Ironman Brazil 2008: Sturla and Keller win again
26/05/2008 - IronmanLive.com

Race week at the 2008 Ironman Brazil saw unseasonably warm temperatures, which mirrored the competition in both the men´s and women´s races ... hot.

France´s Benjamin Sanson led the men´s race from the start of the swim until 21 kilometres into the run. The former swimmer had second fastest bike split to back up the fastest swim split of the day. He enjoyed the attention the leader of the race receives until he succumbed to the run pace of Eduardo Sturla. Sanson would be eventually be passed by Sabatschus in the late stages of the marathon to hold onto a third place finish here.

Meanwhile, defending Ironman Brazil Champion, Oscar Galindez, attempted limit the damages as a result of his slow swim, which had him take it out hard on the bike. With 10 minutes off the pace at the start of the bike he managed to claw back only three minutes at 110 kilometers. During the next 20 kilometers Galindez imploded and surrendered almost five minutes to the fast flying Frenchman. Galindez was never a factor in this race after this point and dropped out before he completed half the marathon.
Olaf Sabatschus, realizing he had an Ironman race (and an Ironman win) just five weeks earlier, backed off the bike pace after it became apparent to him that the leaders were taking things out way too hard. The German decided to be patient and let the others knock themselves out with their torrid pace. Starting the marathon, Sabatschus was over 18:00 down to Sanson. His “wait and see” tactic paid off as he ran an incredible 2:55 run split, the second fastest run on the day, that placed him second overall.

Eduardo Sturla had a slow swim and later revealed that he had competed with two broken bones in his right hand that made it difficult to swim without pain. After the fastest bike split, which placed him second overall, he found himself seven minutes behind Sanson starting the run. Sturla´s steady, 2:58 marathon, put him in the lead over Sanson before the halfway point on the marathon. The 34-year-old from Argentina crossed the finish line in 8:28:24 to claim his second Ironman Brazil title.

How fitting was it to see Brazil´s own Fernanda Keller take her third Ironman Brazil Championship in her twenty-fifth year in triathlon? Patience played as much of a role in her win as her running ability. Starting the run 8:55 behind American Hillary Biscay, Keller ran a 3:15 marathon to pass a faltering Biscay at the 20 km point of the run. She came across the finish line in 9:42:50 to the loudest cheers received by anyone. The ageless 44-year-old will now start her twenty-first consecutive Ironman World Championship race in October.

Check out the full day´s coverage on the Ironman Brazil page. www.ironmanbrazil.com