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ENEKO LLANOS WINS IRONMAN ARIZONA!
11.20.2011
After a disappointing Ironman World Championships in Kona, Eneko Llanos carried his fantastic fitness from Kona to Tempe, Arizona and set a new US soil record winning time for the Ironman distance- 7:59:38!
Eneko came to Arizona looking for the win, but never underestimated his rivals and focused on his own race. He says he never enters a race believing that it is already won because there are too many other strong atheletes in the race with him. That focus delivered him to victory today on a beautiful Arizona fall day.
Calm and collected- quiet confidence the day before the race.
Coming out of the water in 48:47, Eneko headed out for the bike leg in 12th position. It didn't take long for him to pick off the riders in front him and take the lead. Eneko scorched the bike leg in an impressive 4:20:54 and headed into T2 with a little more than 1:30 to carry onto the run.
Flying into T2 with a nice lead of over a minute.
Paul Amey, a fierce competitor from Great Britain, put on an impressive run and battled with Eneko for much of the final marathon. Paul and Eneko were shoulder to shoulder many times during the run with Paul taking the lead at one point- gaining an edge of as much as 20 seconds before Eneko pulled him back with his steady pacing. The two then ran shoulder to shoulder once again, often with Paul trailing slightly behind. Eneko kept calm and retained his rhythm, running within himself and maintained his lead. With less than 2 miles remaining, Eneko surged and dropped Amey for the final time. As the clock ticked closer to 8hrs, Eneko was alone and now in the hunt for a new US record.
In the closing moments of the race, a broad smile began to appear across Eneko's face periodically between the grimaces of pain. He began to realize that he was closing in on the record and fought fatigue, shaking his arms out regularly, to keep the pace high enough for the win and the record. Amey fought bravely to the end, but Eneko claimed one of his most brilliant wins to date and took the record into the books as well. The headwinds of the bike leg were not enough to slow him down, nor was the dry heat of the run. In the end, Eneko proved his postition as a world class athlete.
Crossing the finish line.
The sweet taste of victory.
The winner's hotseat.
All of us at BH are extremely proud of Eneko and his accomplishments today. It is worth mentioning the efforts of Nicholas Ward Munoz as well. Nico is a strong competitor, winning a 4000M open water swim on the Ironman AZ swim course just a week before the race, but succumbed to the fatigue of "one too many races this year". Though Nico did not get the glory of being among the winners, we are still very proud of his efforts today and this season. He's a bright star for the future and we're proud of his efforts today.
Photo; Courtesy Rex Anderson/ Rexomatic Productions©
Nico with BH staff during Ironman expo.
BH is extremely proud to congratulate Eneko Llanos on his inspiring victory- a fantastic way to close out his race season and welcome a period of rest before next season!
