By COURTNEY LEWIS
Staff Writer
LAKE PLACID — Ben Hoffman crossed the finish line Sunday and then ran back down the chute to slap hands with fans and soak up his first Ironman triathlon victory. He was all smiles as he did a quick interview and got hugs from both of his parents.
And then what he had just done slowly caught up with him.
Hoffman stood bent over in the finishing area, sat down and then lay on the ground before medical personnel had to carry him off.
The 27-year-old from Durango, Colo. was completely spent after winning the Ford Ironman Lake Placid in 8 hours, 39 minutes, 34 seconds. Petr Vabrousek placed second in 8:46:33, followed exactly two minutes later by 2009 champion Maik Twelsiek.
Amy Marsh of Austin, Texas used a strong bike leg and an improved run to win the women's race in 9:27:30. She was 10th overall. Caitlin Snow and Lisa Marangon rounded out the top three women.
The race was comprised of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. The top professionals shared a $50,000 purse.
Hoffman pulled ahead early in the run and held everybody off the rest of the way.
"I knew I definitely had a good marathon in me," he said before falling ill. "And I suffered on the back half for sure, but I definitely had confidence."
Vabrousek, a native of the Czech Republic who called the Lake Placid race his favorite, came from behind with a blistering 2:53:20 in the run but couldn't catch Hoffman.
"I'm definitely satisfied with the result," Vabrousek said. "I had a solid bike and it also helped that the field spread pretty early and there were no big groups. Except for the first two, everybody was riding on his own, and that helps."
This was his fourth time competing in Lake Placid and his second runner-up finish.
Vabrousek has raced in 92 Ironman events over his 11-year career for a simple reason.
"I'm just not into big training," he said. "I'd rather train a little bit and then race a lot. And if my body can kind of keep up with it, I guess it's the best scenario.
"The past two to three months, I've basically done an Ironman or half Ironman every weekend. I didn't have a bad race so far over those three months, so it just kind of works. At the time it stops working, I'll do something else."
Marsh arrived in Lake Placid after a training stint in Switzerland, and that preparation made the course — known for being hilly and challenging — seem less difficult.
"These hills were so much easier," she said. "I drove the course before and I was like, 'Oh, it's a little challenging.' But compared to the mountains in Switzerland, I was like, 'These are like bumps.'
"I think it was definitely to my advantage training out there for the last six weeks."
This was her third career title and her second of 2010 — she won Ironman China in May.
Marsh, 33, is strong on the bike and has been working on her run.
"I definitely wanted to get as much of a lead as I could off the bike," she said. "It just kind of seemed to come together today, so I was very pleased."
She said her time of 3:18:27 in the marathon was an improvement of about 10 minutes. And while she was ahead the whole way, she said she was still wary of the women behind her.
"You never know. It's a long race, and you never know what can happen," Marsh said. "So of course you're always wondering if they're going to catch you. I didn't really know until maybe the last turnaround that I had a comfortable lead."
Snow won here in 2008 and placed second last year. Known for finishing with a strong run, she covered the marathon in 3:03:37 and caught several people — but not Marsh.
"I always feel pretty confident going into the run but never a sure thing; I never know for sure who I'll be able to catch and who I won't," the Brockton, Mass. native said. "I have an idea going into the race who the strong runners are and what the girls have done in the past for marathons off the bike.
"So I was just trying to run as many girls as I could down. Obviously Amy was able to hold a pretty good pace, so I wasn't able to get her there."
After keeping everybody at bay during a grueling day, Marsh had big plans for what she was going to do.
"Probably eat a whole pizza by myself," she said with a smile.
E-mail Courtney Lewis at: clewis@presrepublican.com
