Photo By - Timothy Carlson/Slowtwitch
(San Diego, California) – Heather Jackson opened up her 2012 season with a 2nd place at the Ironman 70.3 event in Oceanside, CA on Saturday.
In wet and cold conditions, Jackson got started with a 29:28 swim, which put her about 4 minutes off swim leader Meredith Kessler, and 2 minutes back of the rest of the front pack that included amongst others, Corbin, Tisseyre, McBride, and McQuaid. Jackson got to work on the bike, but was unable to match the blistering pace of eventual winner Melanie McQuaid, who was putting together an impressive race. Jackson came into T2 in 4th position, around 6 minutes down on leader McQuaid, and immediately found her running legs. Picking her way through the field, she moved into the 2nd place position around the halfway point. Jackson kept the pressure on McQuaid for the rest of the run but ran out of real estate and was unable to catch the Canadian, who had an amazing performance on the day. Recording a race-best 1:20:51 run split, Jackson crossed the line in 4:21:57, about 2:30 minutes back of McQuaid.
Photo By - XTRI
Xterra World Champion Lesley Paterson had a bit of a rough start in the swim leg, but got to work quickly on the bike pulling herself right back into the mix. After a solid ride on the tough Oceanside bike course, Paterson found her running legs posting a blazing 1:21:56 run split that would earn her a respectable 6th place finish in an overall time of 4:31:50.
Ironman Champion Ben Hoffman also had a solid day, kicking things off with a 24:42 swim that would land him in the lead group onto the bike. HOFF went to work on the bike, riding a solid 2:15:29 bike split and kept the lead group within striking distance. HOFF finished his day with a respectable performance, an 8th place finish against a stacked men’s professional field.
For more information on any Wattie Ink. athletes, please contact: Wattie Ink.
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