Kiwi Nicky Samuels blew away 3-time Escape champion Leanda Cave by 4 minutes 21 seconds with an excellent all-around 2:13:13 performance on the classic, rugged 1.5 mile swim, 18-mile bike and 8-mile run Escape from Alcatraz course while American Andy Potts won his 4th victory by 34 seconds over New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty.
Potts earned a 1:16 advantage on Docherty with a race-best 22:31 swim from the notorious former Federal prison in San Francisco Bay to the beach at Marina Green. Potts added 1:01 to that lead with a race-best 46:35 bike over the hilly course which runs from the Marina past Crissy Field, under the Golden Gate Bridge, through Golden Gate Park, and back again. Potts, who earlier this year won Oceanside 70.3 and also took the Capitol of Texas Triathlon crown last Monday, gave back 91 seconds to Docherty's race-best 44:14 run and still had enough left to cross the line in 1:59:45 with a 34-seconds margin of victory over the 2004 ITU World Champion, 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist currently living and training in Santa Cruz.
In the women's race, Kiwi Nicky Samuels, coming off her first ITU World Cup victory in Mooloolaba earlier in the year, emerged from the swim 1:35 behind super swimmer and 2010 Toyota Cup series champion Sara McLarty, just 1 second behind 3-time Escape champion Leanda Cave's 2nd-best 25:21 swim and put 6 seconds on 2006 Escape champion Becky Lavelle.
Click here for full race report courtesy of www.slowtwitch.com.
Results: Escape From Alcatraz - San Francisco, California
June 5, 2011
Swim 1.5 mi. / Bike 18 mi. / Run 8 mi.
Men
1. Andy Potts (USA) 1:59:45
2. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 2:00:19
3. Matt Chrabot (USA) 2:00:25
4. Jesse Thomas (USA) 2:03:34
5. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 2:06:12
6. John Dahlz (USA) 2:06:57
7. Kenneth Rakestraw (USA) 2:07:02
8. Andrew McCartney ( ) 2:07:06
9. Chris Stehula (USA) 2:07:25
10. Kyle Leto (USA) 2:07:33
Women
1. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 2:13:13
2. Leanda Cave (GBR) 2:17:34
3. Becky Lavelle (USA) 2:19:21
4. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 2:22:20
5. Jenna Parker (USA) 2:25:39
6. Charisa Wernick (USA) 2:25:45
7. Amanda Felder Derkacs (USA) 2:27:06
8. Emily Cocks (USA) 2:27:37
9. Alexis Smith (USA) 2:27:51
10. Sara McLarty (USA) 2:28:23