More than 2,000 athletes, including the strongest pro field ever
assembled, took to the water at sunrise in Guerneville on Sunday
for the 16th annual Vineman Ironman 70.3-mile triathlon.
Nearly four hours later, five-time world champion Simon Lessing
crossed the finish line just two minutes ahead of defending champ
Tim DeBoom, adding the top prize of $6,000 and the Vineman title to
his long list of accomplishments.
The course began with a 1.2-mile swim, continued with a 56-mile
bike ride and ended with a 13.1-mile run, finishing up at Windsor
High School.
It was one of the fastest finishes ever for the top racers, with
four men negotiating the rolling wine-country course in less than
four hours.
Lessing, 35, completed his first Vineman in 3:56:58, missing the
all-time course record by only seven minutes.
³The nice thing about this course is it¹s true, meaning you have
to be consistent on all three parts of it,² said Lessing, who has
over 100 major victories to his credit and hails from Boulder,
Colorado by way of South Africa. ³I actually prefer the warm
weather, although the course was a bit more rolling than I thought
it would be.²
For the defending champion Tim DeBoom, it was a solid effort,
eclipsing his time from last year by about three minutes and
finishing in 3:58:17. Rounding out the top five in the men¹s pro
division were: Cameron Wydoff (3:58:46), Chris Legh (3:58:59) and
T.J. Tollakson (4:01:54).
Also adding a Vineman Ironman 70.3 title to an already stellar
professional career was Becky Lavelle, 31, of Los Gatos, who
finished three minutes ahead of Aussie Kate Major to capture the
women¹s title in a time of 4:29:07. It was Lavelle¹s first-ever
victory at the half Ironman distance after a several top-three
finishes.
Other top-five women in the pro division included: Natasha
Filliol (4:35:33), Desiree Ficker (4:39:56) and Kelly Couch
(4:42:42).
Perhaps the most notable of all finishers on Sunday was
legendary, 52-year-old, six-time Ironman world champion Dave Scott,
who recorded a top-20 finish in 4:31:55.
Among the throng of local amateur finishers were: Doug Wilson
(age 41, 5:26:33), Deborah Albers (43, 5:32:06), Gary Schick (48,
6:10:28), Fahri Diner (38, 6:13:33), Nathan Anderson (23, 6:14:48),
Richard Rossi (43, 6:15:52), Tom Goebel (52, 6:16:52) and Jesus
Meza (48, 7:34:13).
Next up in the Vineman series is the Full Vineman, along with
Barb¹s Race on Aug. 12.
