McCormack wins Ironman 70.3 Laguna Phuket

PHUKET: Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack made up for his poor showing at last weekend’s Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) by winning this morning’s Laguna IronMan 70.3 in a time of four hours and four minutes. He fended off the challenge of LPT winner Reudi Wild to mark his debut with a win.

In the women’s event, Melissa Hauschildt won her second title, beating last weekend’s LPT winner Radka Vodickova with a time of four hours twenty three minutes. The race started under gray skies, and heavy rain made the bike leg of the event a bit treacherous for some triathletes.

A delighted Chris McCormack told the Phuket Gazette he was happy to win given the quality of the field.

“It’s a strong field, as you’ve got guys like Reudi who was at the London Olympics. He is a very strong athlete. Chris Lieto sets a good tempo and athletes like Massimo are also strong. With races like this, you have to play it smart as it can be so unpredictable. I kept looking up thinking, “if this rain clears and the sun comes up it will be like a sauna. Anything can happen which is the great thing about this race”.

Women’s top three
(Times: swim / bike / run / total)

1. Melissa Hauschildt, AUS: 00:29:50 / 02:27:27 / 01:23:23 / 04:23:30.
2. Radka Vodickova, CZE: 00:26:55 / 02:34:20 / 01:27:32 / 04:31:46.
3. Belinda Granger, AUS: 00:28:10 / 02:35:25 / 01:34:52 / 04:41:53.

Men’s top three
(Times: swim / bike / run / total)

1. Chris McCormack, AUS: 00:25:30 / 02:18:37 / 01:17:40 / 04:04:40.
2. Ruedi Wild, SUI: 00:25:06 / 02:18:57 / 01:20:15 / 04:07:17.
3. Alberto Casadei, ITA: 00:24:48 / 02:19:00 / 01:21:10 / 04:08:06.

— Andrew Scott