It All Comes Together For Trevor Foley and Danielle Lewis at IRONMAN Lake Placid

Things finally came together for Trevor Foley in his 4th attempt at the 140.6 mile distance. His debut came at IRONMAN Texas in 2022, where he finished 6th. He followed up that race with a DNF at IRONMAN Des Moines and then was 16th at IRONMAN Texas in 2023. After more than a year away from the full distance, Foley has figured something out. He was dialed into his race plan today, which allowed him to overtake Matthew Marquardt with 5k to go on the run. Foley’s season got off to a late start, after being struck by a car in a hit and run incident this spring. He was 3rd at 70.3 Chattanooga in May without being able to run his normal volume prior to that. He then went on to win 70.3 Boulder in June. Foley is now the IRONMAN Lake Placid champion, setting a new course record on his way to victory today. He also gained invaluable points in the chase for the IRONMAN Pro Series. Describing the biggest race performance of his life, Foley said, “This exceeds all expectations. I was hoping to be the 4th Kona guy today and I was blessed enough to be the 1st guy across the finish line and have the absolute race of my life and my fiancee is here to witness it and it was an amazing day. All the stars came together.” It was evident how much this race meant to him. He appeared to be holding back some tears as he embraced his fiancee immediately upon crossing the finish line.

Early in the day, one of the race commentators said that Danielle Lewis could not win this race. The commentator assured the viewers that they were not rooting against Lewis but did not see her overcoming her swim deficit. Lewis did swim 1:05:41, but then moved up well in the field on the bike, clocking the fastest split of the day of 4:57:38. She was able to do that, even with a fall where, thankfully, everything was okay. Lewis began the run in 5th place, around 11 minutes behind 1st place. Although she could not have possibly heard her chances at victory being counted out, Lewis set off at a blistering pace on the run. She moved up into 3rd place before the halfway point and was less than 5 minutes out of the lead. The two women in front of her quickly fell off and Lewis was there to pick up the scraps. She took over the lead after the 30k mark and did not look back, splitting a 2:52:23 marathon. That’s the fastest run split on this course by about 5 minutes. Similar to Foley, Lewis has had mixed results at the 140.6 distance. This was her 6th attempt at the distance. In her previous 5 tries, she has only been on the podium once. Lewis said that being called the Lake Placid Champion “hasn’t sunk in yet.” She went on to break down her race, “The swim was fairly standard for me…I’m still aiming for that 1 hour mark…I knew that I still had a real fighting chance because the course really suits me in terms of the hilly nature of the bike and the run. I just wanted to go out and ride really hard and I did.” Lewis believes that she can be a contender in Kona, adding, “The sky is the limit.”

Men’s Race:

One of the strongest swimmers in the sport, Josh Amberger, led out a big front pack of 11. Amberger split 24:16 at the Aussie exit, as athletes had to come out of the water to then begin their second lap of the swim course. Most of the usual suspects, such as Matthew Marquardt and Justin Riele, were in the front group. Braden Currie was surprisingly 52 seconds back. France’s Arnaud Guilloux was 1:15 back. Recent training partners, Jackson Laundry and Matt Hanson, were back 1:33 and 1:38, respectively. Trevor Foley was 1:45 back. Pre-race favorite Lionel Sanders was 2:27 back. 2023 defending champion Joe Skipper was 3:14 back. The professional field had to navigate age group racers on lap 2. Amberger led into T1, splitting 48:27. That was enough to drop some who had latched on through halfway. Marquardt was fastest through T1 to get onto the bike in 1st. From there, Marquardt would be off the front of the race right up until the finish line. Riele tried to go with him early but eventually settled into his own rhythm. By the halfway point of the bike, Foley, Sanders, Laundry, and Riele, made up the chase pack. Marquardt still had more than 5 minutes on the group and his lead continued to grow. Sanders, maybe recognizing how much distance Marquardt had on the group, surged around the 100 mile mark. Foley matched him. Laundry and Riele had to back off.

Marquardt split 4:16:53 to enter into T2 on his own. Did the field give him too much of a buffer? Sanders and Foley came off next, 8:30 in arrears. Foley had a strong T2, while Sanders opted to change into a running kit. Laundry came off of the bike in 4th, hoping to hold things together well enough to secure a Kona slot. Madsen, Leiferman, Guilloux, and Riele, came off of the bike next. Pro Series leader, Matt Hanson, rode 4:33:39. That put him 14th and 21:46 behind Marquardt. Could his strong run ability help him improve his position and bag another full distance performance? Conditions warmed up on the run to about 70 degrees fahrenheit. While warmer than ideal for a marathon, the dew point stayed in the 50s which meant that the humidity was not as bad as it could have been. Early on in the run, Foley looked like he was jogging at sub-2:40 marathon pace. Marquardt looked to be holding it together. By the 10 mile mark, Marquardt led Foley by 5 minutes and Sanders by more than 6. Hanson had moved up into 8th place. At 25k, Foley was 3 minutes back and looked like the only person in position to challenge for the win. Sanders had fallen back by 7:00. Guilloux was 10 minutes behind and Chris Leiferman was 11. At the 7:34 mark of racing, and with about 5k left to go, Foley made the catch. In a class move he gave Marquardt a fist bump as he went by. Marquardt had to walk shortly after he was caught and should be credited for making Foley work for the win. Foley crossed the finish line in 7:55:23. Marquardt hung on for 2nd. Sanders rounded out the podium in 3rd.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Foley, Trevor 7:55:23 54:49 4:18:51 2:36:31
2 Marquardt, Matthew 7:57:14 48:30 4:16:53 2:46:28
3 Sanders, Lionel 8:05:39 54:21 4:19:07 2:46:16
4 Guilloux, Arnaud 8:07:46 51:14 4:26:23 2:44:33
5 Leiferman, Chris 8:10:50 53:28 4:24:50 2:47:17

Women’s Race:

Former collegiate swimmers Lauren Brandon and Rachel Zilinskas set a fast and furious swim tempo. Starting with a couple minute buffer behind the men’s field, they moved past a good portion of them by the time they reached the Aussie exit. Lotte Wilms was 29 seconds behind them. Sarah True was 2:44 back and Jackie Hering was 3:53 back. Brandon and Zilinskas came out of the water right at the 50 minute mark. They would’ve been in the top-10 in the men’s race. Wilms came out next. True was in 6th. Hering was in 7th. Alberts was in 8th. Danielle Lewis came out in 14th place but was over 15 minutes behind the leaders. Zilinskas, similar to Marquardt, went to the front of the bike and stayed there until the run. Wilms rode solo for much of the bike leg. She was closing in on Zilinskas but could not catch her and eventually slid back in the field. Zilinskas split 5:02:29 to enter T2 in the lead. True came off the bike next, 4:30 behind her. Alberts was 3rd, trailing by 6 minutes. Wilms, Hering, and Lewis were next.

Zilinskas stayed in the lead until True caught her at the 7 mile mark. Alberts was 3 minutes back. Hering and Lewis were closer to 6 minutes back. Wilms fell off the pace. By the halfway mark, True had opened up a significant gap on the field. Lewis was in 2nd by 5 minutes, with Zilinskas and Hering closeby. It looked like True was on her way to victory until she hit the wall around the 30k mark. Lewis moved into the lead and did not relent. She was able to put almost 5 minutes on Hering, who had to walk around the 22 mile mark, by the finish. True’s day, unfortunately, came to an end as she needed medical attention. Lewis capped off an incredible comeback with a 2:52 marathon. Hering hung on for 2nd. 2023 defending champion Alberts was 3rd.

TOTAL SWIM BIKE RUN
1 Lewis, Danielle 9:01:54 1:05:41 4:57:38 2:52:23
2 Hering, Jackie 9:06:26 57:43 5:03:52 2:58:09
3 Alberts, Alice 9:10:36 57:44 5:00:38 3:06:21
4 Zilinskas, Rachel 9:17:51 50:05 5:02:29 3:19:17
5 Hollioake, Regan 9:21:06 55:29 5:08:07 3:11:29

Quick Take #1: Trevor Foley and Danielle Lewis deserve all of the attention they get from their wins here. Both athletes have been looking to put together complete 140.6 races and have now done it. They’re both going to get even better in the sport, as their swims improve. Kona is a course that will suit both of them on the bike. Their swim deficits will matter more there but they have to be considered podium contenders after today.

Quick Take #2: The Pro Series standings are starting to take shape. Foley and Lewis can both make runs at top spot. Kat Matthews is going to feel good that Hering was not able to take full points today. Hanson, the men’s series leader, was a respectable 6th place but will not like his deficit from the winning time. Athletes like Sanders and Laundry still need to put some more scores on the board to see where they can finish. The race for top spot in the women’s series seems a little more clear. The picture on the men’s side will change after Frankfurt in August. Championship season feels like it will have a significant impact on final standings at this point.

Quick Take #3: The 2,436 day drought since his last IRONMAN win continues for Lionel Sanders. This is not meant to be taken seriously. The number was put out this week by Sanders’ content creator Talbot Cox. That statistic is misleading because Sanders was 2nd to Cody Beals at Mont Tremblant in 2018 and in 2019. He was 2nd 4 times in 2021 – Jan Frodeno beat him at the Tri battle, Cam Wurf in Copenhagen, Joe Skipper in Chattanooga, Gustav Iden in Florida. Sanders was also 2nd to Kristian Blummenfelt at the 2022 World Championship. He has had a couple of tough races mixed in there but that looks like a pretty good resume to me. He overcooked it in training before Kona in 2022 when he was trying to train like the Norwegians and trying to keep up with a training partner taking EPO. Trust your track record Lionel. You can still win big races. Being on the podium today and punching your Kona slot shows that you can be in the mix.

Quick Take #4: Pour one out for Matthew Marquardt and Rachel Zilinskas. It is incredibly challenging to race off of the front for as long as both of those athletes did today. They should be proud of their performances.