Cuch through the swim in 1:24:06
A list of my PRs in a misguided attempt to impress people that do not care.
Cuch:
Swim
11:14
Michelle:
This isn't formatting, but the story so far is pretty much as expected. Cuch was crazy fast in the water (she won't think so) and even was faster than Michelle in T1 and the first bike leg. A 40 minute lead at 7k of the bike.
73.5k of bike: Both look great; Cuch still 32 minutes ahead. Seems to me that they should be pretty close by the end of the bike if each maintains pace.
This is impressive:
Mary Beth Ellis continues to power away at the front of the race. She told us the other day that the plan here in Mont-Tremblant is to push hard and use this race as preparation for the Ironman World Championship in October.Ellis burst on the Ironman scene in 2011 with an incredible win in Austria, the fastest women's debut in Ironman history. She then went on to win Regensburg and Canada. With three Ironman wins in two months she qualified for Kona, but wasn't really ready to compete for the win. Last year she won in Texas, New York and Cozumel and was near the front for much of the day in Kona before fading to an impressive fifth.This year she won in Nice, keeping an impressive record intact - the only time she hasn't won an Ironman that she's started is in Kona. It looks like she might be on track to keep that record intact right now - which makes sense as she was almost everyone's pick for the win here today.
89.5 km
cuch
Michelle
Cuch is way faster on the bike relative to Michelle than usual. Still 26 minute spread so I don't think she'll pass her before the run. Seems like they are both doing great.
MTA: 23 minutes after 171K.
cuch is off the bike!
And only 4:10 in T2 and she's off.
By the way either that last leg is downhill or she was giving it to her.
60th in division after swim and 73rd after bike doesn't seem like a big drop off for how she usually feels she does on the bike. This really seems pretty great.
Even a 6 hour marathon is under 15:00.
I can't imagine hopping off the bike 9 hours into the race and starting a marathon within 4 minutes. Good gravy.
Michelle's off the bike now, too!
15:11 last year for Cuch on what Michelle says is an easier course. A 6:11 marathon beats that. A 5 hour marathon would be a 1+ hour beat.