IRONMAN 70.3 COEUR d'ALENE: No place like home for Voyles, Endsley and Taylor ... Triathletes take advantage of wind, shorter swim course in annual event in downtown Coeur d'Alene

COEUR d’ALENE — It wasn’t a home-course advantage per se, but Post Falls resident Scott Voyles wasn’t complaining Sunday morning.

Actually, when he’d been told that the swim portion of the Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene was shortened due to high winds, he just knew it was going to work out for him.

“Swimming is my weak area,” Voyles said. “When they made it shorter, it really played to my strengths. It was actually a nice, cool day and the breeze felt nice on the course. When they told us about the swim, I knew it was going to be in my favor.”

Voyles won his 40-44 male division age group to qualify for the World Championships in New Zealand in December, finishing the course in 3 hours, 55 minutes and 44 seconds. 

Due to the winds, the swim course was cut from 1.2 miles to 500 meters (0.3 miles), with a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run through Coeur d’Alene.

After finishing the swim in 7 minutes, 58 seconds, Voyles completed the bike course in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 30 seconds, then the run in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 5 seconds. Voyles was seventh out of 1,596 finishers.

“Coming back in from the bike, with the wind on your back, it just felt awesome,” Voyles said. “You could just fly and it felt great.”

Voyles finished the 2022 Ironman in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 41 seconds.

“It’s pretty close to where I ended up a few years ago, so I’m pretty happy with that,” Voyles said. “It’s consistent and I’m really happy with that.”

Voyles was also the top local finisher in last year’s Ironman 140.6 Coeur d’Alene.

“It really keeps me honest and healthy,” Voyles said. “I treat my body good, and I’ll probably continue to do triathlons for a while. I usually do four to five a year, and travel to some of the championship races too, so it’s fun for me.”

But nothing beats the thrill of finishing in Coeur d’Alene.

“Coming down Sherman (Avenue) is always one of the better parts of the race,” Voyles said. “Seeing all the people, it’s great to have this in our backyard. That’s really how I got started in this was coming out, watching this and saying that I wanted to do it. And I’ve been doing it ever since.”

As for what’s next, Voyles was eager to reload.

“I’ll probably go get a slice of pizza,” Voyles said. “Chugging a bunch of water always sounds good as well. Just drinking a bunch of water sounds great honestly.”

Coeur d’Alene’s Kip Taylor is familiar with triathlons in the area, including Ironman. 

“Having a very small little daughter, I had to get into triathlons to keep up with her,” Taylor said. “I decided I needed to exercise and it led to a lot.”

Taylor finished in 4 hours, 29 minutes and 5 seconds, finishing fifth in the 50-54 age group and was 83rd overall.

“Seeing all my friends and the spectators out there was really motivating to me,” Taylor said. “The community really comes out for this. It just keeps you going. You don’t want to start walking when your friends are standing there watching. You’ve got to get out and represent for Coeur d’Alene.”

Taylor completed the bike course in 2 hours, 32 minutes and 30 seconds, then the run in 1 hour, 45 minutes and 3 seconds.

“Halfway through the run, I realized I could make it the entire way,” Taylor said. “I had some cramps, but I got here. The wind made the bike hard going out, but was fast coming in. I might have been going faster than some of the cars.”

Hayden’s Suzanne Endsley — who had already punched a ticket to the World Championships — was the top local female finisher, finishing 43rd out of 495 female competitors and 278th out of 1,620 competitors.

As for what keeps her coming back, it’s just her race.

“I was asking myself that same thing a while ago,” said Endsley. “I’ve been doing triathlons for almost 30 years, and done all the halves here and a few of the fulls unsuccessfully. This is my playground, my lake and my hills and it’s my race.”

Endsley added that while the shortened swim helped her in the long run, it was still a challenge.

“Even though it was short, the conditions were really challenging with the water being choppy,” Endsley said. “The bike, it was really windy. I didn’t do as well as I wanted to, but I felt really good.”

Endsley finished in 5 hours, 2 minutes and 17 seconds.

“I just wanted to finish strong,” Endsley said. “I already qualified for the World Championships in New Zealand, so I wasn’t chasing a spot. It was a personal challenge to just do my best.”

Endsley won her age group at an event last July in Oregon. The top three in each age group from Coeur d'Alene also qualified for the World Championships.

“That’s where you get tempted to back off since you’re not chasing a slot,” Endsley said. “I had a lot of friends on the sidelines cheering me on, and that kind of got me through it today.”

What got Zachary Bernier-Michaud through was a good plan from start to finish.

“It was all based on numbers and a plan for the course itself,” said Bernier-Michaud of Kelowna, British Columbia, who was the top male finisher in Sunday’s race in 3 hours, 36 minutes and 12 seconds. “And I just stuck close to those numbers. Even though the swim was a little short, it wasn’t going to affect those numbers much.”

After finishing the swim in 5 minutes, 37 seconds, Bernier-Michaud completed the bike course in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 5 seconds and pulled away to finish the run in 1 hour, 17 minutes and 2 seconds.

“When I got off the bike and had a three- to four-minute lead, I knew if it stuck to those numbers, I had a chance to win,” Bernier-Michaud said. “Nobody was going to run four minutes faster than me. On the way back on the run, I was feeling really strong and knew I was in a good spot.”

Bernier-Michaud was sixth in the 2023 Ironman 140.6 Coeur d’Alene at the age of 19.

“It was a really good starting point last year,” Bernier-Michaud said. “We knew the more wind the better because I’m so aerodynamic. It actually played in my favor and I was able to stay strong throughout the race.”

It was here in 2019 where Karrie Stewart got her start.

On Sunday, she got the finish also.

Stewart, who lives in Seattle, was the top female finisher in 4 hours, 21 minutes and 28 seconds.

“I got into a groove about halfway through and wanted to bring it home,” Stewart said. “I did my first triathlon here in 2019 and caught the bug. I’ve done two fulls here, so it means a lot to win here.”

Stewart completed the bike in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 24 seconds. Due to a chip malfunction where a male athlete was running with a female chip on his leg, Stewart wasn’t shown as the leader until the finish.

Make no mistake, Stewart was in control Sunday.

“On the second lap of the run, I realized that no girls had put any time into me when I was checking my watch,” Stewart said. “It’s pretty special to win here. I’ve done most of my races here and it’s really special.”

Ironman is under contract for the next two years in Coeur d'Alene, with both events being 70.3 events.

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene's Kip Taylor, 53, celebrates with a few members of the crowd before crossing the finish line of Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Hayden's Suzanne Endsley comes across the finish line in Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Zachary Bernier-Michaud of Kelowna, British Columbia, celebrates after winning Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene. Bernier-Michaud, who was sixth in the full race in 2023 in Coeur d'Alene, won in 3 hours, 36 minutes and 32 seconds.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Karrie Stewart of Seattle celebrates after finishing as the top female in Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Coeur d'Alene in 4 hours, 21 minutes and 28 seconds.