Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon 2022 results: Hering, Lagerstrom grab wins

There would be no fifth straight victory for Ben Kanute at the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in 2022 as Jackie Hering and Eric Lagerstrom claimed victories on Sunday.

On a wet day in California, which made the roads pretty tricky for cycling, Lagerstrom took the men’s title some seven years on from his first win here.

Hering meanwhile continued to show the form and class which have taken her to #11 in the PTO World Rankings over the past year, to add her name to the all-time winners list in San Francisco.

Pro Men – Lagerstrom rules

Gregory Harper (USA) broke clear on the opening 1.5-mile swim, which is one of the iconic elements of this event, building an advantage of 50 seconds over Kanute and Lagerstrom. They in turn had a 36-second buffer over Jason West (recent winner in Chattanooga), Brent McMahon (CAN) and John Dahlz (USA).

By the end of the bike, Kanute and Lagerstrom had turned the tables on Harper. They would start the run almost two minutes clear of the swim leader, who had the daunting prospect of the fast-running West just 30 seconds behind him.

Lagerstrom – seventh last year at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St George – took control from the start on the run and was never headed. He capped off a fine day with the fastest run split too, leaving a full three minutes of recovery at the finish before welcoming West home in second place.

It was a frustrating day for Kanute, who has been so at home at this venue. He faded badly on the run, coming home in fourth place.

“Leaving @escapefromalcatraztri disappointed and in search of answers. Another performance that doesn’t reflect my fitness. Regardless, I love and respect this race so much, and will be back again. Now to reset, rest and focus up for the rest of the season,” Ben would reflect afterwards.

Pro Women – Hering class tells

Escape saw the very welcome return to racing of Great Britain’s 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Jodie Stimpson, who led the way through the opening swim. She gained 37 seconds on Megan Foley and 1:05 over Hering.

Hering really has been in fine form of late. From her ‘rockstar’ win at the Collins Cup, victory at CLASH Daytona and more, she seems to have added the confidence to go with her already stellar results. That showed on the bike, where she coped best with the challenging weather to set the quickest time and build a significant 2:45 buffer on Stimpson. With Hering’s running skills, that was likely to be game over.

Danielle Lewis had made significant moves behind Stimpson on the bike, and would start the run a minute behind the Brit. With first place seemingly taken, the race for second would likely be the key interest over the run course.

Hering duly delivered on her prior form to take the win, while Stimpson and Lewis would have a head-to-head battle over the closing miles. There was just 17 seconds between them at the finish, with Lewis – via the fastest run split – taking second place.