Guilherme Manocchio claims an IRONMAN title in his home country, while Haley Chura was a dominating force in the women’s race.
Patience on the run pays dividends for Manocchio
Luiz Francisco (BRA) nudged out Balazs Csoke as the lead pair ran across the timing mat in just under 50 minutes in the non-wetsuit race. Fabio Carvalho (BRA), Ivan Risti (ITA), Bryan Rhodes (NZL), Eneko Llanos (ESP) and Thiago Vinhal (BRA) scrambled into T1 two minutes later as a pack.
Once the men hit the pavement on two wheels, a strong group worked together to move forward and control the pace. That group contained race contenders Guilherme Manocchio (BRA), Daniel Fontana (ITA), Rhodes, Llanos and Csoke and Francisco. Nearing the last half of the 180 km bike, Llanos showed his impatience for the pace, and then surged to the lead that would eventually result in the multiple IRONMAN champion carrying a five minute advantage on Manocchio, Rhodes, Fontana and Csoke into T2.
Once on the run, Llanos continued to push the pace for the first 11 km, and place Manocchio six minutes down, while the remainder of the field fell out of contention. After the initial surge, Manocchio started to methodically claw his way towards the leader. As the race was in the closing km’s it was apparent the Llanos was faltering and with seven km’s remaining on the run, Manocchio made a strong pass and immediately pulled away Llanos without any resistance.
Manocchio captured the IRONMAN Fortaleza title in a time of 8:30:16 making him an instant hero having won an IRONMAN at home. Llanos followed Manocchio 1:47 later, in a time of 8:32:55 while Thiago Vinhal closed out the podium with his 852:55 finishing time.
Chura untouched in Brazil
In the women’s race, Haley Chura (USA) was off the front of the race from the get-go with her patented speedy swim (51:52). In the tough swim conditions, Caroline Gregory managed a 53:46 swim with Mette Pettersen Moe (NOR) exiting the choppy waters in 57:44
Once on the bike, Chura quickly dispelled any notion that she was a one trick pony. Chura put her head down in the brisk winds and proceeded to power away from the entire field through the 180 km ride. Heading into T2, Chura carried an 11-minute advantage on Pattersen-Moe and 26 minutes on Jessie Donavan who dismounted her bike in third.
Once on the run, Chura appeared to be fueled with the thrill of being in the lead. She immediately put even more pressure on the field by laying down the second fastest run on the day, allowing her to further build upon her lead during the 42 km run. It was without a doubt that this would be one of the finest days of Chura's pro career as she went on to capture the IRONMAN Fortaleza title, in a splendid 9:09:20 finish time in very tough conditions. Ariane Monticeli (BRA) mounted an attack on the run that watched her make up positions on the run, thanks to her fastest run on the day in the women’s race to grab second with her 9:41:55. Donavan claimed the final podium position, with her time of 9:51:33.
Top 5 Men
1 Manocchio Guilherme BRA 8:30:15
2 Eneko Llanos ESP 8:32:02
3 Thiago Vinhal BRA 8:52:54
4 Stefan Schmid DEU 8:58:08
5 Frank Souza BRA 8:58:54
Top 5 Women
1 Haley Chura USA 9:09:20
2 Ariane Monticeli BRA 9:41:55
3 Jesse Donavan USA 9:51:33
4 Mette Pettersen Moe NOR 9:58:51
5 Caroline Gregory USA 10:06:48