In the Phillipines, Sarah Crowley and Filipe Azevedo took the win at Ironman 70.3 Davao. Not that many professional athletes were racing here, but the battle for medals was exciting nonetheless.
Crowley eventually won in a time of 4:20:15, staying 2:35 minutes ahead of Lauren Brandon. Lottie Lucas captured the bronze, doing so 4:54 minutes behind Crowley.
After the swim, Crowley had quite a bit of ground to make up: she came out of the water in third place and was then 2:31 minutes behind Brandon. On the bike, however, Crowley immediately rode to the front, overtook Brandon and from that moment on these two women stayed together until T2. By then, the next chasers were almost five minutes behind.
During the run, Crowley immediately ran away from Brandon and from then on she did not see her victory threatened.
Among the men, the race was decided as much earlier. Azevedo came out of the water first – after 26:36 – and then had two men with him: Ognjen Stojanovic and Tuan Chun Chang. On the bike, however, it was Azevedo who took off solo and once in T2 his lead had already grown to over four minutes.
During the half marathon, Azevedo’s lead did narrow considerably, but his margin was more than enough to secure the victory. He did just that in a time of 3:51:10. Stojanovic finished second at 1:18 minute behind and Chang third at 6:02 minute behind.
