By Jon Walk
Texas Runner and Triathlete Correspondent
The Hudson River tried to steal the show, but Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas winners Jordan Rapp and Mary Beth Ellis replicated their Lone Star efforts at the inaugural Ironman US Championship in New York City, New York last Sunday.
Buoyed by some of the fastest swim times on the circuit, Rapp produced both the day’s fastest bike and run split, including the only sub 3-hour marathon (2:59:22), to register an impressive 13-minute win in eight hours, 11 minutes and 18 seconds (8:11:18).
Meanwhile, Superior, Colorado’s Mary Beth Ellis didn’t have to have the fastest bike of the day – she left that to Austin’s Amy Marsh, but she did nail a 3:14:32 marathon to register a 10-minute plus margin of victory in 9:13:24 over Australia’s Rebekah Keat.
Marsh left T2 with a 44-second lead over Ellis – a repeat of Ellis seeing Marsh’s shadow for two-thirds of the race, but her 3:28:25 on the run let the lead slip by and for Keat to pass her for third.
The top age group performances from the area belonged to Fort Worth’s Madison Flowers (M30-34) and Keller’s Dana Bullard (W35-39), who recorded respective times of 10:07:08 and 10:54:50.
It was Flowers’ debut Ironman, while Bullard notched her sixth career Ironman finish.
But just six minutes behind Oceanport, New Jersey’s Maureen Cullen, Bullard was second in her age group to earn her first trip to Kona for this October’s Ford Ironman World Championship.
“I had my second fastest time even though it was a ridiculously difficult course,” she posted on her Facebook status. “I am beyond estatic.”
It was the third time that she has broken 11 hours with the other two efforts coming at Ironman Cozumel in 2009 (10:55:36) and 2011 (10:49:19).
Despite a challenging run after registering her division’s second-best bike split in 5:40:10, Bike Barn owner Lee Neathery of Houston held off St. Augustine, Florida’s Cynthia Lyons to win her 45-49 age group by 72 seconds in 11:15:54.
As a result, Neathery, 49, earned her third consecutive (and fourth career) trip to Kona.
They were three of 47 finishers from the Lone Star state.
Little Rock, Arkansas’ Jeff Glasbrenner, 39, was the only finisher from the four adjacent states with a 13:48:39 showing. It was his 16th career Ironman finish.
At Rev3’s half iron distance race in the Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Austin professional triathlete and Texas Runner and Triathlete columnist Brandon Marsh came off the bike in the lead by just a second over Boulder, Colorado’s Richie Cunningham.
And even though he exited transition in third, Marsh noted on his blog after the race that it was Cunningham’s race to lose.
“Richie would have this in the bag unless he faltered on the run,” Marsh said.
And he didn’t. Cunningham used a pro-best time of 1:13:15 to capture the win by more than three minutes over Boulder’s Kyle Leto.
“I ran well and was passed by Kyle who, in the span of a mile or two, put 40 seconds on me,” he said. “I passed Matt Pellow and was in third. Kyle and I yo-yoed a bit, fluctuating between 25 and 40 seconds and it was just over a minute at the end – the additional time in the last mile or so.”
Nonetheless, Marsh was pleased with his 4:04:45 finish on what he termed a “very honest and tough course” for his first pro podium.
Jessica Meyers, who has taken up residence in Tulsa, Oklahoma where her husband has started medical school at Oklahoma State University, by just 17 seconds over Mount Pleasant, South Carolina’s Lauren Goss.
She worked her way into second on the bike and held off Goss on the run. Neither would be in sight of Charlottesville, Virginia’s Nicole Kelleher, who posted the win in 4:27:41.
Meyers was runner-up in 4:33:36.
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