Home > Articles > News > Withrow, Albert win Victoria 70.3
Withrow, Albert win Victoria 70.3
Timothy Carlson Sun Jun 04 2017
Kelsey Withrow of the U.S. and Marko Albert of Estonia won the overall titles at Ironman 70.3 Victoria.
Withrow combined a women's 2nd-fastest 24:34 swim, 2nd-best 2:28:30 bike split and 4th-best 1:29:40 run to finish in 4:25:11, with a 1:37 margin of victory over Jen Annett of Canada and 6:05 over fellow U.S. competitor Lauren Goss.
Albert led wire-to-wire with a race-best 22:55 swim, race-best 2:13:44 bike split and 5th-quickest 1:19:50 half marathon to finish in 3:58:36, with a 2:26 margin of victory over Taylor Reid of Canada and precisely 4 minutes over 3rd-place Christopher Baird of the U.S.
Lauren Goss of the U.S. led the pro women's swim wave with a 24:33 split that gave her 2 seconds on Withrow, and 2:43, 2:47 and 2:49 on Canadians Steph Corker, Melanie McQuaid and Annie-Claude Gaudet. Canadian overall threat Jen Annett was 4:49 back and Lisa Roberts of the U.S. was three more seconds arrears.
Halfway through the bike leg, Withrow established a 2:29 lead on Goss, 4:27 on Annett and 5:54 on McQuaid. At the end of her women's second-best 2:28:30 bike split, Withrow maintained a 2:29 lead on Annett (2:26:08 bike split), 6:36 on Goss, 8:42 on McQuaid, and 11:40 on Roberts.
On the run, Withrow proceeded to surrender from her lead in the most miserly possible fashion. Midway through the half marathon, Withrow's lead was down to 2:24 on Annett, 4:54 on Goss and 10:36 on McQuaid. With 5 kilometers left, Withrow's advantage was 2:18 on Annett and 5:47 on Goss.
After her women's 4th-best 1:29:40 run, Withrow crossed the line in 4:25:11 with a 1:37 lead on Annett (1:28:56 run), 6:05 on Goss (1:29:21 run), and 8:16 on Roberts (women's-best 1:26:20 run).
Albert led the swim in 22:55 which gave him a 3 seconds margin on Graham O'Grady of New Zealand, 43 seconds on Benjamin Collins of the U.S., 1:48 on Justin Metzler of the U.S., 1:50 on Taylor Reid of Canada, and 2:39 on Ricky Swindale of Australia.
Halfway through the bike leg, Albert increased his lead to 1:09 on O'Grady, 2:43 on Taylor, 2:44 on Collins, and 3:58 on Metzler. After a race-best 2:13:44 bike split, Albert led a trio composed of Collins, Reid and O'Grady by slightly less than 4 and a half minutes. Further behind were a quartet of U.S. competitors - Christopher Baird (+8:24), Justin Metzler (+8:25), Nicholas Chase (+8:28), and Jordan Rapp (+11:28).
Halfway through the run, Albert's lead had slipped to 2:22 over Reid, 2:52 on O'Grady, 4:30 on Collins, 6:30 on Baird, 10:23 on Chase, and 11:36 on Rapp.
After that, Albert stiffened his resistance and stopped the bleeding. After a 5th-fastest 1:19:50 run, the Estonian crossed the line in 3:58:36 with a 2:26 lead on Reid (1:18:06 run), 4 minutes on 3rd-place Baird (1:15:17 run), 5:08 on 4th-place O'Grady, and 5:52 on 5th-place Collins.
Subaru Ironman 70.3 Victoria
Victoria, BC, Canada
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
1. Kelsey Withrow (USA) 4:25:11
2. Jen Annett (CAN) 4:26:48
3. Lauren Goss (USA) 4:31:16
4. Lisa Roberts (USA) 4:33:27
5. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 4:37:53
6. Alycia Hill (USA) 4:39:33
7. Kelly O'Mara (USA) 4:50:03
8. Steph Corker (CAN) 4:51:01
9. Annie–Claude Gaudet (CAN) 4:52:12
10. Kendra Goffredo (USA) 4:59:44
1. Marko Albert (EST) 3:58:36
2. Taylor Reid (CAN) 4:01:02
3. Christopher Baird (USA) 4:02:36
4. Graham O'Grady (NZL) 4:03:44
5. Benjamin Collins (USA) 4:04:28
6. Justin Metzler (USA) 4:05:20
7. Jordan Rapp (USA) 4:09:43
8. Nicholas Chase (USA) 4:13:08
9. Ricky Swindale (AUS) 4:18:29
10. Derek Garcia (USA) 4:19:07
Zaferes, Ertel win Pacific Grove
Sat Jun 11 2016
The Estonian power express
Sat Mar 08 2014
Jen Annett seized the day