Soggy, blowy conditions descended on Pennington Flash yesterday morning for the 2015 edition of Ironman UK, with women’s winner Lucy Gossage describing her race as “really tough and so, so cold”.
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In the men’s race, Scottish duo David McNamee and Fraser Cartmell quickly built a substantial lead over their rivals despite the wind chill and horizontal rain, leaving Denis Chevrot (FRA) and Victor Del Corral (ESP) in their wake over the 180km bike course that included 1,500m of climbing.
Cartmell decided to test the relatively novice Ironman bike legs of McNamee and managed to gain a 3.5 minute lead into T2. It was a lead he held until about the 10km mark knowing that McNamee is a strong runner over the half but less experienced over the full distance.
McNamee continued to push through the 42.2km marathon run in 2:51:49, some 8mins faster than Fraser, to cross the finish line with his maiden Ironman title in a time of 08:46:37.
David McNamee said on the finish line: “I knew there was an outside chance to make the podium but to come out on top is fantastic. I lost a nutrition bottle and one of my aero bars so struggled at the back of the bike, however I found my run legs! I didn’t even expect to be doing an Ironman last year – I’m struggling to put it into words how pleased and proud I am.”
Meanwhile, pre-race favourite Joe Skipper didn’t get the result he was hoping for, but struggled on through the field from the rear of the swim pack, to take 3rd place finishing in a time of 08:55:38.