Race Coverage

The Rochester Rocket...

Tuesday, 10 June 2014 04:10

ED. For decades, Timothy Carlson, a totally good guy, has been one of our sports's most outstanding journalists. Here's what he had to say about Ruth Brennan Morrey--The Rochester Rocket!--after her stunning victory at Kansas 70.3 last weekend.

By Timothy Carlson (for Slowtwtitch.com)

If you just looked at the names on the entry list, no way that 38-year-old Ruth Brennan Morrey of Rochester, Minnesota, who has been doing triathlons for just three years and turned pro last year, was going to contend with Ironman Hawaii runner-up Rachel Joyce. But somehow this long-ago NCAA Division I soccer star, Olympic Trials marathon qualifier, mother of three with a PhD in psychology who took 10 years off sports altogether managed once again to upend any and all athletic preconceptions with a bang....

Morrey started her day with a 10th-best 28:34 swim that was 3:47 back of swim leader Amanda Stevens and 3:10 back of Joyce. After the bike, Morrey’s race-fastest 2:21:31 split left her just 16 seconds back of Joyce (2:24:12 split) and 1:23 ahead of Stevens (2:26:50 split). Morrey then put the dagger into her rivals with a race-best 1:20:50 run that was 56 seconds better than Joyce could muster and left the Rochester Rocket with a 4:13:47 finish, a 57-seconds margin of victory over Joyce and 2:23 over 3rd place finisher Lauren Barnett.

A quick look at Morrey’s form chart would have lessened the shock. Last September, she was running second overall woman, five minutes behind leader Eva Nystrom during the 150 kilometer bike segment at the ITU Long Distance World Championship in fabled Zofingen. On a steep, wet downhill, a car pulled in front of her and she crashed heavily on her left side. The bike was in twisted shape, and she lost five minutes kicking the tire back in the frame and filling the flat with a CO2 cartridge. She was 9th when she rejoined the race and pushed hard. With 200 meters left on the run, she passed the 3rd place woman with a final sprint to earn the bronze.

Until this weekend, there have been no such dramatic triathlon heroics this season – she took 5th at Ironman 70.3 Panama and 9th at Ironman 70.3 St. George. But it’s a good bet Morrey will have more great days in the future.

Ironman 70.3 Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
June 8, 2014
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Men

1. James Seear (AUS) 3:52:18
2. Todd Skipworth (USA) 3:53:30
3. Joe Umphenour (USA) 3:55:33
4. Robbie Wade (IRL) 3:55:44
5. TJ Tollakson (USA) 3:56:24

Women

1. Ruth Brennan Morrey (USA) 4:13:47
2. Rachel Joyce (GBR) 4:14:44
3. Lauren Barnett (USA) 4:16:10
4. Laura Siddall (AUS) 4:18:06
5. Amanda Stevens (USA) 4:27:16