August 2012 Races

Aernouts and Tisseyre Win the Inaugural Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains

Scenic and Technical Course and Main Street Finish Highlight PA’s First Ironman Event

October 2, 2010 (Stroudsburg, PA) - On a crisp autumn day in Northeast Pennsylvania, Belgium’s Bart Aernouts and Canada’s Magali Tisseyre won the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains. Shortened to a bike/run due to heavy rains this week, Pennsylvania’s first Ironman event challenged athletes on a scenic and technical bike course and a rolling and beautiful run course finishing on Main Street in Stroudsburg, PA packed with thousands of spectators.

In the men’s pro race, Aernouts, fresh off his win at Ironman 70.3 Syracuse, took the lead on the hilly and technical bike course and was first into transition with a 3:25 lead. The Belgian never looked back logging a 1:14:25 run going wire to wire to take the win with an overall time of 3:27:04. Zach Ruble took second in 3:34:33. Fabian Conrad rounded out the podium in third with a time of 3:35:35.

With the time trial start, Magali Tisseyre was the very last pro out of the starting gate. The petite Canadian made up some ground on the bike course but still entered T2 a few minutes behind Jennifer Tetrick, Jessie Donavan and Kristen White. Tisseyre was able to catch Tetrick and White in the first few miles of the run and finally passed Donavan at the turnaround pulling away for the win. Tisseyre finished in front of a raucous crowd in 3:57:11. Donavan finished second in 4:02:46 and Tetrick rounded out the podium in 4:04:11.

The pro field battled for the event’s $15,000 purse with Aernouts and Tisseyre each taking home a $3,000 first place prize. The Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains is an early season qualifying race for the 2012 Marine Corps Ironman 70.3 World Championships. 50 athletes earned qualifying spots for the Worlds next September in Las Vegas.

For more information and full results, visit www.ironmanpoconomountains.com.

About the event

Beginning in 2011, the Ironman World Championship 70.3 will move to Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nev., located just minutes away from the Las Vegas Strip. Since its inception in 2006, the championship race in the global Ironman 70.3 Series has been held in Clearwater, Fla. More than 1,800 domestic and international competitors will earn the right to compete in the Marine Corps Ironman World Championship 70.3 by qualifying at an Ironman 70.3 event.

Slated for Sept. 11, 2011, the race begins with a 1.2-mile swim in Lake Las Vegas at Lake Las Vegas Resort. Next, athletes will embark on a challenging 56-mile bike through Lake Mead National Recreation Area that includes several steep climbs. Participants will finish with a 13.1-mile run through Henderson’s scenic residential areas with views of the Las Vegas Strip.

More than 60,000 athletes will participate in the Ironman 70.3 Series in 2011, which consists of nearly 50 events in locations such as China, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland. Participants in the World Championship will range in age from 18 to 70-plus and will represent all 50 states and nearly 50 countries. Each age group winner at the 2011 Marine Corps Ironman World Championship 70.3 will automatically qualify for the 2012 event. The Marine Corps Ironman World Championship 70.3 will offer a prize purse of $100,000 for distribution among the top professional male and female finishers. More than 2,500 volunteers from the local community will support the event.