Records were smashed like plates at a Greek wedding at yesterday’s Ironman race, as favourites Sam Laidlow and Lucy Charles-Barclay bossed all comers.
Photo: Club La Santa
Laidlow shattered the course record by almost 20 minutes, coming out of the water in first place before winning a close-fought cycle stage. Patrick Lange set a course record in the marathon, but failed to chase down Laidlow, who crossed the line in an astonishing 8:03:40, smashing the 8:22:30 record set by Arthur Horseau three years ago.
Lange took second place, assuring his participation in the World Championship in Kona, and third place was taken by Spaniard Jordi Montraveta Moya. Perfect conditions for the race meant that all four of the first men to cross the finish line broke the previous record.
Lucy Charles Barclay has always been a swim specialist, and she came out of the sea in first place, beating her own record for this stage with a time that would have placed her third in the men’s event.
The British athlete, a familiar face on Lanzarote, extended her lead in the cycling and marathon stages and crossed the line in 9:15:39, more than 20 minutes ahead of Nina Derron in second place and Nikita Paskiewicz in third. British triathlete Rebecca Anderbury came fourth and also qualified for the World Championship in Hawaii.
Around 1,400 athletes participated in this year’s Ironman, which is the last to be organised by Club La Santa. Kenneth Gasque, the Danish soldier who arrived at Club La Santa over forty years ago, and who first organised the competition that would become Lanzarote’s most important sporting event, sounded the horn to start the men’s race and was on hand to greet finishers, as usual.
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