Sara Gross And TJ Tollakson Win The 2014 Subaru IRONMAN North American Championship Mont-Tremblant

MONT-TREMBLANT, QC, Aug. 17, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Mont-Tremblant, the host of the Subaru IRONMAN^® North American Championship, celebrated the victories of Canadian Sara Gross and America's TJ Tollakson today. The event offered a total professional prize purse of $125,000 and 75 coveted age group slots to the 2014 IRONMAN World Championship presented by GoPro, taking place on Oct. 11 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i.

One of more than 30 events in the global IRONMAN Series, the Subaru IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant triathlon led athletes through a 2.4-mile (3.8 km) swim, 112-mile (180 km) bike course and 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run on a course that showcased a variety of Québec's natural beauty. The swim took place in Tremblant Lake and the two-loop bike course went through Mont-Tremblant's forests and low lying mountains, offering challenging elevations. The two-loop run course took full advantage of the famous Le P'tit Train du Nord, a former railway bed and now home to the longest linear park in Canada. It then took runners past a waterfall alongside Tremblant Lake and into the heart of the pedestrian village of Tremblant Resort.

Tollakson Takes Men's Championship
Defending champion Luke Bell led a large group of 10 out of the water, but by the 70 km point of the ride the lead group had been whittled down to just five. Tollakson made his move at that point and quickly opened up a sizeable gap on the men chasing behind, who included two-time IRONMAN World Championship runner-up, Andreas Raelert (DEU), Bell, Great Britain's Daniel Halksworth and Switzerland's Jan Van Berkel. By the start of the run only Raelert was within striking distance (just under eight minutes), with Halksworth at 15 minutes and the rest of the men at least 20 minutes behind.

During the marathon Tollakson was simply too strong and ran away with the race, breaking the course record by almost 10 minutes with his 8:16:17 winning time. Halksworth would eventually pass Raelert for second, while Christian Brader (USA) and Matthew Russell (USA) rounded out the top five.

Gross Captures Women's Championship
The women's race featured a group of three – Gross, Amber Ferreira (USA) and Tine Deckers (BEL) – who came out of the water well ahead of the rest of the field. Deckers, fresh off a win at IRONMAN France in June, quickly powered away on the bike, but would eventually be caught by Ferreira during the second lap. Gross found herself almost 15 minutes behind at one point as she dealt with a mechanical issue, but once she got that fixed she steadily gained ground on the women ahead. Deckers would drop out of the race before the end of the ride, which left Ferreira alone in front with a lead of just over six minutes on New Zealand's Melanie Burke and American Beth Shutt. Gross would finish the bike eight minutes behind.

On the run Gross quickly moved into second place and took the lead at the 27 km point of the marathon, cruising to her second IRONMAN title of 2014 (she won IRONMAN Brazil in May) in 9:40:26. Ferreira hung on for second ahead of Shutt, while American Sarah Graves passed Burke in the closing miles of the marathon to finish fourth.  

Professional men's results

1.	TJ Tollakson, USA	08:16:17
2.	Daniel Halksworth, GBR	08:35:15
3.	Andreas Raelert, DEU	08:38:31
4.	Christian Brader, DEU	08:43:28
5.	Matt Russell, USA	08:46:03
6.	Domenico Passuello, ITA	08:46:58
7.	Elliot Holtham, CAN	09:12:33
8.	Brendan Naef, CAN	09:17:24
9.	Martin Lamontagne Lacasse, CAN	09:29:57
10.	Wolfgang Guembel, CAN	09:34:56

Professional women's results

1.	Sara Gross, CAN	09:40:26
2.	Amber Ferreira, USA	9:43:46
3.	Beth Shutt, USA	09:46:45
4.	Sarah Graves, USA	09:51:59
5.	Melanie Burke, NZL	09:54:21
6.	Sharon Gallant, CAN	10:52:33

Of the more than 2,600 registered athletes, more than 42 percent were Canadian, of which 42 percent were Quebecois. Athletes from 60 different countries were registered, with the largest number coming from the United States, followed by Canada. The most represented age group was between 40 and 44 years-old. The oldest participant was 74 years-old and is from California, USA while the three youngest triathletes were 18 and come from New Jersey, USA, New Brunswick, CAN and Quebecois, CAN. Nearly 30 professional athletes took part in this event. More than 3,000 volunteers were on site to ensure the success of this prestigious event.

The next IRONMAN rendez-vous in Mont-Tremblant
Mont-Tremblant will host the 2014 Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship that will take place on September 7, 2014. Québec triathlete Pierre Lavoie, cofounder of the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie, and professional triathlete Magali Tisseyre will act as co-honorary presidents of the event. This highly anticipated event will reunite an elite field of international athletes as it moves outside the United States for the first time. Since 2011, the championship had been held in Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada with the event being held in Clearwater, Florida prior to that.

About IRONMAN
The iconic IRONMAN^® Series of events is the largest participation sports platform in the world. Since the inception of the IRONMAN^® brand in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines at the world's most challenging endurance races. Recognized for excellence through distinguished events, world-class athletes and quality products, IRONMAN has grown from a single race to a global sensation with more than 190 events across five unique brands: IRONMAN^®, IRONMAN 70.3^®, 5150™ Triathlon Series, Iron Girl^® and IRONKIDS^®. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.

SOURCE: IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant

Source: Subaru IRONMAN North American Championship Mont-Tremblant, www.ironman.com / www.ironmanmonttremblant.com; Information: Josée Massicotte, 514 388-0169 or 514 915-0511 [email protected]