A professional field consisting of Olympians and triathlon champions from around the globe showcased incredible skill today at the Homestead-Miami Speedway as Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle and USA’s Sam Long, captured first place with times of 2:59:41 and 2:39:55 respectively. The race that began with the women consisted of a 1.05 Mile swim, a 39 Mile bike consisting of 17.5 laps around the speedway followed by a seven-lap 10.5 Mile run. The professional field battled the challenging course today for their chance at a $50K prize purse.
Additionally, all pro women and men had the opportunity to secure a variety of bonuses of $1K each throughout race day. The fastest first lap of the swim bonus presented by AquaSphere was won by Ashleigh Gentle and Aaron Royle. The fastest swim-to-bike transition bonus from WAHOO was awarded to Pamella Oliveira and Brent McMahon. Lisa Becharas and Reinaldo Colucci took home the bonus for the fastest first lap of the bike presented by Speed Hound. T2 or the second fastest transition from bike-to-run transition, presented by WAHOO, went to Lisa Becharas and Ben Kanute. A final bonus from CLASH Endurance for the fastest first lap of the run went to Ashleigh Gentle and David Guete.
TOP 10 WOMEN'S RESULTS:
6. Lisa Becharas, 3:19:26
7. Bruna Mahn, 3:20:59
8. Lara Gruden, 3:25:43
9. Summer Deal, 3:27:18
10. Rebecca Marrou, 3:30:04
1. Ashleigh Gentle, 2:59:41
2. Pamella Oliveira, 3:07:50
3. Maja Stage Nielsen, 3:08:08
4. Samantha Kingsford, 3:09:08
5. Sonja Catano, 3:16:17
The female leader out of the swim today was Spain’s Sara Perez Sala who led into T1 and several laps on the bike. However, she took an unfortunate fall and due to injuries, was forced to withdraw from the race. Aussie Ashleigh Gentle dominated the remainder of the bike and led into the second transition. Emma Pallant-Browne was running close behind but due to a possible lack of fuel or hydration was forced to pull off the run course. Despite high heat on the track, Gentle maintained a sub-6 minute mile throughout the run.
TOP 10 MEN'S RESULTS:
6. Jackson Laundry, 2:45:40
7. Reinaldo Colucci, 2:46:29
8. Jonas Schomburg, 2:46:34
9. Chris Leiferman, 2:46:46
10. Matthew Sharpe, 2:47:31
1. Sam Long, 2:39:55
2. Jason West, 2:41:47
3. Ben Kanute, 2:42:31
4. Youri Keulen, 2:42:51
5. T.J. Butterfield, 2:43:18
Jonas Schomburg led the men’s field out of the swim while closely followed by Aaron Royle and Ben Kanute following in third place. The three of these men held on to the top three spots for the first several laps on the bike, with Long, Ditlev, Costes and West also among the top ten. Sam Long entered T2 first with Kanute close behind. Long showcased his tenacity and speed during the run with Jason West catching him in the final laps of the run course.
Temperatures at the iconic speedway were 85+degrees F with sunshine and high humidity making for an even more challenging day. Domestic fans of the sport and CLASH Endurance can watch exciting highlights of today’s event on FS1 Thursday, March 17 at 7 p.m. The CLASH Endurance Facebook page also offered a chance to view the event live with more than six hours of unique race coverage and athlete features.
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