It was wire-to-wire domination today at IRONMAN 70.3 Steelhead by none other than Andrew "Starky" Starykowicz. Just one year after getting hit by a car while training, just racing again this year seemed like a big ask. Against all odds, he’s back racing and racing well. Starky went straight to the front in the swim, kept the lead on the bike leg straight away. A 1:58:31 bike split gave him over seven minutes on the nearest group of chasers, of which Joe Gambles seemed to be the biggest challenger. The gap slowly diminished until Matt Hanson moved up to second from ninth and really put the burners on. In the end, the gap was 2:10 and Starykowicz had run a respectable 1:18:13 to Hanson’s mind-blowing 1:10:55. Gambles finished out the day with a 1:15:08, putting him in third.
Heather Jackson had maybe her best ever swim, exiting the water a mere 30 seconds behind swim leader Robin Pomeroy. Jackson took control over the race on the bike almost immediately, but she had a chaser that would keep it close all day in Alissa Doehla. Holding steady on the bike, Jackson came off with 2:45 over Doehla in second. With Doehla's ex-pro running pedigree and the 30 seconds she took out of Jackson in the first 2.5 miles, we thought we might see an upset on our hands—but the veteran Jackson responded and kept the gap at 2 minutes at race end. Jodie Robertson had a strong bike and run to move her up in the field and get her third place on the day.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Starykowicz, Andrew USA 3:46:57
2 Hanson, Matt USA 3:49:08
3 Gambles, Joe AUS 3:51:21
4 Laundry, Jackson CAN 3:53:21
5 Buckingham, Kyle RSA 3:54:17
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Jackson, Heather USA 4:16:54
2 Doehla, Alissa USA 4:19:48
3 Robertson, Jodie USA 4:23:49
4 Cross, Christine USA 4:29:05
5 Benner, Holly USA 4:29:22