Will Clarke came 2nd in Ironman 70.3 Calgary. Will (03:44:19) finished just 36 seconds behind Andy Potts (3:43:43). Brandon Marsh (03:47:32) completed the podium.
Rachel MrBride (4:07:19) dominated the women’s race. Mandy McLane (04:16:12) and Lisa Mensink (04:17:10) rounded out the top-three.
Will started the day in Calgary with a solid swim, coming out of the water in 6th position. After a quick transition, Will moved up to 4th trailing race leader Andy Potts by 1’15. In the early parts of the bike leg, a chase group of four, including Will Clarke, under impulse of Jordan Rapp, bridged the gap to the front. In the final parts of bike part, Rapp and Potts managed to pull away, with Will entering T2 in 3th position 58 seconds from the lead. In the half marathon, a strong Will Clarke was able to run to the front of the race, almost smelling the victory, eventually having to settle for 2nd place 36 seconds behind winner Any Potts.
Very satisfied
A very tired Will reflected on the race shortly after. “I am very satisfied with my race. This was always the one of the year which was dodgy for me. I just came off my 2 week break and didn't feel great in training in the build up to this. On top of that I obviously had the long travel to get here via 4 days in Boulder, so that's never easy.
My swim was the weaker part of the race, I came out about 1’15 behind Andy Potts but on the bike I rode really hard to close the gap and we ended up in a select group of Jordan Rapp, Andy Potts and Brandon Marsh. The first half of the bike was way harder than ever before for me. I had 365 watts at the far end of the course and on the way home I was expecting it to back off a bit but it never really got easier! I dropped off the pace at 75K and rode with Marsh for the rest of the bike and could let my legs recover just a little bit. Setting off on the run I felt really good! At 5K mark I caught Rapp and Potts who were 1 min ahead and continued with Andy till 13K. Unfortunately I had a bad stomach and had to duck into the toilet for 20 seconds and I could never close the gap back to Andy. The gap stayed 10 seconds almost the whole way! He was super strong, maybe not his top speed but he's just so relentless and unbreakable!
The most important thing for me now is that I'm fresh in the body and mind after a break and 95% fit and in a really good place. I have 5 weeks to peak for my biggest race, Ironman 70.3 World Championships and this performance will have lifted my training towards that”.
Complete results: http://eu.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=calgary70.3&y=2014#axzz38gTiJ1qE
