The Asia-Pacific Champion and a Warrior Princess lived up to their names at a remarkable Cobra Energy Drink IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines.
Asia-Pacific IRONMAN 70.3 Champion Tim Reed withstood a withering sprint finish to edge out close friend and compatriot Tim Berkel to claim the men’s honours amid the passion and colour at Cebu today.
Meanwhile defending women’s champion Caroline Steffen recovered after a crash on the bike, battling with sore ribs to win the women’s title to more than live up to her moniker as Xena the Warrior Princess.
More than 2,600 participants from 52 countries descended on the resort of the Shangri-La Mactan in Cebu, battling the heat but buoyed on by the remarkable fervour of many thousands of spectators who lined the roads.
Men’s Race
Australians Clayton Fettell and Sam Betten set the pace in a stunning 1.9km swim in under 22 minutes but the pair was quickly swallowed up early on the bike that incorporated some navigation on local roads before an M-shaped route on the freeway back to transition at the Shangri-La.
Defending champion Brent McMahon (CAN), Reed, Berkel, double IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Craig Alexander and Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns winner Luke Mckenzie were together at the from after 45kms.
McMahon, Berkel and Reed pushed the pace in the second half of the bike to clear T2 with a three minute advantage.
McMahon dropped off by the mid-point of the run while Reed opened up a handy buffer at the front, only to see Berkel work hard to get back in touch. The pair battled side-by-side for the last 2kms where Reed’s sprint was enough to get him home in a remarkable finish in 3:46:03 with Berkel just two seconds back.
McMahon held on for third with Philippines-based professional Mitch Robins running up to an eye-catching fourth on the back of a 1:21:00 run ahead of Alexander, McKenzie and Pete Jacobs.
"That was special. To have the crowds from the Cebu local community was such an amazing feeling – the cheers, the singing and the dancing were things that I’ve never experienced," Reed said. "I felt like I was racing in the Tour de France, it was just amazing."
"I knew Berkel was stronger than me the longer the race went but I felt I was a little bit faster in a sprint finish. I knew I had to stay with him until I could see the finish line and then go full gas to get a few metres on him."
Women’s Race
Defending champion Caroline Steffen (SUI) did not take long to stamp her class on the women’s field, taking a 1:50 advantage out of the 1.9km swim, amid a flotilla of boats and colour.
She was followed by Singapore-based Kiwi Kathryn Haesner and Australia’s Belinda Granger.
However her progress was halted when she collided with a spectator on the cycle course, but got back on her bike with the help from 11-time IRONMAN New Zealand champion Cameron Brown who stopped to help.
Despite sore ribs, Steffen recovered to join Granger at the front of the pack at 30kms and edged to a two minute buffer by T2. That lead pushed out to six minutes by 6km on the run as fast-improving Dimity-Lee Duke (AUS) and IRONMAN Switzerland winner Beth Gerdes (USA) moved in to podium placings.
Gerdes continued her move but Steffen, obviously in some pain, had more than enough in the tank to win in 4:23:54.
Gerdes showed outstanding form on the back of her breakthrough Swiss success two weeks ago to claim second 5:13 back with Thailand-based Duke continuing her impressive rise to round out the podium 30 seconds back.
There were two standout efforts to follow with local star Monica Torres grabbing the fifth fastest time with an eye-catching effort in this fast-developing triathlon nation just ahead of Granger who brought down the curtain on her storied professional career.
Results, Pro Men:
1 Tim Reed Australia 3:46:03
2 Tim Berkel Australia 3:46:05
3 Brent McMahon Canada 3:50:23
4 Mitch Robins Australia 3:55:20
5 Craig Alexander Australia 3:57:11
Pro Women
1 Caroline Steffen 4:23:54
2 Beth Gerdes 4:29:07
3 Dimity-Lee Duke 4:29:36
4 Kathryn Haesner 4:32:15
5 Monica Torres 4:39:37