First Ironman Win for Grice and Cartmell Wins Again

Eastbourne triathlete Yvette Grice has taken her first major victory winning Ironman UK with a stunning run to beat pre-race favourite Bella Bayliss into second place.

Yvette, who exited the swim just ahead of Bella, lost time to the multi-Ironman champion in the bike section as Bella blitzed the course in 5.48.26, the only woman to complete the bike in under six hours.

But Bella lost all of that time and more to Yvette on the run, as she passed Bella with just two miles of the marathon to go, finally clocking a blistering 3.02.04 marathon to take the title in a total time of 10.01.03.

Bella came in second in 10.06.52, and Joanna Carritt completed an all-British podium for the women in third place, with a time of 10.16.22.

"It is going to be very hot out there so I will be incorporating some heat training into my sessions also. Most of the run on Sunday was very surreal and I didn't feel that I was going to win even when I overtook Bella.

"I knew I was gaining on Bella but had thought there was too much of a gap to make up. All the training with Glenn and Bodyworks just seemed to pay off on Sunday and the finish was just amazing with lots of support the whole way around.”

The men’s race was won by Fraser Cartmell in 8.40.18. Fraser, who won the half iron-distance Tri Grand Prix event at Leybourne Lakes earlier this year, was in control for most of the race, with a six minute lead coming off the bike into the run.

He beat Stephen Bayliss into second place in 8.46.19, with Belgian triathlete Axel Zeebroek coming third in 8.49.38.