Cat Morrison wins Ironman 70.3 Auckland
Brit runs down defending champ Annabel Luxford
Britain’s Catriona Morrison put in a sensational run at Ironman 70.3 Auckland last weekend to claim gold ahead of defending champion Annabel Luxford (AUS).
Morrison, 32, trailed Luxford by nearly three minutes after T2 but managed to run her down with 5km to go, eventually crossing the line in 4:14:41 – 46secs ahead of her Aussie rival. Jo Lawn (NZL) took bronze with a time of 4:24:22.
“It’s all so exciting when it all comes together in the end,” said Morrison afterwards. “You can’t really believe it is going to happen until you take the lead and you tell yourself to keep going. I had faith in my own run, but what you don’t know is what your opposition has in store. A lot of people, when you pass them, they dig in and hang on.”
In the men’s race, Jan Frodeno (GER) left T2 more than 2mins behind race leader Andrew Yoder (USA) but quickly overhauled him, eventually crossing the line in 3:45:39. Richie Cunningham (AUS) took silver with 3:47:21, followed by Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) in 3:47:32.
The top five male and female athletes were as follows:
Elite men
1 – Jan Frodeno (GER) 3:45:39
2 – Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:47:21
3 – Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:47:32
4 – Bevan Docherty (NZL) 3:47:32
5 – Tim Reed (AUS) 03:47:43
Elite women
1 – Catriona Morrison (GBR) 4:14:41
2 – Annabel Luxford (AUS) 4:15:27
3 – Joanna Lawn (NZL) 4:24:22
4 – Michelle Bremer (NZL) 4:28:58
5 – Kym Jaenke (AUS) 4:29:32
Full results can be found here.
Jamie Beach
Former digital editor 
