Sam Long (USA) displayed racing maturity beyond his young age. The 23-year-old eliminated the three-and-half-minute deficit he had out of the swim and powered to the front of the race by 30 miles into the bike. The American was unmatched on two wheels and hit the dismount line with a 10 minute lead on Matt Russell (USA). Russell managed to squeeze out a minute faster marathon, allowing Long to take the victory and claim a starting spot in Kona for 2020.
Angela Naeth (CAN) has had more health and injury issues throughout the past two years than GU Energy Gel has flavors (29 if you are curious). The persistent Canadian reversed a three-minute deficit to the leader coming out of the water, into a 13 minute leading gap heading into transition after punching out the race-best bike split. Head down and determined, Naeth capped off a brilliant race with a solid run to take the hard earned win by a four minute winning margin over a hard charging Lisa Roberts (USA).
Men's Podium
1 Long, Sam USA 8:22:21
2 Russell, Matt USA 8:31:49
3 Chase, Nicolas USA 8:49:30
Women's Podium
1 Naeth, Angela CAN 9:18:45
2 Roberts, Lisa USA 9:22:31
3 Ramsey, Lenny NED 9:27:31