Richie Cunningham & Kate Major Second at Rev3 Portland

Australian Richie Cunningham has grabbed second place in Oregon at the Revolution3 Portland race, behind Kiwi Graham O’Grady in a very exciting finish with just 11 seconds separating the top three. The fast-finishing Cunningham was closing rapidly on those in front of him but just needed the run to go on a little longer to catch O’Grady. “Big Sexy” Chris McDonald finished in 5th place. Kate Major made it a silver day for Australia when she also took out second place in the women’s race in 4:23:09 behind Meredith Kessler.

Kiwi Graham O’Grady was back in the winner’s circle after spending some time dealing with disruptions this year. O’Grady raced in Challenge Cairns but had to pull out late in the run after being dehydrated and ‘starting to feel very cold on the run. O’Grady won New Zealand’s Port Of Tauranga Half Ironman in January this year then had to deal with an elevated morphine level positive test and subsequent tribunal. O’Grady was cleared in a case the NZ body called ‘unusual’ but the emotional toll was heavy and it took him a while to get back into the swing of things.

It is great to see him back to his best.