Rapp and Macel take Subaru Ironman Canada

Jordan Rapp claims his first Ironman title while Tereza Macel dominates to take her third, Shawn Skene reports

Tereza Macel led from start to finish to claim her second runaway Ironman win in five weeks, while Jordan Rapp simply outlasted the rest of the men to take his first Ironman title at Subaru Ironman Canada.

Macel Blows Out the Competition in Canada

We knew in advance that we had the potential for a shoot-out in the women women’s race at the Subaru Ironman Canada this year. Canadian Tereza Macel started the fireworks early with a 51:11 swim, 1:55 ahead of Kat Baker and 2:08 ahead of her chief rival, Belinda Granger. She stated the “swim was lonely…I had no feet to swim off of for the entire swim.”

It really didn’t matter as Macel was just getting warmed up for the fight on the bike course where she knew the real action would take place. By the time she hit the top of Richter Pass at 65 kilometres, the Toronto, Ontario resident had put Granger, who was now in second, 6:22 down as she crested the infamous climb. The remainder of the top-ten women that included Tara Norton, Sara Gross, Kat Baker were scattered about the course, and up to 15:00 in arrears to the hard charging Macel.

Macel, now heading towards the rollers and the out and back at Keremeos facing brutal head winds and heat, turned on the after-burners and started to inflict additional damage on the field. When Macel went over top of the last roller at 100 kilometres, she had blown the race apart and extended her lead over Granger (11:30,) Norton (17:29,) Baker (20:50) and Gross (24:30.)

When Macel hit the run, it was her race to lose with a 15:39 advantage over the 2008 Subaru Ironman Canada champion, Granger, and over 22 minutes on Norton.

Macel put it on cruise control and pounded out the fastest run of the day (3:17:53), winning by a comfortable 29:39 margin over Granger.

Macel displayed her dominance over the remainder of the field here in Penticton as she won her second Ironman in five weeks and her third Ironman title. She did so by having the fastest swim, bike and run splits on the day.

“I always wanted to do this race, and now I wonder why I waited so long,” Macel said. She went on, “the crowds were so great and supportive, I was able to really enjoy it on the run.”

At the end of the day, Macel stood alone, and above the women’s field here in Penticton.

Rapp Wins Subaru Ironman Canada

The men’s race here at the Subaru Canada had the makings of spectacular race, and it didn’t disappoint. We had a great mix of athletes with statesman of the Ironman: Thomas Hellriegel and Lothar Leder, young up-starts like Jordan Rapp, Mark Van Akkeren and Andi Boecherer and veterans Jasper Blake, Luke Bell and Andriy Yastrebov.

It was Germany’s Andi Boecherer who made his presence known first as he took control of the race just before men hit the turn into McLean Creek Road (17 kilometres) on the bike with Luke Bell and Van Akkeren closely in tow.

As the men passed through Oliver at 40 kilometres, the top-ten were separated by a mere 3:45 with Boecherer and Bell to pulling away. When the men hit the top of Richter Pass, the field had stretched out further with Helrigel, Aigroz, Rapp, Lavelle, Van Akkeren, Cupitt, Scott and Guembel all remaining within striking distance of the leaders.

Rapp started making his move in the out and back at Keremeos, working his way to the lead just past Yellow Lake at 150 kilometres. Rapp came into the run transition carrying a 0:38 lead over Boecherer and 2:56 over Bell.

Rapp proceeded to hammer out consistent miles while the field fluctuated in positions behind him. At one time early in the run, Bell started to chew into Rapp’s lead, but could not sustain the pace and later faltered badly in the late stages of the marathon. Meanwhile, Mike Aigroz, 2006 Subaru Ironman Canada Champion Jasper Blake and Courtney Ogden started running through the field.

Rapp had the fastest run of the day at 2:55:33 and was never in any danger after he made the return trip of 21 kilometres from Okanagan Falls to Penticton. He ran down the final kilometres of Lakeshore Drive to finish line with a smile on his face knowing he was about to win his first Ironman race here in Penticton in a time of 8:25:18, followed by Agroz at 8:40:17 and Odgen at 8:44:37.

You could say the ex-varsity rower is a quick study. The 28 year-old American had only 3 Ironman races under his belt prior to his win. He was 5^th here in Penticton in 2007 and had 2 third place finishes at the spring and fall editions of the Ford Ironman Arizona in 2008.

Rapp has lived in Penticton with his fiancée, Canadian Olympian Jill Savage since May and credits his win to being knowledgeable of the local weather conditions and the course. “I bet I have ridden up Yellow Lake 40 times in training,” explained Rapp. He went on, “I have done a lot of long runs here in 36C weather … I knew what it was going to feel like.”

Well, now Rapp knows what it feels like to be the Subaru Ironman Canada Champion.