Winning a race is nice, but winning a race by supremacy is even nicer. Paula Findlay just did the latter at Ironman 70.3 St. George, where she led solo for almost the entire day and actually ran unchallenged to victory.
For Findlay, the victory was welcome, as the Canadian athlete had not stood on the top step of the podium for some time. Right away Findlay started the race strong, coming out of the water along with Kate Curran, Jeanni Metzler and Ellie Salthouse, so she was at the front of the race right away. In the first few kilometers of the bike leg, Findlay stayed with these women for a while, but it would not last long.
Already at the second timing point, after 19 kilometers, Findlay had pulled away from everyone and was leading solo. At just over half a minute, her lead was negligible, but it would only grow during the bike. Especially in the closing stages, that went fast too, and when Findlay got to put on her running shoes, she did so with a lead of 4:08 minutes over Salthouse, 5:17 minutes over Danielle Lewis, 5:21 minutes over Jackie Hering, 5:27 minutes over Metzler and 5:29 minutes over Curran.
Throughout the half marathon, it was clear Findlay would win the race and she did. Initially her lead remained the same for a long time, but in the final kilometers she still lost considerable time compared to her first pursuers. This was no big deal, as her victory was no longer in danger. Findlay won the race in 4:09:27, while Salthouse was second in 4:11:56, and Hering was third in 4:12:50.
