 Smith & Richardson IslandStats.com
Smith captured the Women’s 45 - 49 Age Group Bronze Medal, while Richardson finished 11th in the Men’s 55 - 59 Age Group.
Smith stopped the clock in a time of 1:10.42 to stand on the podium, she was clocked with a time of 12.35 after covering the 750m Swim, she then recorded a time of 32.57 on the 20K Bike Course, she would then clock a time of 21.24 to complete the 5K Run.
Richardson was clocked across the line in a time of 1:08.45, he covered the 750m Swim in a time if 12.04, before clocking 30.35 on the 20k Bike Course before closing out with a time of 21.59 on the 5K Run Course.
Richardson said, “It went awesome, I had a good swim for me, real good swim, maybe a group of 14 just ahead of me.”
Richardson went on to say, “I had 8 in my bike group who worked super hard, but I really dragged them around and tried to get them into a pace line to pull back the front group.”
“In transition with the Bermuda gang yelling. I ran myself into 10th place and held it until 2k then Kelvin Spencer from Great Britain passed me, so I finished that one spot out from 10, which is my best result in a long time in ITU Road Worlds.
Smith said, “The swim was absolutely stunning, clear and warm ocean! I had a pretty good swim with the first 200m going as hard as I could. I got to the first turn buoy and was in probably fourth or fifth position”.
“Since there was a group I decided to just jump on the feet in front of me. Unfortunately the feet I jumped on lost contact with the first three swimmers. I came out of the water with a group of five or six and we quickly formed a small chase pack combining with some of the 40-year-old Age Group Women in front of us,” continued Smith.
Smith went on to say, “It didn’t seem that anyone wanted to start a paceline or work together to start catching. I took a lot of pulls and we caught two in our 45-49 Age Group but they just sat at the back. I tried to break it up but it was a pancake flat course and nowhere to get away.”
“I came out of T2 in third and just tried to run with whatever my body could do given the limited running this year. I knew it was going to be a big ask but I did pass one girl and then ran through the age groups in front just picking off one by one. I had some info from the Bermuda contingent ,who cheered their hearts out, that I was 30 secs down from first. I tried to pick up the pace or at least the effort but 30 secs with 2k is too much. I didn’t expect to get passed with 200m to go though by the speedy Mexican who was in a different bike pack,” continued Smith.
Smith concluded, “Overall I’m really pleased as I couldn’t even run across the street a year ago. Sprints are not my forte, but I enjoyed this one.”
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