German Mika Noodt and Canadian Paula Findlay have just recorded fine victories at Ironman 70.3 Augusta. Both athletes definitely struck during the run, although they were actually strong over all three disciplines.
Mika Noodt took a solo lead after the swim, as when he climbed ashore after 20:55 minutes, he was 43 seconds ahead of his first pursuers: a group of eight men. On the bike, that group did not come back, only Jackson Laundry did. From that point on, the German and Canadian stayed together and it stayed that way until T2. A number of strong men, including Lionel Sanders, did not manage to reduce their gap on the bike. On the contrary, their deficit grew and once back in transition, Sanders and Trevor Foley were already almost four minutes behind.
During the run, Noodt quickly ran to a 30-second lead over Laundry and that lead then remained the same for quite a while. Yet not much later Laundry had to finally bow his head and saw Noodt’s lead eventually increase to more than two minutes. Noodt won the race in 3:37:14, while Laundry finished second in 3:39:39. Sanders still managed to secure third place, in 3:41:23.
Findlay too strong
The eventual winner also got off to a strong start in the women’s race, although Paula Findlay was not in the lead after the swim. That was American Grace Alexander (22:13), followed immediately by Teresa Adam and ten seconds later by Findlay. On the bike these three women came together, although Alexander had to downshift after only a few kilometers. Findlay and Adam then continued to bike together for ninety kilometers and returned to T2 with a 4:30 minute lead, followed by Jacky Hering, Tamara Jewett and also Alexander, among others.
During the run Findlay quickly provided clarity: actually right away she ran away from Adam, who in turn would not much later lost time and positions very quickly. Findlay logically didn’t care about that, as she claimed victory in a time of 4:05:32. Jewett finishes second in 4:06:53 and Hering finished third in 4:14:24.
