Today, Liz Blatchford (AUS) of the Uplace-BMC Pro Triathlon Team came 2nd in the Subaru Ironman Mont Tremblant. Mary Beth Ellis (USA) led from start to finish to win in a time of 9:09:05. The three times Ironman Cairns winner, Liz Blatchford, followed on only 50” (9:09:55), while Lisa Roberts (USA: 9:13:45) came 3rd.
This brings our 2015 total already to 12 wins and 26 podium finishes for the Uplace-BMC Pro Triathlon Team.
Solid race
Liz Blatchford (AUS) had a solid swim (3,8km: 52:03). She came 2nd out of the water on 1:42 of Mary Beth Ellis and 7” ahead of Tami Ritchey (USA). Mary Beth Ellis continued strong and she increased her lead on the bike to 9:47 by T2. Liz Blatchford (180km: 5:01:15) was able to stay comfortably in 2nd position until T2, with a lead of 11:26 on Sarah Piampiano (USA). On the run, Mary Beth Ellis managed to defend her leading position and won. In the last 10km of the marathon, Liz Blatchford (42km: 3:10:56) was quickly closing the gap and finished on less than a minute of Ellis.
Really Happy
Liz Blatchford was clearly very happy with the result: “Overall, I am very happy with my performance. I came to this race to try an emulate 2013 when I raced here then went on to come 3rd in Kona. Today, I was 8 mins quicker than I was in 2013 so I think that bodes well.
In the swim, I made a tactical error and never saw Mary Beth. I actually thought I was leading the swim. Total rookie move! So, I was very surprised to find out I was 2 mins down out of the swim. The first 90km bike lap I felt flat and was struggling. I thought I was in for a bad day but onto the second lap and my legs came good, and I really felt (relatively) good coming off the bike. I was second female throughout the whole bike leg and was 9 mins off the bike to Mary Beth who had a great ride. The first 10km of the run felt great also and then I hit a wall. I slowed a lot and suffered for the middle part of the marathon. Then around 30km something clicked again and my legs were back. I pushed a little and heard with 5km to go that I was still 5 mins down on Mary Beth and thought it was impossible. Stupid thought and now in retrospect I wish I had pushed harder because Mary Beth was struggling and at the finish I was only 50 seconds behind. I never saw her though, it's twisty and hilly toward the end. As I said I am really happy with my race and form and looks forward to Kona.”
Race results: