A big step forward
LOREN BENOIT/Press Haley Chura, 32, of Bozeman, Mont., holds up the Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene finish line tape after winning the women’s 70.3-mile race in a time of 4 hours, 27 minutes and 16 seconds.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Matt Hanson, 32, of Storm Lake, Iowa, won Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene with a time of 3 hours, 51 minutes and 16 seconds.
LOREN BENOIT/PressSierra Smith starts to remove her wetsuit as she transitions to the bike leg portion of the Ironman race.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Christopher Carpenter rounds the turn onto Lakeside Avenue at the beginning of the bike leg during Coeur d’Alene Ironman 70.3.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Kelly Emich starts to make the climb up Mica Grade on U.S. 95 south of Coeur d’Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Cyclists make the U-turn back to Coeur d’Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/Press A time box records a cyclist’s time at the U-turn on U.S. 95 south of Coeur d’Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/PressRichard Jansen sprays water over his head to cool down.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Beth Giffing takes her bike of a rack after taking a bathroom break during Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Scott Gende cruises down Mica Grade during the bike leg portion of Ironman Coeur d’Alene 70.3 on Sunday. Gende finished 284th overall with a bike time of 2 hours, 48 minutes and 39 seconds.
LOREN BENOIT/PressIronman cyclists cross the Spokane River bridge on U.S. 95.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Kaitlyn Hawkins runs near The Coeur d’Alene Resort during Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Athletes near the Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene finish line on Sherman Avenue Sunday afternoon in downtown Coeur d’Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Ethan Dahlberg approaches the Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene finish line on Sherman Avenue.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Matt Hanson, 32, of Storm Lake, Iowa won Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene with a time of three hours, 51 minutes and 16 seconds. Right behind Hanson was 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Tim Reed, followed by defending Ironman Coeur d’Alene 70.3 champion Andy Potts.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Haley Chura, 32, of Bozeman, Montana nears the Ironman Coeur d’Alene finish line tape. Chura finished the 70.3 mile race with a time of four hours, 27 minutes and 16 seconds, marking her as the fastest female in the race.
LOREN BENOIT/PressHaley Chura catches her breath after crossing the finish line with a time of of four hours, 27 minutes and 16 seconds, marking her as the fastest female in the race.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Tim Reed finishes strong. Reed of Australia, followed by defending Ironman Coeur d’Alene 70.3 champion Andy Potts of Colorado Springs, finished second.
LOREN BENOIT/PressMegan Lyer runs the Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene course in McEuen Park.
LOREN BENOIT/PressAnne McBeth of Canda takes a swig of water as she bikes on U.S. 95 south of Coeur d'Alene during Ironman Coeur d'Alene 70.3.
LOREN BENOIT/PressJaedyn Haggerty hands a gatorade to an Ironman athlete Sunday afternoon south of Coeur d'Alene. Dani Zibell-Wolfe, Ironman volunteer director, estimated that the event brought in more than 1,400 volunteers from throughout the region to lend a hand.
LOREN BENOIT/PressKevin Ormiston runs near The Coeur d'Alene Resort during Ironman Coeur d'Alene 70.3 on Sunday.
LOREN BENOIT/PressA trio of Ironman athletes compete in the running leg portion of Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/PressIronman athletes run on the main roadway to the Coeur d'Alene Resort during Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTim Burnside pours cold water on his head during the run portion of Ironman Coeur d'Alene 70.3.
LOREN BENOIT/PressMathieu Signoretty, right, cycles north back to Coeur d'Alene during Ironman 70.3 on Sunday. Signoretty had a bike time of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 57 seconds. He finished 161th overall.
LOREN BENOIT/PressA shadow of an Ironman athlete is cast on the road carpet near the Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene finish line.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Jen Annett, right, and Linsey Corbin, left, shower first place womens Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene finisher Haley Chura with sparkling cider.
COEUR d’ALENE — To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.
And in Sunday’s Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene, there was nobody better than Matt Hanson.
Not a two-time defending champion.
Nor the defending world champion.
Sunday belonged to Hanson, and he left no doubt about it.
Hanson, who trailed by a little over a minute coming out of the 1.2-mile swim, made his move late in the 56-mile bike and held on late in the 13.1-mile run to win the men’s race in 3 hours, 51 minutes and 16 seconds.
“Today was all about focusing on the process,” said Hanson, of Storm Lake, Iowa. “I wanted to come here and win, and it was a huge opportunity with two world champions in the field. It was definitely a chance to go out and show people that I could race at this distance.”
Right behind Hanson was 2016 Ironman 70.3 world champion Tim Reed of Australia, followed by defending Ironman Coeur d’Alene 70.3 champion Andy Potts of Colorado Springs.
“I wasn’t focused on winning, but just each step of the way,” Hanson said. “On the swim, it was just about getting on fast feet and staying there. On the bike, it was my power and trying to keep it steady and holding it there for the ride. On the run, that’s where I’m fairly strong, and I was able to bridge the gap and do my thing.”
In the women’s race, struggling following a training accident in preparation for the inaugural 2016 70.3-mile race in Coeur d’Alene, Haley Chura changed her approach and training to prevent it from happening again.
“Last year, it was my first race in the year after being hit by a car during training,” Chura said. “I hadn’t fully trained for it last year and suffered a little bit because of my lack of training. In the last 12 months, I’ve been able to put in the good training and felt good. To come back and race hard, be strong and fit, it just shows how much can change in a year. I’m so thankful. It was wonderful last year, and it’s even more special this year.”
Chura moved from Atlanta — where the accident occurred — to Bozeman, Mont., to regain her focus on racing.
“It really changed how I was training,” Chura said. “I had trouble driving because of it, and it was another reason why I moved to Bozeman and mostly train indoors now. I think that’s maybe helped me more.”
Chura, who finished eighth last year, won in 4 hours, 27 minutes and 16 seconds, nearly two minutes faster than Jen Annett of Penticton, British Columbia, who was second in 4:29:13.
“The No. 1 thing, the competition really made it a tough race,” Chura said. “I knew it was going to be challenging, but I knew it was going to take a really good day for me to be on the podium, let alone win. The competition was going to bring out the best in me. And each of the top five women could have won today.”
Coeur d’Alene native Derek Garcia hovered in fifth place through the swim and bike, before slipping back to a seventh-place finish in 4:04:23.
“This is the first time in all reality that I’ve been in the front of the race,” Garcia said. “We have the reigning world champ here, and he really put the pedal to the metal there. Obviously Matt, he’s in really good shape and really made us suffer on the way back. And I think I’m the one that suffered the most. I started the run not sure how it was all going to pan out.”
Garcia was ninth in last year’s Ironman 70.3 in Coeur d’Alene.
“I’m happy,” Garcia said. “It was a tough day, but I feel like I’m getting closer to where I want to be. And that’s all that matters. Just to be in the mix, I’m proud to be there. For years, I’ve been really off the pack, and to get a little closer, it means a lot.”
Hanson took the lead for good in the men’s race at the 45-mile mark on the bike.
“I was out there for a little bit and waiting until that mark to really push it,” Hanson said. “I was able to push it hard and had a little separation and just built on it on the downhill.”
Reed finished in 3:53:58, and Potts finished third in 3:57:03.
“You get a lot of close finishes in these kinds of distances,” Reed said. “But when you get a tough course like this, it spreads the field out a little bit. A 1 or 2 percent difference between guys on effort can turn into a minute between each other. The performance by Matt was one of the best I’ve ever seen. He’s not as good of a swimmer as us, but he bridged back to us pretty quickly on the bike — and it was obvious he was riding really well. He was able to make up that time, and when he was able to go, he was really hurting me and I couldn’t keep up with him.”
Potts’ time was three minutes off his finish from 2016 (3:54:45).
“I finished on the podium, and I’m super pumped about that,” said Potts, who won the full Ironman here in 2015 and last year’s inaugural 70.3 event. “Matt Hanson had a really great race today. He beat the reigning Ironman world champion. Two just world class people beat me today. It wasn’t like I was bad. I just got beat.”
Brandy Anderson — a first-time Ironman competitor and nine-year resident of Coeur d’Alene — was the top local female finisher, completing the course in 5:02:59.
“I just wanted to go out and do what I planned to do,” said Anderson, who competed in track and field at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. “I just wanted to take it easy on the bike and see where the run went with the heat. I love big races and big crowds. I just wanted the experience before it’s too late.”
Hanson and Chura each received $6,000 for winning on Sunday. Prize money was awarded to first to sixth place, with second place winners receiving $5,000 and third place $4,000.
A little more than 1,600, including teams, finished.
MALE
TOP 10 PROFESSIONALS — 1, Matt Hanson, Storm Lake, Iowa, 3:51.16. 2, Tim Reed, Byron Bay, Australia, 3:53.58. 3, Andy Potts, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3:57.03. 4, Christian Kemp, Australia, 3:58.14. 5, Alex Libin, Colorado Springs, Colo., 4:02.59. 6, Stephen Kilshaw, San Jose, Calif., 4:03.52. 7, Derek Garcia, Coeur d’Alene, 4:04.23. 8, Nicholas Granet, Las Vegas, 4:09.38. 9, Steven Zawaski, Boulder, Colo., 4:11.09. 10, James Lubinski, Los Angeles, 4:14.40.
FEMALE
TOP 10 PROFESSIONALS — 1, Haley Chura, Bozeman, Mont., 4:27.16. 2, Jen Annett, Pentiction, British Columbia, 4:29.13. 3, Linsey Corbin, Bend, Ore., 4:33.43. 4, Skye Moench, Holladay, Utah, 4:35.13. 5, Jessica Smith, San Francisco, 4:39.35. 6, Alycia Hill, Tacoma, 4:39.58. 7, Christine Cross, Los Angeles, 4:40.00. 8, Kyra Wiens, Tacoma, Wash., 4:47.44. 9, Adelaide Perr, Boulder, Colo., 4:54.21. 10, Erin Crum, Boise, 5:00.21.