IM Canada - Granger and Rhodes clean up
The weather on the day was clear with some wind picking up. The water in the Okanagan Lake was said to be getting warmer each day, no doubt a welcome thought for the athletes. By the time most age groupers got out onto the marathon there was quite the headwind blowing. Around the nine hour mark the wind turned to rain making Ironman Canada '08 a very challenging day.
The affable New Zealander Bryan Rhodes was the headline act in Canada today as he tried to stop defending champion Jasper Blake from making it two in a row. Rhodes, who lived in Penticton for a few years, knows the roads and the course well. Rhodes is a swim specialist and used this to his advantage with the fastest swim of the day for the professionals. Add to that a bike time in the top five and he was well set up for victory. His run time of 2.55 meant that the challengers were well back when he crossed the line. Rhodes has now added Canada to his list of wins which include Malaysia and Ironman U.K. Bernhard Heibl also had a great day out as this was his first Ironman race. Heibl stepped up his distances this season and has had a blinder on debut. This must surely pave the way for other athletes from the ITU world to eye off an Ironman start.
Men's Results
- Bryan Rhodes 8.30.12
- Bernhard Heibl 8.34.34
- Jasper Blake 8.36.08
- Andriy Yastrebov 8.37.11
- Justin Daerr 8.37.34
In the women's race pre favorite Belinda Granger was the talk of the transition area. Granger's plan was simple. She was going to ride like there was no marathon... an interesting choice of tactics. But, having won all over the world this year, this tactic was well within her capabilities as Granger is making a habit of visiting the top of the podium. She is well coached and trains with the likes of Chrissie Wellington which must give her a great confidence in her racing. This being said there were a raft of good female professionals in the mix including Ali Fitch, Heather Wurtle, Lisa Bentley and Desiree Ficker.
But Granger is one of the form athletes of the season. With two wins already in 2008 her win in Canada today was an emotionally charged one. Trying to stop the tears as she headed into the finish line Granger vowed to be back for the 2009 edition. Granger was a previous winner in 2006 in a race that was career defining as she ran away from Lisa Bentley. Bentley had been responsible for Granger not getting that elusive win in her home country and it must have been great to repay the favour as she out ran the tenacious Canadian.
But today Granger stood alone as the dominant force. She must seriously be thinking about a dream day in October at Kona but the question of whether she has raced too much will be the one in the back of her rivals minds. But that is how Granger chooses to prepare for the big island. She has stated that she will race less in the past but hasn't stuck to this. But with her form continuing it would be hard to hold out for one shot a year.
Granger's marathon today was perfectly even with two splits of 1 hour 43. Second place was taken by fellow Aussie Ali Fitch. This is a breakthrough race for Fitch who has shown plenty of potential and how now lived up to that dreaded tag. Winner of Ironman Coeur d'Alene Heather Wurtele was third.
Women's Results
- Belinda Granger 9.17.58
- Ali Fitch 9.26.15
- Heather Wurtele 9.39.23
