Marko Albert of Estonia led all the way Sunday under ideal conditions in winning the Victoria Ironman 70.3 in and around Elk Lake and the Saanich Peninsula. Albert’s winning time was three hours, 58 minutes and 36 seconds.
Ironman 70.3 is the designation formerly known as the Half-Iron. It consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike race and a 13.1-mile run totalling 70.3 miles. The total distance in kilometres is 113. It is half the distance of an Ironman race.
Taylor Reid of Rockwood, Ont., was second in 4:01:02 and Christopher Baird of San Francisco third in 4:02:36. Graham O’Grady of New Zealand in 4:03:44 and Benjamin Collins of Seattle in 4:04:28 rounded out the top five.
Kesley Withrow of the U.S. won the women’s title in 4:25:11 with Jen Annett of Penticton second in 4:26:48 and Lauren Goss of the U.S. third in 4:31:16. Lisa Roberts of the U.S. was fourth in 4:33:27 and Melanie McQuaid of Victoria fifth in 4:37:53.
There were 75 qualifying spots on offer in the Victoria race to the 2017 World 70.3 Ironman championships this summer in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
