IRONMAN Lake Placid 2024 Results: Trevor Foley takes down the favourites with CRAZY run split
Trevor Foley cracked the full distance at the third time of asking at IRONMAN Lake Placid, as the 24-year-old American put together a phenomenal marathon to win in New York.
Running 2:36:31 to reel in long time leader Matthew Marquardt, Foley made the pass in the final miles to deny his compatriot a first full distance victory and take the title.
Marquardt, holding strong, secured a second place finish ahead of Lionel Sanders, as the Canadian pushed through some dark patches to round out the podium in third.
Swim ā Josh Amberger leads the way
First through the halfway check point, Australian Josh Amberger remained at the front of the lead swim group the rest of the way, exiting the water at the head of a group of five athletes in 48:27.
Americans Marquardt and Justin Riele were right on his feet, with Swede Alexander Berrgren and Italian Mattia Ceccarelli making up the rest of the front pack in T1.
Notable names such as Kiwi Braden Currie and Frenchman Arnaud Guilloux were around two minutes down, with a big group including Matt Hanson, Jackson Laundry and Chris Leiferman five minutes back.
Sanders, one of the big pre-race favourites, was +5:54 in arrears after a tough swim, with his training partner Foley a further 30 seconds adrift, +6:21 from the lead.
Bike ā Marquardt makes his mark
Committing to a fast early pace on the bike, Marquardt opened up a 45 second lead over the rest of the lead group inside the first 12km, with Foley and Sanders also moving through the field.
By the 50km mark, Marquardt was +2:41 ahead of Riele in second, with Currie an early withdrawal after suffering a mechanical in the opening stages of the bike leg.
Continuing to attack at the front, by the halfway mark Marquardt was up by five minutes ahead of Riele, with a six-man group led by Sanders and Foley six minutes back.
Over the second half of the bike, Sanders and Foley broke away from the rest of the chase pack, and the pair entered transition +8:30 behind Marquardt, who rode a 4:16:53 split on a really tough course.
Run ā Foley seals the deal
As Marquardt embarked on a long and lonely bid to hold off Foley and Sanders on the run, the Tucson training partners came through transition side-by-side before Foley took off on his own.
Gradually reeling in Marquardt up front, Foley slowly made up time over the first half of the run, reducing the deficit down to +4:08 after splitting 1:18:39 through the first half-marathon.
Gaining momentum as the race entered the final hour, Foley made the pass at the crest of a hill with three miles to go, with Marquardt unable to follow him.
Taking time to regain his composure, Marquardt briefly started walking and looked like he might suffer a similar blowup to his race in Texas in April, but the oncologist held strong and was back running within minutes.
Visibly emotional coming down the finishing straight, Foley took the tape and punched his ticket to the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, where he will make his debut in October.
Marquardt finished a brilliant second, his fourth full distance podium since making his pro debut last season, with Sanders holding off Guilloux to secure his Kona slot in his first IRONMAN race since 2022.
IRONMAN Lake Placid 2024 Results
Sunday July 21, 2024 ā 3.8km / 180km / 42.2km
PRO Men
1. Trevor Foley (USA) ā 7:55:23 [54:49/4:18:51/2:36:31]
2.Ā Matthew Marquardt (USA) ā 7:57:14 [48:30/4:16:53/2:46:28]
3. Lionel Sanders (CAN) ā 8:05:39 [54:21/4:19:07/2:46:16]
4. Arnaud Guilloux (FRA) ā 8:07:46 [51:14/4:26:23/2:44:33]
5. Chris Leiferman (USA) ā 8:10:50 [53:28/4:24:50/8:10:50]
