Tyler Butterfield: 5th at Ironman US Pro
In another stellar performance, Tyler Butterfield placed 5th in a field of 40 at the Ironman 70.3 U.S. Pro Championship held today [Apr 25] in Texas. The race consisted of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, and a 13.1-mile run.
After a less then stellar biking performance, Mr Butterfield ran a 1.07.52 for the half marathon off the bike, one of the fastest ever for the distance. The closest to him in terms of run splits was Andy Potts in 4th with a 1.10.09, meaning Mr Butterfield ran over two minutes faster.
In this type of race it is unusual for an athlete to go under one hour and ten minutes for the half marathon, and even more exceptional to run that much faster than your competitors.
Referring to his less-then-best biking efforts on Twitter, Mr Butterfield said that he:
Got schooled on the bike, then had to run my ass off.
His wife Nikki, herself a world class cyclist who has represented her native Australia internationally, said on Twitter:
So Ty ran a 1.07.52, 2 minutes 17 faster than any other guy. Ummm honey…. Maybe you should have biked faster??!!!
Mr Butterfield acknowledges it is now time to improve his biking, ironically his weakest considering the four years he took away from triathlon he was a racing as a professional cyclist.
Jokingly his father Jim Butterfield [a former Olympic athlete] said:
Maybe you should go and ride on one of those cycling teams in Europe for a year to improve your bike?
Mr Butterfield wryly replied:
I tried that, all it did was improve my run, maybe I should go to Kenya and run for a year, it might improve my biking.
With the American side of his family on the sidelines supporting Mr Butterfield he said:
During the bike I knew I was a fair bit behind but I thought to myself as I headed out of transition onto the run, my family has driven all the way down from Houston, I had better salvage something from this race
Next up for Mr Butterfield is a St Croix Ironman 70.3 [Half-Ironman]. In St Croix many of the athletes that competed in Texas will also be racing, as well as the current World Champion, Craig Alexander.
After St Croix, Mr Butterfield heads back to Bermuda to battle for the May 24th Marathon Derby title. Previously this season, Mr Butterfield placed 8th at the 2010 Monterrey World Cup in Mexico and placed 2nd at the 2010 Waikoloa Triathlon in Hawaii.
