KOHALA COAST — Australian triathletes dominated the men’s and women’s races at Ironman 70.3 Hawaii on Saturday.
Australia’s Craig Alexander rolled to a lopsided win, but a wrong turn cost the women’s leader dearly.
Kailua-Kona’s Bree Wee dominated the half-Ironman-distance race early. She swam the 1.2-mile opening leg in 28 minutes, 29 seconds, and she held a 7:20 lead on Australia’s Belinda Granger after the 56-mile bicycle leg. But she took a wrong turn on mile 10 of the 13.1-mile run, and she didn’t realize it until a mile down the road on the Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii grounds.
“The people there told me to turn left, and I did,” Wee said. “Then I got down to mile 12, and someone said, ‘You’re fourth behind Damon Barnett,’ and I knew that wasn’t right.”
Wee said she had only two options: to finish the race from that point and take a disqualification, or turn around and backtrack a mile and finish the race. She chose the second option, and she finished third in the women’s race.
Granger took advantage of Wee’s error, winning the race in a time of 4:44:36. California resident and New Zealand native Julia Grant took second in 4:46:46, and Wee finished third (4:51:05).
“Bree was way ahead after the bike, but I cut some time off on the run,” Granger said. “I didn’t even know when I took over first place, but my husband was on the back side and he told me, ‘You’re in first place now.’
“I thought Bree might have gotten sick or something, but I had no idea what happened.”
Granger, 43, came back to this race as part of her quest to return to her favorite event. She won 70.3 Hawaii in 2009 and 2010, and she said she realizes her career is winding down. So, she wanted to re-run some of her favorite courses this year.
“I’m so happy to have won this race,” she said. “I’m 3-for-3 here. This is such a beautiful race.”
Granger said the key to her success was consistency.
“I didn’t really have a strongest leg (of the race),” she said. “I just had a good overall race.”
She also said Saturday’s mishap makes it clear why a racer never stops running.
“You don’t give up, because you never know what is going on ahead of you,” she said.
Wee, who was very emotional after she crossed the finish line, said she was “humbled” by the mistake, but she tried to take something positive out of the day.
“Maybe it’s better for my Ironman training to run a 15-mile race instead of a 13-mile race,” she said.
On the men’s side, Alexander won by almost 7 minutes over Paul Matthews of Santa Cruz, Calif. Alexander won in 4:05:43 for his second Ironman 70.3 Hawaii win in as many tries. Alexander also won the 2009 race with a time of 4:02:52.
Alexander, a three-time Ironman world champion, was fifth out of the water on the swim, and he took the lead for good on mile 4 of the bicycle leg.
“I just got in front and never looked back,” he said.
Even though he won comfortably, Alexander said the wind was a factor in the race.
“The wind was the worst that I’ve seen,” he said.
Matthews, who finished in 4:12:13, also mentioned the wind but for a different reason.
“It was hard out there,” Matthews said. “As you were going up to Hawi, you had a tailwind, and it made it so hot. On the way back, even though it was a tailwind, it made it cooler.”
Barnett placed third (4:14:14), and Australia’s Luke Bell, the 2011 70.3 Hawaii champion, took fourth (4:14:44).
Making his 70.3 Hawaii debut, defending Ironman world champion Pete Jacobs was 17th (4:33:00).
Kailua-Kona resident Luis De La Torre was the top Big Island finisher (4:27:29), and he also won his age 45-49 age group with his 12th-place finish.
Another Kailua-Kona resident, Tommy Vonach, placed 15th overall and won the 40-44 age group with a time of 4:31:13.
Both men qualified for the Ironman world championship, which takes place Oct. 12 on the Big Island, but De La Torre did not accept his slot, instead choosing to let it fall to another competitor in his age group.
Kailua-Kona’s Sam Corace finished 14th (4:30:50), placing third in the 30-34 age group.
De La Torre did not compete in the past two Ironman 70.3 Hawaii events because of a knee injury. He called Saturday’s race his “slowest,” but he also seemed pleased with his effort.
De La Torre, who will compete in Ironman Arizona on Nov. 17, also weighed in on the wind, which is rather a constant force in Kohala.
“Every year, they say it’s the worst it’s ever been,” De La Torre said. “But it’s not. There’s just wind here. These are the conditions that are here every year.”
De La Torre praised the race organizers for making a change to the course. The swim course was essentially reversed, so there was less time swimming against the water with a difficult crosswind.
“That’s the best thing they’ve done here,” he said.
Notes: A Big Island lottery that will award 24 slots in the Ironman world championship will take place at 6 p.m. June 8 at Bike Works in Kona. … Racing in his first 70.3 Hawaii, Big Island mayor Billy Kenoi crossed the line in 9:17:38, finishing 1,465th overall.
