"It was really nice to race in Iowa in my home state," Smith, 38, said. The Boulder resident had a big group of family and friends wearing white T-shirts supporting her.
Iowa City native Lesley Smith charged to a fifth-place finish in the women's professional race 3:03:02.
Ironman 70.3 Des Moines: Handicapping the men's, women's pro fields Iowa natives all finish Ironman in top 20 It was a surprise on the run that the sun came out. "The whole time on the bike I saw him just (West) ahead and I was like, 'I can catch him on the run.' It didn't end up happening. It turned into some tough conditions there for the last 10K."Ĭhartier finished with the second-best run of 1:10:17 to move up six spots on the final leg of the event, which featured a prize purse of a reported $30,000.
"The legs were moving well and it started to get hot and I felt like I had to tell myself to slow down, slow down.
"I got into a rhythm at the start of the run," West said. Undaunted, he passed Ulloa in the first mile of the run and appeared to flourish as the sun broke from the clouds and others began to wilt in the heat. "I don't know who that was that came around me with maybe 5K to go," West said. Martin Ulloa of Chili roared past West during the final miles of the bike leg to open a 13-second lead after the second transition area. The former youth wrestler from Pennsylvania emerged from the water at Gray's Lake in a pack of four and carved out a small lead on the bike course, which was reduced to a little more than 25 miles to accommodate the tightened schedule. "I remember the run course being really fast," West said. Two years later, he finished second to Olympic silver medalist Javier Gomez at the Des Moines Escape Triathlon. He finished fourth in the Des Moines Triathlon, the successor to the Hy-Vee Triathlon, in September of 2015. West, 28, returned to Des Moines with fond memories of racing here. Hopefully people will know my name soon enough." It's been feeling really tough and to finally have a good one (race) and to feel like I have this place in the sport. None of us have been immune to the struggles. "The last 18 months (during the COVID-19 pandemic) have been hard for everybody. "This one feels a lot sweeter just because the last few (races) have been rough," West said. West took advantage of the absence of prerace favorite Rudy Von Berg, who withdrew. I just tried to not lose my head and keep trucking."Īmerican Jason West dominated the men's professional race in similar fashion to also land on the top step of the podium at Court Avenue. The Boulder, Colo., resident turned in the best run of 1:09:36 on the half marathon course to top fellow American Collin Chartier by 1:22 and win a race for the first time since Ironman 70.3 Santa Cruz in September of 2019.
"I was running scared the whole time, just trying to look composed even though inside I was nervous. "I just know Emma is such a stellar runner," Lawrence said. Pallant-Browne, 32, closed to within 55 seconds after 9.3 miles of the 13.1-mile run before faltering late. Lawrence held off a late charge by British triathlete Emma Pallant-Browne. "I'm stoked that they managed to pull it off." "I was worried they would make the safety call of canceling it," said Lawrence, beaming after just her fourth professional triathlon since the start of 2020. The 2016 Ironman 70.3 world champion was first out of the water by 42 seconds over American Ali Brauer and expanded on that margin to 2:31 over Brauer after the shortened bike course to claim victory in 2 hours, 53 minutes, 46 seconds. with the 1.2-mile swim at Gray's Lake Park, Lawrence had her game face on. It kind of helps me just to not to take it so seriously." "I think I'm pretty good at dealing with a little bit of, like, mayhem. The late start allowed the Welsh athlete now residing in Santa Monica, Calif., to eat a second breakfast and slip back into bed for a nap while letting others fret the delay. Great Britain's Holly Lawrence seems to thrive with some chaos.Ī thunderstorm that rolled in from Nebraska early Sunday morning pushed back the start of the inaugural 70.3 Ironman Des Moines professional races by nearly three hours. View Gallery: Ironman 70.3 in Des Moines: Photos from the 2021 run, bike, swim race