Only in the water, America’s Skye Moench wasn’t leading during today’s Ironman Chattanooga. The rest of the day she spent in front, and far in front, because Moench took a big win. Spain’s Gurutze Frades Larralde finished in second place (+26:31) and Canada’s Melanie McQuaid in third (+30:13).
With a swim time of 44:33 minutes, Moench had to tolerate one athlete ahead of her in the start of the bike part. It was Canada’s Rach McBride who was the fastest swimmer of the day; she needed 44:31 minutes to get back on land and into T1.
Completing the 180 km of cycling in 4:44:03 hours, Moench took the lead during this second discipline, creating an advantage of fifteen minutes to the second lady – McQuaid – by the time she entered T2. Halfway through the run, Moench had extended that lead to an incredible 20 minutes. In 3:01:11 hours, she ended up covering the marathon. After 8:34:07 hours of racing, Moench got to lift the tape above her head as the winner of Ironman Chattanooga.
A strong run saw Frades Larralde move up to second place in the final part of the marathon, while McQuaid had to settle for third.
