MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay hosted the Isuzu Ironman 70.3 triathlon on 6 November, in which 2 000 athletes competed in a 1.9km swim, a 90km cycle and 21.1km run.
Perfect race conditions made the event a special one for Bradley Weiss (South Africa) and Emma Pallant-Brown (United Kingdom), who crossed the finish line in the fastest time in the men’s and women’s professional field respectively.
The water temperature averaged 18.3 degrees and there was an average air temperature of 23.3 degrees Celsius.
This was the first time the Ironman Group hosted a triathlon event in the Western Cape.
The swim started opposite the iconic Santos Beach Pavilion.
The second part of the race, a one-loop cycle, reached the turnaround at Gouritzmond valley just short of Herbertsdale on the R327.
Lastly, athletes ran a two and a half loop course which took them past the harbour, through historic central Mossel Bay, the Dias Museum Complex, and The Point, where the finish line beckoned below the Cape St Blaize lighthouse.
Men's winner
Claiming the title in the men’s race was Bradley Weiss, followed shortly after by Matt Trautman. They had a phenomenal race, with Trautman leading until the 17km point on the run, when Weiss took the lead, placing him 44 seconds ahead of Trautman at the finish.
Women's winner
Emma Pallant-Brown pulled out all the stops. Fresh from coming third at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in St George, Utah, in the US, Pallant-Brown wrapped up her 2022 Ironman season with a victory in Mossel Bay.
Ironman 70.3 Mossel Bay also played host to the TriClub African Championship, with Matrix Multisport receiving the most points on the day.
“Well done to all the professional and age group athletes that took part this weekend, it felt great to be racing in Mossel Bay. Thank you to the Mossel Bay Municipality and local residents for welcoming us here for this inaugural event.
"We cannot wait to come back next year with even more international athletes and a deeper professional line-up. A special mention goes to the incredible volunteers who supported this event,” said Keith Bowler, Ironman South Africa regional managing director.
Top 3 PRO men
1) Bradley Weiss (ZAF) 03:50:37 00:23:48 02:09:19 01:13:55
2) Matt Trautman (ZAF 03:51:22 00:23:46 02:07:43 01:16:17
3) Cameron MacNair (ZAF) 04:06:27 00:23:47 02:15:54 01:22:47
Top 3 PRO women
1) Emma Pallant-Brown (GBR) 04:23:26 00:25:32 02:30:25 01:23:38
2) Magda Nieuwoudt (ZAF) 04:32:26 00:26:17 02:32:06 01:29:29
3) Julie Aspesletten (NOR) 04:43:31 00:31:43 02:34:06 01:32:44
For the full race results, download the IRONMAN Tracker app (available on both iOS and Android). For race images, click here. For more information, see: www.ironman.com/im703-mossel-bay.
Emma Pallant-Browne. Photo: Johan Swanepoel
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