Not a stellar field of pros, but just as good a battle: Ironman 70.3 Campeche was won last night by Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez and Cecilia Sayuri Ramirez Alavez. In doing so, both Mexicans stayed ahead of the biggest favorites for victory and delivered a home victory to the Mexican fans.
Both athletes won by a clear margin. In the case of Hernandez – in the men’s race, that is – that margin was only built up during the run. In T2, Austrian Michael Weiss was still in the lead, who at the time ran more than a minute ahead of his Mexican pursuer. Already in the first kilometers, however, Hernandez managed to make up his deficit and turn it into a lead. He eventually won the race in 3:56:35, keeping ahead of Weiss by more than five minutes, who finished in 4:01:45. Frenchman William Even finished third in 4:08:07.
The eventual women’s winner, Ramirez Alavez, also decided the race in her favor during the run. She came into T2 in fifth position and was then 4:31 minutes behind American women Rachel Olson and Laura Mathews, but Cecilia Perez (+1:14) and Fiona Moriarty (+3:05) were also ahead of the Mexican at that point. Ramirez Alavez, however, ran overwhelmingly fastest, taking the win in a time of 4:37:40. Olson was second in 4:41:38 and Alette Gonzalez, also after catching up nicely, was third in 4:42:19.
