Tim Reed and Lisa Marangon win Canberra 70.3 Ironman

Tim Reed and Lisa Marangon have today taken out the Canberra 70.3 Ironman. Reed did well to back up after a tough 70.3 race in Phuket last weekend, which saw him crash on the slippery wet course. Today he suffered no such problems to take out the race in 4:00:46, four minutes ahead of Matt Bailey with Josh Maeder in third. Pre-race favourite and defending champion Ollie Whistler pulled the pin 30k into the bike after suffering mechanical issues on top of health issues.

The word is Whistler was having problems with the new electronics. This was most likely a settling in issue as his bike was brand new. Joey Lampe unfortunately flatted out of the race along with many people. There seemed to be a larger than normal number of flats most likely due to the rain.

Tim Reed was feeling very flat coming in to this race after a tough race last weekend. Reed ran a blistering 1:13 last weekend and this really had an impact today. Coming out the water around 1 1/2 minutes down on the swim leaders Reed was always going to be pushing the redline today. “I really struggled today in the swim and my goal was to limit the damage I would face from the faster swim guys. I stuck with Ollie Whistler as I knew he was one of the stronger riders and would work with him to get back in touch with the leaders.” One of Reed’s major concerns was Joey Lampe. Lampe is getting visibly faster every race he does. He knew Lampe was up ahead and riding hard. “We hit the road and ended up getting sent the wrong way at one stage losing another minute to the leaders. Ollie unfortunately had some mechanical issues and retired. Then I was focused on getting back in to the race. I caught the field and eventually there was only Matt Bailey ahead.”

Reed came in to T2 to see Bailey putting his shoes on an they headed out on to the run together. Bailey, Reed, Josh Maeder and Monty Frankish where all there at this stage along with Michael Fox who had a great race. “I decided to put in an early surge and got away from the guys. I realistically thought I only had a good 10kms in my legs. Last week in Phuket I was flying on the run, talking, laughing and really enjoying it. Today was a completely different story. I struggle from the outset and every step was a chore today. Not once did I think I had the race won. I could feel cramps coming on during the entire run and felt they were only a step away.”

Reed would also have been delighted with the woman’s result which saw Lisa Marangon, who is coached by Reed, take the title ahead of defending champion Michelle Wu. Marangon finished in a time of 4:24:41 nearly six minutes ahead of Wu, who was also coming off the back of the tough Phucket race. Rounding out the podium places for the woman was Nicole Ward, who achieved a second podium spot in as many races, having also finished third at Shepperton.

Meantime Lisa Marangon led the women’s race, Michelle WU chasing in second and the results behind them changing as Nicole Ward from Freshwater in Sydney ran through the field into third.

After completing a number of races recently and doing it tough in each Marangon decided to get a blood test to see what might be causing it. “The results showed I’d had a bout of glandular fever and my iron levels were rock bottom. My doctor’s orders were: rest, recover and double my iron dose. It took a few weeks to get my health back to where it should be but the time it did improve, there was no point in trying to train more ahead of Canberra. The sessions that I was able to finish completely wiped me out. Two hours was the maximum I could train in one go.”

Marangon put her usual gap on the field in the swim leg and exited with Adam Holborow and 6th overall. Once out on the bike she knew that a decent gap needed to be put bewteen herself and Michelle Wu. “With the three loop bike course ahead, I had planned to find my rhythm in the first 30min, then make my move. The wind started to rise and the rain started to fall, but funny enough it made me stronger. I LOVED the hard conditions. I started to feel really good after the first loop and got stronger.”

Trizone heard from a few age groupers that Marangon was tearing up the course in the rain. Comments like “She flew past me like I was standing still” have been thrown around.

First age grouper home Sydney’s Blyth Vautier went almost 5 minutes faster than he did at Port Macquarie 70.3 in October. Blyth is racing incredibly well. In Port he was second age grouper home behind Newcastle’s Finnbar Crennan who wasn’t racing this weekend. Second age grouper was Magnus Michelsson racing in the 40-44 AG followed by closely by Cameron Hughes.

Some special mentions for a few very fast runs times by some age groupers. Sydney based Dean Degan ran a 1:23, Neil Cilkin ran a 1:21, Saxon Moseley 1:21, Michael Hill 1:21 and Dan Thompson 1:22.In the women’s race age groupers Rhiannon Snipe ran a 1:29 and Jodie Barker and Jackie Crofton ran 1:32. Some great runs by these guys and girls.

As the age group competitors headed to the finish line wild rain storms swept the Canberra area now once again cooling competitors. To add injury to insult, thunder storms moved in as the final athletes crossed the finish line.

Aside the pro field, two of the more popular competitors proved to Wild Boys star, Daniel MacPherson, and Sunrise Weekend Weatherman, James Tobin, racing in the teams event. It is good to see these guys racing.

Over 1100 athletes registered for the race on Saturday, from more than 1500 original entries, making this the biggest event of its type in Canberra, with 17 countries represented in the big field.   Leading international was Frenchman, David Bardi who finished 8th in the men’s pro field.

Top 20 Men

Top 20 Women

Top Ten Finishers by Age Group