After severe weather forced the postponement of Kelloggs Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand, athletes competed today in a 70.3 race in Taupo. Belgium’s Marino Vanhoenacker (pictured – photo courtesy FinisherPix.com) and American Meredith Kessler won today’s races – Vanhoenacker getting to the line less than a minute ahead of Timothy Reed, while Kessler cruised into the finish line almost eight minutes ahead of Kate Bevilaqua.
Here are the top 10 men’s and women’s professional results from today’s race:
1. Marino Vanhoenacker – 3.55:03 2. Timothy Reed – 3.55:51 3. Cameron Brown – 3.56:38 4. Romain Guillaume – 3.58:03 5. Aaron Farlow – 3.58:57 6. Marko Albert – 4.00:43 7. Terenzo Bozzone – 4.01:51 8. Guy Crawford – 4.03:29 9. Jamie Whyte – 4.12:05 10. Shanon Stallard – 4.14:46
1. Meredith Kessler – 4.22:46 Pro 2. Kate Bevilaqua – 4.30:37 Pro 3. Joanna Lawn – 4.30:40 Pro 4. Jessica Jacobs – 4.31:46 Pro 5. Gina Crawford – 4.32:45 Pro 6. Hilary Wicks – 4.32:51 F35-39 7. Belinda Harper – 4.37:49 Pro 8. Anna Ross – 4.39:47 F30-34 9. Susie Wood – 4.41:33 F35-39 10. Candice Hammond – 4.43:25 Pro
Interview with Meredith Kessler, winner of the Kelloggs Nutri-Grain 70.3 A 20 hour flight means a tough start to any race week, but that’s the way Meredith Kessler had to view Ironman New Zealand 2012, so when the race was cut to a 70.3 it was just one more thing to cope with. “I was ready for anything they could throw at me, poor weather, an Ironman race, a duathlon you name I’d have done it, but that wind last night didn’t help what is often a poor night’s sleep. I rarely sleep before a big race but it didn’t help the nerves at all and I thought it was likely to be a choppy swim” And there must have been something going on in the swim for both Marino and Meredith because she also lost her goggles and had to do the swim without them and then lost her timing chip. Fortunately it didn’t bother her too much with the beautiful clear waters of Lake Taupo. When asked if the cold bothered her she said, “I come from San Francisco now, so I’m used to this, it’s pretty normal.” Meredith lead from start to finish in the women’s race and, although she expected some wind, on the bike was pleasantly surprised but had no idea how she was doing because no-one was able to give her accurate splits because she didn’t have a timing chip for most of the race. The run was possibly going to be her weakness, but with such a big lead and what she describes an amazing crowd she just kept going. Meredith says she normally does the same races year in year out, but promised her husband they’d go somewhere different, so she’s looking forward to visiting some wineries before heading back home to do a half in San Diego and then a full Ironman distance race at St George and Coeur de Alene.
Interview with Kelloggs Nutri-Grain 70.3 male winner Marino Vanhoenacker. He might be better known for putting in a blistering pace at Ironman Austria last year to claim the fastest Ironman time ever, but the Kelloggs Nutri-Grain 70.3 winner Marino Vanhoenacker says this was one tough race. The Belgian arrived in New Zealand over a month ago to give himself time to acclimatize and get to know the Taupo course, but when the weather gods upset the apple cart Marino was lost. He said, “I just didn’t know what to do with myself when they talked about cancellation, or that the swim leg was in danger of being cut from the race. I had so many doubts in my mind because this isn’t what I’d come to do. I was ready for an Ironman distance nothing less. And, on Saturday when I should have been racing, I had to find something to do to take my mind off it so I rented a stack of videos and just watched them all day. Even as a pro with many years experience, I had so many mixed feelings and last night it was tough hearing the wind blowing till the early hours of the morning.”
With expectations high for Marino before the weather turned to custard he remained in a solid position throughout the race, but had problems in the swim. He says, “I lost my goggles after just 200 meters and had to stop and try and retrieve them, then when I got back to swimming I swallowed water and panicked a bit, I thought I was going to drown – it was rough out there. Then, when I finally got my rhythm back I looked up and realized I was in the front pack of swimmers. When I came out of the water I couldn’t see any of the other lead swimmers because I was so focussed and I worried I was going to be going out on the bike on my own, but then Terenzo and Cameron Brown appeared and all was good. “Once on the bike I tried to drop the hammer, but the guys were working so hard together I couldn’t make any in-roads, so apart from a few changes on the front of the pack I just stayed with the guys until I got to T2. I knew I had to have a quick transition to be able to stick with the likes of Terenzo and so got into a rhythm straight away and, although I was a few minutes down, I knew that I could close the gap and as that gap became smaller and smaller I just never gave up and dropped the hammer to take first place.
“As for what comes next – well I don’t need to go to Melbourne and I have plenty of points to go towards Kona so I’ll probably just chill out for a while.” Asked if he felt the pressure on him as the Ironman distance record holder, with a time of 7.46 he said, “Surprisingly no, but the weather, yep that really messed with my head and so I’ll take this experience away with me for the future because it could happen anywhere.”
Originally from: http://ironman.com/events/ironman/newzealand/kelloggs-nutri-grain-ironman-new-zealand-run-as-a-70.3-distance-event-due-to-severe-weather#ixzz1oL7FmTKK
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