Ironman Triathletes Cross Finish Line

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — The first elite athletes crossed the Ironman finish line along Sherman avenue in Coeur d’Alene Sunday, starting with Canadian Tom Evans at around 3 p.m.

Evans took home the title this year, beating his next competitor by nearly 10 minutes. He finished the 140.6 mile course in just eight hours, 34 minutes and 22 seconds. Behind him was Victor Zyemtsev who finished 8:43:56 and in third was Michael Lovato at 8:48:22.

The elite women Triathletes weren’t far behind. Canadian Heather Wurtele finished first for the women at 9:38:58, just more than an hour after fellow Canadian Evans. Wurtele had 12 minutes on the next women’s finisher, Heather Gollnick who crossed the line at 9:50:34. Tina Boman rounded out the top three with a time of 9:55:28.

All the competitors faced 60 degree water temperatures for Sunday morning’s start on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The elite start kicked off at 6:25 with amateur athletes dismissed by age group starting at 7 a.m.

The course was made up of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run. All the routes took athletes right through downtown Coeur d’Alene. The bike ride looped around a course that went from the lake shore all the way to the north end of Hayden Lake. The run portion of the race took athletes on a two loop tour of part of the Centennial Trail.

The finish is where all the action was, as fans lined up along Sherman Ave. waiting for the first athletes to turn the corner.

As the racers crossed the line, people cheered and volunteers scrambled to help the athletes get fluids and safely get off the course.

The course closed at midnight, after that all the runners on the course were given the option of finishing un-officially.