Ben Collins from the USA and reigning IRONMAN 70.3 Dublin female champion Susie Cheetham from the UK claimed the number one places in the men’s and women’s races at Sunday’s IRONMAN 70.3 Dublin triathlon race. Ben completed the Dublin course in an incredible time of 04:00:41, followed closely by UK’s Harry Wiltshire and Austrian Paul Reitmayr. Susie Cheetham retained her title as Dublin’s IRONMAN 70.3 champion, finishing in an impressive time of 04:22:33. Second place went to Natalie Seymour from the UK and third place to Anna Halasz from Hungary.
Bryan McCrystal, from Dundalk, was the top Irish amateur finisher, with an impressive time of 04:00:56, putting him in second place overall. Bryan posted the fastest bike split, continuing on his form from IRONMAN UK where he secured a record for the fastest bike split time in that race.
Dublin’s second major triathlon event kicked off at 6:50am yesterday morning, and saw just under 2,000 athletes complete a 1.2 mile swim in Scotsman’s Bay in Dún Laoghaire, before mounting their bikes to travel through Dublin and west of the city for a 56 mile cycle, to return to the Phoenix Park for the 13.1 mile half-marathon, completing the 70.3 mile course.
Competitors had very favourable weather conditions on the course, with still waters in Dún Laoghaire for the swim in the morning and warm temperatures with little or no wind for the duration of the race. Some light showers throughout the morning merely served to cool competitors down, but did not dampen spirits. Large crowds of spectators gathered in Dún Laoghaire in the early hours to cheer the athletes on at the beginning of the race, and thousands of people lined the finish line in Phoenix Park later in the morning to encourage the athletes on the final stretch of the course, right up to the 8.5 hour cut off. Over 400 volunteers took part in the race.
IRONMAN 70.3 Dublin winner, Ben Collins was very impressed with his first experience of the Dublin race course, commenting: “It’s fantastic to win the IRONMAN 70.3 Dublin race today, I’ve got Irish family ties so it makes it extra special. I absolutely loved the course, and the weather is just like at home in Seattle. There was some great support and sights of Dublin along the route which was really encouraging.” Ben won the race on his bike performance, coming into transition two nearly 12 minutes ahead of his closest rivals.
Second place Harry Wiltshire had a great performance, unleashing on his run, having started 12 minutes down produced a blistering finish time only 3:24 behind the winner.
Female winner Susie Cheetham managed the fastest swim in the Pro field and followed that up with the quickest bike time, helping her secure a winning margin of over four minutes ahead of Natalie Seymour.
Kevin Stewart, Managing Director of IRONMAN UK & Ireland, commented on the success of the race: “It was a fantastic day for the race, weather conditions were ideal and the support along the route was incredible for our second IRONMAN here in Dublin. We’d like to thank all the authorities in Dublin for enabling us to stage this IRONMAN 70.3 in Dublin and to all the athletes, spectators and volunteers who played such a key role in making the event such a success today.”
Aileen Flynn was the first Irish female over the line in a fantastic time of 04:41:39. Nearly 2,000 athletes took part in today’s event and 1,000 international athletes from 35 countries travelled to Dublin to compete in the triathlon competition.
RACE TIMES:
Top 3 Men
- Ben Collins, USA. SWIM 00:23:11, BIKE 02:08:08, RUN 01:24:13. TOTAL 04:00:41
- Harry Wiltshire, GBR. SWIM 00:23:10, BIKE 02:20:03, RUN 01:16:20. TOTAL 04:04:05
- Paul Reitmayr, AUS. SWIM 00:24:00, BIKE 02:19:02, RUN 01:18:09. TOTAL 04:06:41
Top 3 Women
- Susie Cheetham, GBR. SWIM 00:27:00, BIKE 02:27:21, RUN 01:22:30. TOTAL 04:22:33
- Natalie Seymour, GBR. SWIM 00:29:31,BIKE 02:29:17,RUN 01:21:53. TOTAL 04:26:48
- Anna Halasz, HUN. SWIM 00:34:25, BIKE 02:27:42, RUN 01:27:21. TOTAL 04:35:22
Top Irish Male
Bryan McCrystal, IRE. SWIM; 00:28:16, BIKE 02:06:35, RUN 01:20:37. TOTAL 04:00:56
Top Irish Female
Aileen Flynn, IRE. SWM 00:35:27, BIKE 02:27:49, RUN 01:31:37. TOTAL 04:41:39