Heather Wurtele wins Ironman Lake Placid, Jason Shortis takes strong 3rd
Over 2,500 athletes entered the waters of Mirror Lake this past weekend for the 13th annual Ironman Lake Placid. Lining up with the Pros were Rolf Prima athletes and Ironman champion, Heather Wurtele and Jason Shortis.
Warm waters meant it would be a non-wetsuit swim start. Exiting the water with a lead pack of three, Wurtele made her way to T1 and was second out on the bike. Playing a little cat and mouse with Tine Deckers of Belgium on the bike course, Wurtele was able to pull away in the end and take the lead going into T2. Starting the run with a five minute lead, Wurtele pushed on to build her lead, holding a pace that Tine could not match. Breaking the course record and taking the fastest splits in all three legs, Wurtele finished with a 9:19:03, securing her second Ironman win of the year.
"You can't really count on winning until you cross the finish line, but over the last two miles, I just soaked in the atmosphere," Wurtele said. "The crowd was so enthusiastic. The last two miles, I saw lots of smiles." Following her fourth Ironman win, Wurtele said she's setting her sights firmly on the Ironman World Championship in October in Hawaii.
On the men’s side, Shortis exited the water with a small chase group about seven minutes behind the leaders and made his way through a quick transition to the bike. Riding hard over the hilly and challenging course; Shortis worked his way into fourth off the bike. Driving on the run, Shortis finished with the fastest run time of 2:50:24, putting him on the podium in third for the day.
Heather Wurtele was powering her TdF58SL Powertap set and Jason Shortis was racing the TT58 Disc set. Wurtele will now focus on her training for Ironman Worlds in October, while Shortis is looking at racing Ironman 70.3 Boulder next month.
Post race interview with Heather Wurtele