|
Scotland’s Bella Comerford took her 4th victory at Ironman Florida and her partner Englishmen Stephen Bayliss finished in 4th place in the men’s race….
Bella Comerford and Stephen Bayliss, Britain’s Ironcouple, are today celebrating a fantastic day in the Florida sun yesterday with 1st and 4th place finishes respectively at Ironman Florida. (3.8km swim, 180km swim and 42.2km run)
Comerford (www.bellacomerford.com) commented on her win; “I knew going into this race I was really strong, but you never know for sure. On the day I had an amazing swim coming out only 4 minutes behind the leaders and managed to narrow the lead to 1m45seconds at the end of the bike. Within three miles on the run I had taken the lead and I just carried on all the way home to victory . It was a fantastic day, an amazing and surreal experience.
Meanwhile Bayliss (www.stephenbayliss.net) commenting on his race said; “This was my 3rd, 4th in an Ironman this year and considering the strength in the field here I am pretty happy. I had a good swim exiting the water 2nd, but suffered in the strong winds on the bike and dropped to 8th, though was happy to pull 4 places back on the run. ”
Scotland’s Bella Comerford once again managed to get to the line ahead of the rest of her competition here in Panama City Beach today, taking the lead by mile three of the marathon and never looking back as she claimed her fourth Ford Ironman Florida title.
While Comerford was dominating yet another Ironman race, Germany’s Jan Raphael, who had never even gone half the Ironman distance in a race before today, put together an incredible Ironman debut performance to post a narrow victory over Argentina’s Eduardo Sturla.
The more than 2,200 competitors entered the Gulf of Mexico this morning facing cool air temperatures and a relatively difficult swim thanks to the choppy water and strong current that took many competitors off course.
The competitors then faced a brisk wind throughout the bike ride, before enjoying the relatively cool conditions for the marathon.
Raphael led today’s race from start to finish, leading the way out of the water with his 50:28 swim, then staying ahead of Sturla off the bike thanks to a 4:34:08 bike split. The 25-year-old German then held off the former Ironman Brazil champion by just over a minute, hobbling across the finish line as he fought cramps in an impressive Ironman debut time of 8:22:44. Sturla’s 8:23:49 was good, but not quite good enough for the win. Jim Vance from San Diego, California, finished in third place, with England’s Stephen Bayliss finishing in fourth and Canada’s Scott Curry claiming fifth.
Comerford spent all of the swim and bike chasing the early leaders for the day, Andrea Fisher and Carole Sharpless. Fisher, a former All-American swimmer at the University of Texas, led the women out of the water, and stayed in front through the end of the bike ride, too.
Sharpless was just seconds behind at the start of the marathon, but both were quickly passed by Comerford during the early miles of the marathon, and the Scot never looked back as her 3:11 marathon netted her yet another win here in Panama City Beach.
Hillary Biscay, in her sixth Ironman of the year, rounded out her impressive season with another third place finish, which meant that she has finished in the top five in every Ironman she’s done this year.
Tamara Kozulina ran her way to fourth, while Fisher hung on for fifth and Amanda Lovato came in sixth.
Top Ten Finishers
1. Jan Raphael, Germany 8:22:44
2. Eduardo Sturla, Argentina 8:23:49
3. Jim Vance, San Diego, CA 8:37:09
4. Stephen Bayliss, England 8:43:41
5. Scott Curry, AB, Canada 8:45:12
6. Christophe Bastie, France 8:46:16
7. Jozsef Major 8:48:17
8. Alain Vervoort, Belgium 8:52:38
9. Joseph Spindler, Germany 8:53:42
10. Sebastian Pedraza, Italy 8:55:58
Women
1. Bella Comer ford, Scotland 9:28:28
2. Carole Sharpless, Marietta GA 9:40:22
3. Hillary Biscay, Manhattan, CA 9:40:22
4. Tamara Kosulina, Ukraine 9:41:50
5. Andrea Fisher, Austin, TX 9:43:40
6. Amanda Lovato, Boulder, CO 9:46:15
7. Gabriela Loskotova, Czech Rep 9:57:13
8. Sylvie Dansereau, ON Canada 9:58.55
9. Sione Jongstra, Netherlands 10:01:19
10. Charlene Waldner, BC Canada 10:02:51
For more information visit www.ironmanlive.com and www.ironmanflorida.com.
| 
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
