It took Craig Alexander three tries, but he’s finally a Chicago Triathlon champion.
Alexander not only topped Sunday’s men’s professional field, he finally beat fellow Australian Craig Walton, the reigning Chicago Triathlon title-holder.
“I’ve been chasing him for five years,” said the 31-year-old Alexander, who finished in 1 hour 52 minutes 9 seconds after third-place finishes in Chicago in 2002 and 2003.
“There’s no question [Walton] wasn’t quite at his best today. But it’s a win for me and I had a good day. I’ll take a win any way I can get one.”
Walton, a triathlon champion in 1997, 2002 and 2003, was third in 1:53.22. Matthew Reed, another native of Australia, took second in 1:52.40.
Emma Snowsil made it an Aussie sweep, winning the women’s pro division in 2:04:35. New Yorker Rebeccah Wassner was runner-up in 2:08.32.
Billed as the world’s largest triathlon, an estimated 7,500 participants swam, biked and ran in overcast, October-like conditions.
Lakefront temperatures never climbed out of the 60s during the event, and winds of 15 m.p.h. from the north-northeast made biking difficult.
The men’s race saw a dramatic shift in the final leg–a 10-kilometer run–as Alexander surged from third. Walton led the field most of the way and by as much as two full minutes at one point.
“I came out of the bike race in third and felt strong on the run,” Alexander said. “And I was able to catch Craig [Walton] with about three kilometers to go.”
Entrants were timed in a 1.5-kilometer swim at Monroe Harbor, a 40k bike up and down Lake Shore Drive between downtown and Foster Avenue, followed by a 10k run along the south lakefront (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
There also was competition in a sprint category where participants each did a .75k swim, 22k bike ride and 5k run (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
Unlike the pros, the triathlon was the first for amateur entry Jeff Geiger, a 43-year-old from Aurora, who brought his wife and three children to cheer him on.
“My time (1:52) was fine,” said Geiger, who got up at 3:15 a.m. to make the 6:15 a.m. start. “I was really pleased with it. It met my expectations.”
