More than 2000 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 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 $6000 and the Vineman title to
his long list of accomplishments.
It was one of the fastest finishes ever for the top racers, with
four men negotiating the rolling wine-country course close to the
four-hour mark.
Lessing, 35, completed his first Vineman in 3:57:00, 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 a narrow margin.
³I¹ve run a couple of races in the past two weeks and I was
feeling it during the run,² said DeBoom. ³Simon and I were pretty
close coming out of the (bike) transition, but he pulled away
pretty fast on the run.²
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 Australia¹s Kate Major to capture
the women¹s title in an unofficial time of 4:29:10. It was
Lavelle¹s first-ever victory at the half Ironman distance after
several top-three finishes.
³I really didn¹t come here expecting to win, I was just looking
to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships in November,² said
Lavelle, whose husband Brian is a top triathlete in his own right.
³I loved the course and the weather suited me perfectly. It got a
little hot on the run, but the scenery and rolling hills were
great.²
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.
³The weather conditions were pretty good, but except for the
last six miles of the run, I was solo most of the race,² said
Scott, who trains with Lessing in Boulder much of the year. ³I¹ve
been battling some problems with my knee this year, so that was
actually my longest run since December.²
Among the 2000 amatuer finishers were: Clint Hamblin (25, Bodega
Bay, 5:31:16), Thomas Mackinney (40, Sebastopol, 5:48:23), Karen
Frindell (30, Guerneville, 6:21:22), Mike Hansen (42, Forestville,
6:24:16), David Heisser (59, Sebastopol, 7:04:34) and Kate Furtner
(27, Forestville, 7:21:29).
