RTS had an AWESOME DAY at 70.3 Oceanside on April 1! It was exciting to see our pros Tamara and Jackson on the podium and Nicole in the top 10 of very strong pro fields. It was also amazing to hear more buzz about the team generally and to see some strong support from our AG squad. Go team!
In this race recap post, you will hear a bit from each of Lisa, Marc, Tamara, and Jackson about their various races.We note that Lesleay and Nick also raced 70.3 North American Championships, each having an okay day, but not one that they were very happy with. Not to worry - it’s still early days in 2023!
Here’s a little table of contents to help:
Lisa Becharas - 3rd place pro women St. Anthony’s Duathlon - The big comeback
Marc Dubrick - 4th place pro men St. Anthony’s Duathlon - Competing without his strongest event (swim)
Tamara Jewett - 6th place pro women PTO European Open - A very good but not a perfect day
Jackson Laundry - 3rd place pro men 70.3 North American Championship - Gambling on a “home” race
Marc Dubrick - 7rd place pro men 70.3 North American Championship - His most well-rounded long course race yet!
Lisa Becharas - 3rd place pro women St. Anthony’s Duathlon - The big comeback
After a year out with hip and shoulder injuries and surgeries, Lisa crushed her comeback at St. Anthony’s this year, posting the fastest bike split in the pro women’s field against some serious cycling competition!
Lisa’s Race:
I’m still buzzing from St. Anthony’s! I went into the race with my only goal to finish the race in one piece and with a smile on my face! The cancelled swim, replaced with a 2k- ish (really 1.45 mile) run, played to my favor with my lack of swimming coming back from shoulder surgery!
The plan was made with my coach, Matt Lieto, to just chill that first 2k run as I would still be very close to the front of the race AND I still had a 40k bike and 10k run to do. So I listened and came into T1 about 30+ seconds back from the front and in 3rd to last place.
I had a great T1 and passed a couple girls getting on the bike. Then I went into chase mode with the mindset of ‘how many girls can I catch’. I maybe shouldn’t have had that type of mindset with the lack of structured bike workouts/training (I had only hired Matt 4 weeks earlier) but whenever I get on the bike I feel like I am pulling out my secret weapon. It was a HUGE perk that my bike legs were primed and ready to go and power was seemingly coming easily (I live for days like this)! I passed two girls in the first 2 miles, then was hunting down Jodie and Haley. In a windy headwind section I managed to get past them, then I set my sights on Paula and Vittoria who were probably 30+ seconds up the road, BUT in-sight!
I started to chip away at the gap to Vittoria and caught her about halfway through the bike only to come to a complete stop at an intersection asking the volunteers which way to turn (LOL, I should study the course more). Vittoria passed me right back and I dropped back, re-grouped, and made the pass again.
Now I only had Paula ahead of me and I wanted to catch her! I went to work and had the gap closed to about 15seconds when I took a wrong turn (oops)! I had to unclip, turn my bike around and get back on. I went back into chase mode and was FINALLY able to get within a couple seconds of Paula coming into T2. She patted my back as she ran past me and said ‘Great Job’ and that was the last I saw of her haha! I was elated to enter T2 in 2nd place!
I started the run and just focused on some running cues to keep my mind off of all the girls chasing me down. Vittoria came flying past me around mile 2 dropping me to 3rd. At the turn around (it was an out and back run course) I checked my watch and had about 90seconds to Haley, which knowing how good of a runner she is, I knew she could close that. But, I just tried to keep my focus on me and my mantras and just enjoy being back. I was LOVING racing again, seriously I hadn’t had that much fun racing EVER! I crossed the finish line in 3rd managing to hold off Haley by 20+ seconds! I was STOKED! There were tears of joy (thanks Marc and Beth for being there to witness that LOL)!
The whole St. Anthony’s experience was amazing! I had an amazing homestay and was even with Rachel and Vant which was awesome because I got to know them a bit better! I can’t recommend this race enough :)! The RTS love was real out there and it was so much fun hearing all the cheers along the way!
Marc Dubrick - 4th place pro men St. Anthony’s Duathlon - Competing without his strongest event (swim)
When weather forced a swim cancellation at St. Anthony’s - turning the triathlon into a duathlon - we all worried about Marc. What we are seeing clearly this month is that, stellar swim aside, Marc can flat out run!
Marc’s Race:
Due to a small boat advisory, the race was changed from a triathlon to a duathlon. They swapped the 1500 meter swim for a 2k run. My game plan was to be as relaxed as possible on the first run leg but push a little to lead the group into transition and hopefully out of t1. Not the best transition but I came out right where I needed to.
I knew my race “making” effort was going to be the first 10-15 minutes on the bike. With Jason up the road the watts were definitely being thrown down. Unfortunately, the group splintered a bit and 3 got away. I was able to relax and get into a groove in between random 30+ mph gusts coming through the buildings.
Came off the bike in 6th and out of T2 in 5th. Legs felt good and I had a few s up the road I started to see after 1.5 miles.
I ran my way into 4th with the 2nd fastest run split of the day. 31:35. Just a swimmer
Such a great event and I really hope they keep the pro field on the schedule
3. Tamara Jewett - 6th place pro women PTO European Open - A very good but not a perfect day
I placed 6th in one of the strongest long course women’s fields ever assembled at the PTO European Open in Ibiza on May 6 - only 17 seconds behind fellow Canadian Paula Findlay. Although very pleased with the day and with my progress, I think I know where I made mistakes.
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Tamara’s Race:
Ibiza was an interesting race venue - swimming in the Mediterranean was beautiful, riding on the island was better than expected (good pavement, relatively quiet once out of the port, only about 100km around the whole thing), finding a quiet place to run in Port Ibiza - almost impossible! People were friendly and the food was good - I’m not sure it’s worth a specific trip all the way from North America without an event, but it was a cool place to end up!
The PTO is still working on perfecting their show. They played around with heart rate monitors and strapping big gps units to our backs that they didn’t seem to use much in their broadcast - sure it will all get ironed out! A new feature I did love, however, was Race Ranger. As it exists now, there is too long of a delay in the light changing colour to indicate drafting distance to use it as a perfect measure, but it sure works well enough to help!! I SO appreciated an extra cue beyond imperfect road markers or counting to help me assess the draft zone!
This was not a perfect race for me. The main error in my mind was losing a solid swim pack (that included Chelsea and Anne Haug) about 3/4 of the way through, which in very choppy water with tough sighting felt particularly detrimental fast.
It lead to more than half of the bike in no-mans land with a little extra mental work to set the swim aside and extra physical work to try to catch any riders - which finally started to happen more by the end of lap 3 of 4 of the bike course.
I had to work my way up on the run from about 14th - not where I wanted to be!! But I’m proud of myself for staying positive and just solidly chipping away - my mantra became to not let wanting great results get in the way of a good one! This was a huge improvement for me at the 100km distance, my best last year having been 13th place at the PTO Canadian Open.
4. Jackson Laundry - 3rd place pro men 70.3 North American Championship - Gambling on a “home” race
Jackson gambled on St. George, turning down an invitation to the PTO European Open to race on a course that feels like home to him. He is pleased with the effort, but determined to get back at trying to move up a few rungs on that podium - we know he can!
Jackson’s Race:
Heading back to St. George feels like home away from home. Staying at Nick and Amy’s place is always fun and low stress, and with lots of local RTS supporters, it’s everything you could want before a race. The course, climate, and community there make it the best race on the circuit in my opinion.
I felt confident coming into the weekend. I had a strong start to the season in Oceanside 5 weeks prior, and saw improvements in my training after that. Having 5 good results in 5 races in St. George under my belt didn’t hurt either, so vibes were high heading into the race.
The day started off just fine with no major issues at the start. I battled with 4-5 other guys for position for the first 300 meters which is always a bit frustrating for everyone involved. I wasn’t able to break free from the scramble soon enough and and saw the train of the first group getting out of reach. I ended up about a minute back from them with the second pack (with team mate Marc Dubrick solo off the front a further 30 seconds ahead). I can tell I’m so close to having my swim where I need it for championship season, and just have to keep up the hard work to get there.
I heard the announcer say “Sam Long” right after I got out, and knew he would take advantage of his great swim by smashing the first part of the bike to get away. He had a really fast T1 and got on the bike right in front of me, and did just as I expected. I tried to go with him, but it was just too much effort with an already elevated heart rate coming out of the water, and he was still distancing himself. I settled i to the solo grind and hoped I’d see him later, knowing Lionel wasn’t far back and might soon be a good ally. Lionel had an equipment issue that cost him time in T1, then was gradually making up time but got a brief mechanical in Snow Canyon, so he never did close the gap. I rode 75-80k completely solo and felt pretty strong, then Trevor Foley caught me as I joined Dylan Gillespie at 80km. The 3 of us (led by Trevor) rode into T2 together nearly 3 minutes back from Sam. I knew there was no catching him without a major blow up, and recalibrated my focus on winning the battle with Trevor.
The run started much as the bike did, this time it was Trevor (the recent collegiate runner) who went out aggressively for the first mile. Again, I let him go in hopes that a more balanced pacing strategy and some “old man strength” (relative to the 23 year old) would prevail. I also knew Lionel wasn’t far back and can never be counted out as he tends to finish very strong. Getting passed late to finish 4th didn’t sound too appealing.
Trevor got 15 seconds ahead in the first mile, and 30 seconds ahead by 5km. Then, the momentum seemed to shift in my favour as the gap remained at 30 seconds for a long time. I tried to stay relaxed the first lap, then really pushed on lap 2 in an attempt to bridge. I managed to get it down to 23 seconds at 14km and kept rolling strong, thinking he might continue to fade. In the end, it wasn’t to be as he found another gear and increased his lead once again, finishing 45 seconds ahead by the finish.
Sam was untouchable that day and won in dominant fashion. Trevor had an incredible bike-run combo for a well deserved 2nd place, a breakthrough result for him. Lionel held off the fleet footed Thomas Hernandez to narrowly grab 4th place on a day where luck seemed to evade him.
I’m pleased with another 3rd place finish in a hard fought race. I would have loved to be more competitive for the win, but I know full well that I gave it everything I had, and lost to two guys who were just better on the day. I have no issue with that, the wins will come when they come.
The top 4 men from St. George will all be racing 70.3 Gulf Coast a week later, a race that couldn’t be more opposite: An ocean swim likely without wetsuits, a flat bike-run, and hot + humid conditions. I’ve raced well back to back weekends many times, and can’t wait to see what I can pull off this time around.
5. Marc Dubrick - 7rd place pro men 70.3 North American Championship - His most well-rounded long course race yet!
Although he’s still working on the bike, Marc led the swim and posted the 3rd fastest run of the day to place top 8 in St. George!
Marc’s Race:
Overall I am happy with the result. With a field like this, on a brutal course like St. George, any weakness across the three disciplines can be magnified. Of course, the same can be said for everyone’s strengths.
So I made sure to push the swim and not give anyone a free ride. I took the last 500 meters of the swim very chill but added a little extra kicking in there to get the blood back in the legs. I came out with a 30-second gap on a strung-out chase group.
The bike continues to be my weakness but I did see some good progress. It was a frustrating start on the bike but I was able to refocus and get in a good groove after 25 miles.
I was very happy to get my feet on the ground and out of t2 feeling strong. I’ve really dialed in my nutrition and was ready to get to work. (I would practice this strategy during long rides and runs). I closed out the run with the third fast split of 1:12.38. This was probably the most well-rounded 70.3 I've ever done.