Coeur d’Alene, ID- Sunday morning after a grueling 70.3-mile trek, Australian Tim Reed became the first to cross the finish line and punch his ticket to the 2019 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. It was his 2nd victory of the Ironman season, taking the win in the Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay, Philippines event on June 2nd.
Here’s how it all transpired in Couer d’Alene!
It was a very early morning for over 2,600 athletes looking to become an Ironman in the beautiful city of Coeur d Alene, Idaho. The Ironman 70.3 which is half the total length of the full Ironman kicked off at 6:00 am PDT, with athletes taking the plunge into Lake Coeur d’Alene to begin the 1.2-mile swim, before transitioning to the 56-mile bike ride and wrapping things up with a half marathon to end the day. With the top prize of $30,000 and a spot in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France on the line, the pros knew what was at stake.
In the men’s pro division, Josh Amberger exited the water first with a time of 23:09. He was followed very closely by Sam Appleton only trailing by 17 seconds as they entered the transition area. Amberger and Appleton would remain in a very heated battle during the 56-mile bike course. Through bike spilt three at the 14.23-mile marker, Appleton had his eye on the lead, only trailing Amberger by 4 seconds. With 20 miles left on the bike course, Appleton and Amberger continued to remain in front of the pack. Through the 56-mile bike course, Amberger would exit the bike transition maintaining his lead, 7 second’s ahead of Appleton, then followed closely by Andrew Talansky.
On the run, Amberger extended his lead to 30 seconds over Appleton through the halfway point of the course. However, with only 8 miles remaining, the men’s race became a tight one as Amberger’s lead was reduced to just 11 seconds. With just 3 miles left in the run, we would see a surprising lead change, as out Tim Reed joined the party, overtaking both Amberger and Appleton.
As the men rounded that last turn on to Sherman Ave to the finish line it would be 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, Tim Reed who would lead the pack and win the 2019 Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene with a time of 3:47:53. Appleton came in second and Amberger rounded out the top three, as part of an Australian podium sweep.

Written by Brandon Clearwaters