Just checked the first 6 mile split. Reid was the fastest I saw at 6:02 pace, then Brown, Widoff. Al Sultan and Badmann had similar pace! DeBoom is moving, Macca is going well too. I didn’t find any 7+ minute pace for the players.
Beke was 6:00!
Badmann ran the first 6 faster than Fuhr and Allen. Guess the 4 minute penalty might have played a part in that.
We were just remarking about this.
It looks like they have fantastic conditions today. When you don’t spend an extra half hour out on the bike fighting a strong wind, you’re sure to have a lot more left in the tank to run with. In last year’s wind storm Reid biked 5:03 I think and then still had the energy to run 2:46. This year he spent a lot less time on the bike and with so many others around and still in the hunt, everyone is forced to elevate their efforts. It will be interesting to see the attrition around mile 21 when all of this intense racing early on the run starts to hit the legs and body hard.
when paula and luc won they both served 3-minute penalties. i think if you have poise enough to sit in the bin without getting flustered, it can be advantageous.
-mike
The final run splits were not too impressive (relatively speaking of course) with none of the top guys breaking 2:50. I guess they went out too hard early and were a little too excited on the bike with the good conditions.