Triathlon: Disney Ironman 70.3 Race Report - Rule Britannia!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 04:41 PM

Orlando, FL – The men’s and women’s titles both went to Great Britain today at the 2008 Ford Ironman 70.3 Florida held at Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida. Paul Amey took the men’s title and the women’s was won by Leanda Cave.

Amey, now based in the San Diego area, took the lead on the bike portion of the race and held off the field with a 1:17:18 half marathon time. This was Amey’s first win at the 70.3 distance with an overall time of 3:52:51. Brazilian Santiago Ascenco, who posted the second best run time on this course in 2007, finished in second in a time of 3:56:33. Third place was won by Spencer Smith of Palm Harbor, FL in 3:59:04.

The women’s race was dominated by Cave, Nina Kraft and Dede Griesbauer from the swim. Griesbauer led the race through the first two stages only to be overtaken on the run course by both Cave and Kraft. Cave finished in a time of 4:22:52 followed by Kraft in 4:24:15 and Griesbauer in 4:30:38. Lisa Bentley posted the second best run time of the day at 1:27:30 to move into fourth place, with last year’s winner Katja Schumacher rounding out the top five.

Top Ten Finishers

Men
1. Paul Amey, GBR 3:52:51
2. Santiago Ascenco, BRA 3:56:33
3. Spencer Smith, Palm Harbor, FL 3:59:04
4. Courtney Ogden, AUS 3:59:42
5. Kevin Lisska, Fletcher, NC 3:59:56
6. Bryan Rhodes, NZL 4:03:10
7. Brent Poulsen, CAN 4:05:18
8. Andrew Hodges, CAN 4:11:56
9. Brad Seng, Boulder, CO 4:17:30
10. Marcus Ornellas, BRA 4:18.45


Women

1. Leanda Cave, GBR 4:22:52
2. Nina Kraft, GER 4:24:15
3. Dede Griesbauer, Boston, MA 4:30:38
4. Lisa Bentley, CAN 4:31:47
5. Katja Schumacher, GER 4:34:45
6. Kim Loeffler, Colchester, VT 4:34:52
7. Heather Gollnick, Bradenton, FL 4:36:05
8. Sione Jongstra, NLD 4:43:53
9. Michelle Leblanc, Woodlands, TX 4:48:00
10. Teri Albertazzi, Tucson, AZ 4:49:02


Ford Ironman 70.3 Florida took place for the fifth time on Sunday, May 18th at Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida. Athletes were competing for a pro prize purse of $30,000 and 75 qualifying spots for the 2008 Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 to be held in Clearwater, Florida.

For more information, please log onto www.floridahalfironman.com