At mile one in the men's race Appleton holds a 2 min lead over Alexander and O'Donnell. Another 20 sec back is Collington. At 3 minutes we have Bowstead and Tollakson.
We should be seeing the first two women at T2 in the next few minutes.
Kessler and Lawrence into T2 together.
At mile 3 Appleton has a 1:55 lead over Alexander. O'Donnell is another 15 secs back.
Tisseyre into T2 with Brandon 20 secs back.
The second place woman, Holly Lawrence has pulled out of the race at mile 2. According to our bike escort she has an injury.
At mile 7 in the men's race Appleton continues to hold the lead. Alexander is at 1:54, Collington at 2:24, O'Donnell at 3:04. There is another athlete behind O'Donnell but we can't read his number. We think it might be Tollakson.
Bowstead also thru mile 7, 5:02 behind the leader.
Kessler is thru mile 4.25. She holds a 2:10 lead over Tisseyre.
At mile 9 in the men's race, the gap between Appleton and Alexander is holding at 1:58. Collington is at 2:24 and O'Donnell is at 3:50.
Lauren Brandon has gone thru 4.25 miles, 7:02 behind the leader, Meredith Kessler.
Appleton is thru mile 10 and his gap is ever so slowly opening up. His lead is now 2 minutes over Alexander.
Collington is 3:05 behind the leader at mile 10.
At mile 8.5 kessler contines to hold the lead and is 1:42 ahead of Tisseyre.
Kessler just passing thru mile 9. Will she keep her title here at IRONMAN 70.3 Vineman?
Kessler continues to lead at mile 10.25 but her lead is down to 1:35 over Tisseyre.
Carfrae has run her way into third place. She is 7 min back of the lead.
#IM703VINEMAN (Lee Gruenfeld) Women's record will not be broken today.
Top 5 Pro Men:
1 3:43:06 Sam Appleton
2 3:45:24 Craig Alexander
3 3:47:18 Kevin Collington
4 3:49:16 Timothy O'Donnell
5 3:49:51 Ben Collins
At mile 12 Kessler is holding the same time gap over Tisseyre.
The pro men continue to come across the finish line as we wait for our first woman. Looks like Kessler will be crowned the winner in just a few minutes. She's a half mile out from the finish line.
#IM703VINEMAN (Lee Gruenfeld) Stay tuned for age group photos.