After two days of racing, Australian Craig Percival is still at the front of the pack at the Ultraman World Championships.
The gorgeous conditions that welcomed the 38 athletes to the 30th edition of the race vanished as they biked 171.4 miles along the east side of the island on Saturday. Continuous rain and gusty winds made for treacherous roads and difficult headway for the athletes.
Despite the nasty weather, Percival was able to conquer the course in a time of 7 hours 47 minutes and 15 seconds to increase his lead to 54 minutes over Tobias Winnemoeller.
Winnemoller, of Germany, finished Day 2 with an 8:01:03 bike split for a two-day total of 16:46:16. Making a big move up the standings and finishing third was Peter Kotland with a time of 8:03:10, bringing his two-day total to 16:45:27 and propelling him into third place overall.
The women’s field also had impressive performances in spite of the inclement weather. Julie Shelley retained her first-place standing from Day 1 by posting a 9:09:22 bike split giving her a combined total of 18:19:42 and an approximate 18-minute lead over Kathy Winkler.
Winkler finished in 9:17:50 to move into second place with a total time of 18:37:33. Japan’s Yasuko Miyazaki was the third female finisher on the day clocking 9:28:33, placing her in third overall in the women’s field with a total time of 18:45:52. The difference among the top three women overall is just over 26 minutes, which means the double marathon could provide some shuffling of the overall results.
Paratriathlete Andre Kajlich completed Day 2 in 9:28:30 and became the first hand-cyclist to complete the course. Kajlich’s two-day total is 19:52:24, putting him in 14th overall.
John Howerton came in as the top Big Island athlete, finishing in 9:31:43 and giving him an overall time of of 19:59:51. Sylvia Ravaglia followed at 9:43:14 for a two-day total of 20:02:52.
The other three Big Island participants — Stephen Cosgrove, Laurie Beers and Dene Sturm — all came crossed the Day 2 finish line within a minute of each other and just under the 12-hour time limit.
Day 3 is all about running, with a 52.4-mile double-marathon run starting in Hawi at 6 a.m. The first finishers are expected at Old Kona Airport park around 11:30 a.m.