blueseventy swimming specialists dominate at St Croix 70.3
5 May 2008
Craig Alexander won the 2008 St. Croix Ironman 70.3 triathlon thanks in part to his fantastic 1:15:58 run time. Just like Alexander, Mirinda Carfrae utilized a superb run to take the women’s title and with this victory avenged her loss to Dibens in 2007.
New Zealander Bryan Rhodes attacked first by dominating out of the water in the lead in his blueseventy helix, ahead of Simon Lessing, Frederik Van Lierde, Faris Al-Sultan, Craig Alexander, Paul Ambrose and Richie Cunningham. Marino Vanhoenacker had the fastest bike split of the day and along the way also set a new St. Croix bike course record. But it was Craig Alexander that ran everyone down and took first place honors.
On the women’s side blueseventy athlete Julie Dibens of England stormed out of the water first but was unfortunately forced to withdraw early on the bike. Fellow Brit Felicity Hart not only surged ahead during the bike leg but she actually managed to have the fastest bike split of the day. However, no one was going to stand in Carfrae’s way once the run started. She quickly caught Hart and in the end was virtually unchallenged. Second place went to Nina Kraft and Bree Wee rounded out the podium.
St. Croix Ironman 70.3
1.2mi swim/56mi bike/13.1mi run
Top 10 Men
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 4:05:34
2. Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 4:08:41
3. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 4:10:02
4. Faris Al-Sultan (GER) 4:10:15
5. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 4:12:02
6. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 4:12:29
7. Michael Lovato (USA) 4:14:15
8. Marcus Ornellas (BRA) 4:16:07
9. Simon Lessing (USA) 4:17:49
10. Patrick Evoe (USA) 4:17:49
Top 10 Women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 4:26:56
2. Nina Kraft (GER) 4:36:33
3. Bree Wee (USA) 4:36:45
4. Tyler Stewart (USA) 4:46:31
5. Felicity Hart (GBR) 4:47:13
6. Cynthia Wilson (CAN) 4:47:19
7. Tara Norton (CAN) 4:50:18
8. Amanda Lovato (USA) 4:56:13
9. Stacey Richardson (USA) 5:03:07*
10. Fernanda Keller (BRA) 5:05:39
* Age group athlete