Race day started with a light rain that greeted the more than 800 athletes who participated in the 2nd edition of the Challenge Maceio at the Pajuçara beach. Early in the morning, with the sun rising, the athletes raced into the sea for the 1.9km swim leg.
With a time of 3:48 hrs, the winner of the male elite group was Iuri Vinuto. He described the race as one of the hardest he had ever attended. “It was the hardest race I’ve ever done, actually quite tiring. In the end it all worked out,” he said. This is the second Challenge Family race that Vinuto has won in 2016, the first being Challenge Amazonia in March.
The former winner of the Challenge Maceió 2015, the “goiano” Santiago Ascenço was the second placed male professional. With over twenty years of experience and numerous achievements, Santiago was the favorite for the race on Sunday, but fell short of Juri Vinuto by two minutes. Flavio Queiroga was third, followed by Reinado Colucci and Almir Gustavo Sorbo who crossed the line a matter of seconds behind Queiroga.
Carol Furriela was out to defend her 2015 Challenge Maceió title and had an incredible race to once again take the top step of the podium with a first place finish in a time of 4:22 hrs, overcoming her own time from the year before. Like Vunito, this was Furriela’s second Challenge Family title ofor 2016, also taking the Challenge Amazonia title in March.
Argentinian Romina Balena came in second with a time of 4:25 hrs. Luiza Cravo, Bruna Mahn and Karina Ximenes came in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively, to close out the top five women’s podium.
Once again, the Pajuçara beach was the scene of Challenge Maceió, one event from one of the biggest triathlons series in the world, Challenge Family. There were two days of many different sports and dedication by the more than two thousand people, including adults and children who participated in the second edition of the event in Maceio, and packed the capital of Alagoas.
Saturday started with Sprint and Junior race, and at night followed with the 5 km female run and 10 km run for men and women.
In its second edition, the Challenge Maceio managed to deliver their best and created a great atmosphere, bringing together a big number of athletes and spectators around the sport and physical activity, with their biggest challenge to overcome themselves.
TOP 5 FEMALE PRO
1 Carol Furriela 4:22:00
2 Romina Balena 4:25:12
3 Luiza Cravo 4:29:27
4 Bruna Mahn 4:41:47
5 Karine Ximenes 4:53:47
TOP 5 MALE PRO
1 Iuri Vinuto 3:48:28
2 Santiago Ascenço 3:50:23
3 Flavio Queiroga 3:51:24
4 Reinaldo Colucci 3:51:26
5 Almir Gustavo Sorbo 3:51:36