Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote: Baldwin ranked 10th |09 October 2013

As he prepares for his final race of the 2013 season – the Ironman Arizona on November 17 – Nick Baldwin raced the Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote in the Canary island, finishing 10th overall.

The race – 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run – was added to his calendar as preparation for his final race of 2013.

It was the final European race of the season and attracted a high quality professional field, including numerous Olympic triathletes and ironman champions.
 
The swim went well for Baldwin and he exited the water in 11th place, achieving a new personal best (PB) of 25 minutes 13 seconds (25:13) for the distance.
 
According to him, the bike course in Lanzarote is very challenging and includes a long 6-mile climb. After a 2h36:25 bike split, he took on the final half marathon run leg which was along the coast around the small fishing town of La Santa. With no shade, strong winds and high temperatures, conditions were challenging for all athletes. After struggling during the first half of the run, he managed to pick up speed towards the end and finish with a PB of 1h22:17 for the distance. His final time was 4h28:28 as he finished 10th overall.

“Overall I was pleased with my effort in the race, despite finishing further down than I would normally aim for. After Ironman Copenhagen in August where I finished fourth overall and set a new PB of 8h18:08 for double the distance I had to take some time off to recover. With only three weeks of regular training behind me, I'm currently making my way back to peak fitness.  I will now stay in Lanzarote for the next few weeks to prepare for Ironman Arizona, which is an important race to end my 2013 season. As always, I'd like to thank my sponsors – ISPC Seychelles, Eden Island Marina, Vijay Construction and Air Seychelles – for their support," said Baldwin.

The race winner was Victor Del Corral Morales with a time of 4h06:41 and was followed in second and third positions by Will Clarke (4h10:52) and Domenico Passuello (4h12:45).