KOHALA COAST — Frederic Limousin cruised to a first overall finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii on Saturday. ADVERTISING KOHALA COAST — Frederic Limousin cruised to a first overall finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii on Saturday. Limousin crossed the finish line
KOHALA COAST — Frederic Limousin cruised to a first overall finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii on Saturday.
Limousin crossed the finish line at historic Honu Pointe in 4 hours, 24 minutes, 4 seconds.
“It was a dream for me to win in Hawaii. It is the best place in the world for a triathlete,” Limousin said. “It was a very beautiful, but difficult race. On the bike I had no problem, but the run on the golf course hill climbs were very tough.”
It was Limousin’s debut in Honu, but he had raced previously in two IRONMAN World Championships as an age grouper.
The 34-year-old out of France in now a professional athlete, but it was neither points nor prize money that drew him to the Big Island. The race dropped its professional field this year to concentrate on its age groupers, although the pros were still welcome to participate.
“I wanted to do this race with my wife for our honeymoon,” Limousin said. “I wanted to cross the finish line with her when she comes in.”
A few hours later, Limousin was able to accomplish that feat, meeting his wife Perrine Limousin — Perrine Cagneaux on the results — at the finish line.
Rounding out the men’s overall top three were Australia’s Tim Rea at 4:26:04 and Canadian Calvin Zaryski, with a time if 4:32:31.
Rea and Zaryski also won their age groups — Rea in ages 25-29 and Zaryski in 45-49 — locking up two of 30 available spots available in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships, that will be held in Zell Am See-Kaprun, Austria on Aug. 30.
“I was just hoping to be in the top of the age groupers, so I’m really happy with second overall,” Rea said. “I really set it up on the bike and brought it home on the run.”
On the women’s side, Oahu’s Christine Nichols outpaced the field with a 4:51:21, finishing five minutes faster than second place finisher Shannon Proffit (4:56:27), of Australia.
“It was an awesome course and we had ideal conditions,” Nichols said. “The day got warmer and warmer, and there were plenty of girls chasing me when I thought my wheels might be coming off towards the end. It kept me moving.”
The bike portion of the race is the same as the IRONMAN World Championship route, and has been notorious for strong winds that have the potential to throw racers off course and behind schedule. But Saturday, it was all sunshine and with very little wind.
“You can’t really ask for a more ideal bike ride when the wind on the Big Island is not kicking you around,” Nichols said.
The top Big Island finisher was David Wild (4:37:51) of Kealakekua. Wild, who moved to the Big Island a year ago, is a math teacher at Konawaena. He also started the school’s the triathlon club.
