It’s become impossible to win these regional championships while relying solely on the run. The talent pool is just too big. This weekend’s Ironman 70.3 St-George exemplified this perfectly.
Todd Skipworth (AUS) and Jon Bird (CAN) were first to come out of the water in a time of 23:15. They were followed by a group of 11 athletes including Ben Collins (USA), Brent McMahon (CAN), Andreas Raelert (DEU), Tim Don (GBR) and Andrew Yoder (USA).
Tim Reed (AUS), Leon Griffin (AUS) and Luke McKenzie came out of the water more than a minute back of this group.
Canadian Brent McMahon (recent winner of Ironman Arizona) and American Ben Collins set their pace early on in the bike leg. Only Tim Don and Andrew Yoder were able to keep pace with the duo, which proved to be too much for German Andreas Raelert.
Collins and McMahon entered T2 with a minute lead over Don. This scenario was all too familiar to McMahon who was in the same situation at last year’s race. Entering the run in first place, he was eventually passed by Jan Frodeno in the final kilometer of the race. It was Tim Don’s turn to take the victory away from McMahon. The Brit took over the lead with 5 km to go in the race.
The former Canadian Olympian was however able to resist Raelert’s incredible charge up the standings. The German had the fastest run (1:12:46) of the day. Tim Reed, the 2015 Asia Pacific Champion took 4th place.
Sebastian Kienle (DEU) was forced to abandon the race near the end due to illness.
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The women’s race was won by Canadian Heather Wurtele who was clearly tired of 2nd place finishes. She emerged victorious from a very impressive women’s field including the likes of Meredith Kessler (USA), Jodie Swallow (GBR), Mary Beth Ellis (USA), Annabel Luxford (AUS), Ricarada Lisk (DEU) and Alicia Kaye (USA). Even with a deficit of 2:30 after the swim, Wurtele was never phased. Her deficit was down to 1:45 coming into T2. The foursome of Kessler, Swallow, Luxford and Ellis were in the lead. Pre race favourites Rachel Joyce (GBR) and Miranda Carfrae (AUS) were never a factor.
Kessler enjoyed the lead halfway through the run as she was able to separate herself from Swallow, Luxford and Ellis. However, she was unable to resist the charge from the Canadian who caught up with her with about 6km left to go. The two stayed together for a few kilometers until Wurtele took the outright lead at km 17.
This is somewhat of a homecoming for Heather Wurtele who won her first career Ironman in St-George. The race has since been changed to the 70.3 format as its course was deemed to difficult for a full distance Ironman.
| 1 | Tim Don |  GBR |
00:23:34 | 02:11:40 | 01:14:02 | 03:51:56 | |
| 2 | Brent McMahon |  CAN |
00:23:27 | 02:10:40 | 01:16:49 | 03:53:22 | |
| 3 | Andreas Raelert |  DEU |
00:23:33 | 02:14:25 | 01:12:46 | 03:53:39 | |
| 4 | Tim Reed |  AUS |
00:24:07 | 02:13:59 | 01:15:13 | 03:56:07 | |
| 5 | Ben Hoffman |  USA |
00:26:55 | 02:10:45 | 01:15:33 | 03:56:21 | |
| 6 | Leon Griffin | AUS |
00:24:46 | 02:13:40 | 01:16:33 | 03:57:35 | |
| 7 | Trevor Wurtele | CAN |
00:26:01 | 02:13:08 | 01:17:05 | 03:58:57 | |
| 8 | Luke Mckenzie | AUS |
00:28:03 | 02:09:55 | 01:18:44 | 03:59:32 | |
| 9 | Kevin Collington | USA |
00:23:35 | 02:14:13 | 01:19:23 | 03:59:39 | |
| 10 | Ben Collins | USA |
00:23:19 | 02:10:42 | 01:23:53 | 04:00:37 |
| 1 | Heather Wurtele | |
00:27:44 | 02:25:29 | 01:21:57 | 04:17:58 | |
| 2 | Meredith Kessler | |
00:25:10 | 02:26:15 | 01:24:56 | 04:19:27 | |
| 3 | Jodie Swallow | |
00:25:10 | 02:26:18 | 01:27:12 | 04:21:32 | |
| 4 | Annabel Luxford | |
00:25:14 | 02:26:37 | 01:27:50 | 04:22:40 | |
| 5 | Alicia Kaye | |
00:25:19 | 02:26:59 | 01:27:49 | 04:23:12 | |
| 6 | Rachel Joyce | |
00:27:20 | 02:29:13 | 01:23:37 | 04:23:35 | |
| 7 | Mary Beth Ellis | |
00:25:13 | 02:27:04 | 01:31:29 | 04:26:54 | |
| 8 | Mirinda Carfrae | |
00:27:40 | 02:29:57 | 01:27:00 | 04:27:31 | |
| 9 | Beth Gerdes | |
00:30:33 | 02:34:36 | 01:25:06 | 04:33:55 | |
| 10 | Linsey Corbin | |
00:27:46 | 02:35:30 | 01:28:59 | 04:35:37 | |