Chris Leiferman and Jeanni Seymour make the best out of the bike-run format at IRONMAN 70.3 Austin.
By Shawn Skene / IRONMAN.com
Dense fog led to the cancellation of the swim for safety reasons and the race was relegated to a 56-mile bike and 13-mile run time trial. The pro men and women fields were sent off in 30-second intervals making a true test of man and woman against the clock.
TJ Tollakson (USA) pounded out the fastest bike (2:05:37) on the day with Chris Leiferman (USA) going just 24 seconds slower. Sammy Appleton (AUS), Michael Raelert (DEU), and Joe Gambles (AUS) would record times of 1:36 and 1:43 behind Tollakson’s leading time standard.
Leiferman’s put in a solid run that cemented the win in Texas by a 1:23 margin over Tollakson and 2:30 on a hard charging Matt Hanson (USA).
Melanie McQuaid (CAN) pedaled out the fastest bike in the women’s race with Amanda Wendorff (USA) and Jeanni Seymour (ZAF) clocking 2:26:23 and 2:26:56 bike splits. McQuaid, who suffered a severe ankle break resulting in surgery this spring and has yet to fully recover from her injury, so she slowed on the run while Seymour paced out the fastest run on the day. Seymour would claim the victory and successfully defend her title in Austin by a winning margin of over 10 minutes.
Top 5 Pro Men
| 1 | Leiferman, Chris | USA | 0:00:00 | 2:06:00 | 1:15:47 | 3:23:13 |
| 2 | Tollakson, Tj | USA | 0:00:00 | 2:05:36 | 1:17:22 | 3:24:35 |
| 3 | Hanson, Matt | USA | 0:00:00 | 2:12:57 | 1:11:13 | 3:25:43 |
| 4 | Raelert, Michael | DEU | 0:00:00 | 2:07:12 | 1:17:23 | 3:25:58 |
| 5 | Gambles, Joe | AUS | 0:00:00 | 2:07:29 | 1:18:04 | 3:26:53 |
Top 5 Pro Women
| 1 | Seymour, Jeanni | ATG | 0:00:00 | 2:26:56 | 1:21:03 | 3:49:34 |
| 2 | Hansen, Jennie | USA | 0:00:00 | 2:29:45 | 1:28:17 | 4:00:05 |
| 3 | Shutt, Beth | USA | 0:00:00 | 2:27:22 | 1:32:03 | 4:01:06 |
| 4 | Williamson, Kelly | USA | 0:00:00 | 2:37:29 | 1:22:49 | 4:02:11 |
| 5 | Wendorff, Amanda | USA | 0:00:00 | 2:26:23 | 1:35:30 | 4:03:34 |
