Photo by ASI

When it comes to the Ironman 70.3 distance, Michael Raelert is simply in a league of his own. His victory today in Clearwater did not come as easy as his first win a year ago, but the unbeatable German still managed another incredible 1:09 run split en route to breaking the tape in 3:41:19.

“I think last year was a better race for me—it was definitely more comfortable on the run,” Raelert said. “I was feeling a lot of pressure before the race this year, so I’m very happy to have it behind me and to get the win.”

Today’s win put an exclamation point on a perfect season for the 30-year old from Northern Germany. He won both Ironman Switzerland 70.3 and the über-competitive Wildflower Long Course Triathlon by more than six minutes, and then closed out the summer with a two-minute win at the Ironman 70.3 European Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. Rounding out the podium today was Czech speedster Filip Ospaly and American Tim O’Donnell.

Twenty-four-year-old Californian Kyle Leto led the way out of the Gulf of Mexico after just over 23 minutes, with fellow American Brian Fleischmann and Frenchman Sylvain Sudrie only a few feet behind. Raelert wrapped up his swim over a minute behind the leaders, but after flying through transition he started the ride only a handful of seconds back of the rest of the top contenders.

Osplay, Raelert, and O’Donnell

From the onset of the bike leg, it was clear that there wouldn’t be any sub-two-hour splits. Unlike the past few years, no one seemed eager to push the pace above 28 mph, and instead the top men just kept tabs on the defending champ. Raelert was content to leave the race to the run and rode comfortably in ninth position (about 20 seconds behind the lead) through the first 40 miles.

Shortly after the 40-mile mark, Aussie Joe Gambles went on the attack, knowing that his only chance to win would be to get away from Raelert before T2. The move was effective, earning Gambles a lead of almost a minute by mile 50. He continued to power away from the chase group as he charged toward transition and started the run 90 seconds up on Raelert and Ospaly, who were next to put on their running shoes.

Ospaly put on a surge right out of transition to open up a small gap on Raelert, while Gambles ran a few paces slower up the road. Shortly after the three-mile marker, the top three men came together for a brief moment, before Gambles dropped off pace and Osaply and Raelert were left at the front. The new lead pair ran in sync for the next four miles, sharing the lead as each man waited for the other to break.

“It was such cool race. Filip and I were playing games with each other when we were running side by side,” Raelert said. “He would accelerate and I would have to catch up, then I would accelerate and he would catch up.”

After four miles of playing cat and mouse, Raelert decided he was no longer interested in sharing the lead and slowly began to pull away.

“At about mile seven I got a small gap on Filip and then I really gave it everything I had,” Raelert said. “I didn’t know if I could hold that pace for very long, but luckily I was able to hold the pace until Filip faded back.”

Another two miles later, Raelert was out of Ospaly’s sights, and it was clear that barring a meltdown, Clearwater would have its first two-time winner. Raelert finished with a run of 1:09:57, which was good enough to put him at the line 1:37 ahead of Ospaly, who hung on for second in his Ironman 70.3 World Championship debut.

“I am very happy with second today,” Ospaly said. “This was only my third race at this distance, so I’m very happy with how I finished. Of course I wanted the win when I was running with Michael, but my goal was the podium.”

O’Donnell turned in the fifth-best run of the day to finish in third, just over a minute ahead of Gambles.

“I didn’t quite have the same gear that Michael and Filip had,” O’Donnell said. “But I felt strong all day and I knew if I kept everything under control I’d be able to hold off the rest of the guys,” O’Donnell said.

Top 10 Men’s Results

1. Michael Raelert (GER) 3:41:19
2. Filip Ospaly (CZE) 3:42:56
3. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) 3:44:18
4. Joe Gambles (AUS) 3:44:48
5. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:45:33
6. Igor Amorelli (BRA) 3:45:46
7. Daniel Fontana (ITA) 3:47:15
8. Kevin Collington (USA) 3:47:32
9. Matty Reed (USA) 3:48:13
10. Chris Legh (AUS) 3:48:33