lesley USA 4:17:24
4 Findlay, Paula CAN 4:19:15
5 Kaye, Alicia CAN 4:20:09