After the effects of Hurricane Helene forced organizers to cancel the swim at Ironman Chattanooga, the race went off today as bike and run race, so it comes as no surprise that American Sam Long (pictured above), who traditionally is forced to come from well back after the swim for his wins, would take the win. For the women it was former American Olympian Sarah True who ran her way to the title.
Laundry leads off the bike
Prior to this year and his chase for the Ironman Pro Series title, Canadian Jackson Laundry was best known for his 70.3 racing, having completed just one Ironman race. Chattanooga was his third full-distance race of the year, and the Canadian excelled on the bike, riding the day’s fastest split (3:50:01) to get to the transition area 18 seconds ahead of Long, with Austria’s Michael Weiss 1:43 down, Canadian Cody Beals at 2:28 behind and Germany’s Andi Dreitz at 3:03.
Laundry managed to hold Long off until the halfway point of the run, but at that point the American moved into the lead. Beals was also making a big move on the run, steadily gaining time on Long. When Long took the lead he was just over a minute ahead of the Canadian, and Long managed to pad the lead to just under 90 seconds with 10 km to go. Beals made one final push, though, and was just 20 seconds down with a mile to go. Long hung tough, though, and managed to maintain the gap for the win thanks to his 2:40:22 marathon and 6:32:11 finish time. Beals would clock a 2:38:29 marathon and finish the race in 6:32:31. Dreitz (6:34:47) also managed to run his way past Laundry(6:40:32). Weiss (6:43:03) would round out the top five.
Clutterbuck’s breakthrough race as a pro
We profiled Stephanie Clutterbuck last year at the Ironman World Championship in Kona – the former rower was part of the Zwift Racing Academy and looking towards a career as a pro triathlete.
Kona Age Group Excellence: Returning for redemption in the Energy Lab
Clutterbuck had the days fastest bike split to get to the end of the bike 3:07 up on countrywoman Rebecca Anderbury, 5:37 ahead of Canadian Angela Naeth, and 6:39 ahead of True. By the halfway point of the run, though, True had reduced her deficit to just under 90 seconds, and took the lead around the 25 km point of the run.
True would use the day’s fastest marathon (2:54:20) to get to the line in 7:17:13, with Clutterbuck hanging on for second (7:20:45). Annamarie Strehlow (USA) used the day’s second-fastest marathon (2:57:02) to get to the line in third (7:24:05). Haley Chura (USA) finished fourth in 7:25:40, with Canadian Danielle Fauteaux rounding out the top five in 7:34:25.
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