Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) was in his own time zone this weekend in Quebec at IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant. The Belgian legend went to work early into the bike and managed to carry a 12-minute advantage as he raced into an empty transition. The 41-year-old didn't let off the gas for the run as he smacked out a race-best run to claim his 16th IRONMAN title of his career by winning margin of over 20 minutes.
In the women's race, Lauren Brandon (USA) was the first pro (male and female) out of the water and hit the bike course with close to a seven-minute lead on the entire women's field. On the strength of the fastest bike split on the day, Brandon padded her lead to over 13 minutes as she dismounted her bike and headed into T2. The wheels fell off Brandon's run early into the run as Rachel Joyce (GBR) and Magali Tisseyre (CAN) started the run together in second and third.
It was evident early into the run that Brandon was hurting as the gaps narrowed quickly. By 26 miles, Joyce took the lead from Brandon and held off late challenges from Kim Schwabenbauer (USA) and Jennie Hansen (USA) to claim her second IRONMAN win of the year, a guaranteed start spot in Kona, and all this with less than a year after the birth of her son, Archie.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Vanhoenacker, Marino BEL 8:21:29
2 McDonald, Chris AUS 8:41:27
3 Monnink, Jordan CAN 8:51:29
4 Holderbaum, Chad USA 8:56:59
5 Pohl, Jason CAN 8:57:28
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Joyce, Rachel GBR 9:19:08
2 Schwabenbauer, Kim USA 9:21:22
3 Hansen, Jennie USA 9:25:58
4 Brandon, Lauren USA 9:27:27
5 Tisseyre, Magali CAN 9:30:09