Memphis, Tennessee and Shelby Farms Park played host to the inaugural edition of the 2021 St. Jude IRONMAN® 70.3® Memphis triathlon on Sunday, Oct. 2. With some of triathlon’s best on hand, the event benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® saw Jason West (Boulder, Colo.) and Ellie Salthouse (Carindale, Queensland, Australia) take the top honors with finishing times of 3:45:05 and 4:12:35 respectively.
Rounding out the men’s professional podium was Bradley Weiss (Stellenbosch, South Africa), who came in second with a finish time of 3:46:40 and Marc Dubrick (Bedford, N.H.) who posted an 3:49:28 finishing time that was good for third place. On the women’s side, Jackie Hering (Cottage Grove, Wisc.) took second in 4:13:44, while Ali Bauer (Mount Vernon, Wash.) finished in third with a time of 4:26:25.
Top five professional men’s results:
1. Jason West USA 03:45:05
2. Bradley Weiss ZAF 03:46:40
3. Marc Dubrick USA 03:49:28
4. Andre Lopes BRA 03:52:04
5. Marty Andrie USA 03:53:40
Top five professional women’s results:
1. Ellie Salthouse AUS 04:12:35
2. Jackie Hering USA 04:13:44
3. Ali Bauer USA 04:26:25
4. Jessica Jones USA 04:45:23
5. Sierra Snyder USA 04:48:53
“The triathletes in today’s St. Jude IRONMAN 70.3 Memphis have so much to be proud of. They have inaugurated a new IRONMAN event and showed us awe-inspiring endurance, all while supporting the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “We’re especially grateful to our St. Jude Heroes who competed today. Their amazing commitment to train and fundraise helps St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital move forward with its bold plan to accelerate research and lifesaving treatment of childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases and fulfill our founder Danny Thomas’s promise that no child should die in the dawn of life.”
The 2021 St. Jude IRONMAN 70.3 Memphis triathlon saw nearly 1,700 athletes start the race. Competitors ranged in age from 19-75 years old. The event led athletes along a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run throughout southwestern. The competition started with a point-to-point swim in Hyde Lake before athletes embarked on the single-loop bike course that ventured through the rolling hills of Fayette County. The two-loop run course took athletes around scenic Hyde Lake and onto the popular Chickasaw Trail before finishing at Shelby Farms Park. The event offered a professional prize purse of $50,000 as well as age-group qualifying slots to the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship held in St. George, Utah.