Llanos wins Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - Eneko Llanos, 35, of Spain, won the inaugural Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas in The Woodlands Saturday.

“I could not relax until the last straight,” Llanos said. “It was a tough race. But I believed and I’m happy.”

Llanos, a two-time Olympic triathlete, posted a finishing time of 8 hours, 8 minutes, 20 seconds. He completed the 2.4-mile swim course in Lake Woodlands with a time of 00:49:28 before negotiating the 112-mile bike race in 04:25:56 and finishing up with a 26.2-mile run course at Market Street in 02:49:04.

Tim O’Donnell, of Boulder, CO took second place in 08:09:50 (00:49:14 04:28:04 02:49:02), and Australian Luke Bell was third in 08:12:22 (00:49:24 04:26:03 08:12:22).

The remainder of the top 10 finishers in order included Jan Raphael (08:20:41), Jozsef Major (08:24:17), Axel Zeebroek (08:28:07), Justin Daerr, of Boulder, CO. (08:29:44), Patrick Evoe, of Austin, TX (08:32:29), Petr Vabrouse (08:37:59), and Torsten Abel (08:38:40).

Catriona Morrison (08:57:41) won the women’s competition.

“Just one foot in front of the other all the way,” said Morrison of Great Britain. “I’m so happy. I’ve spent the past five weeks in Texas and I have never felt more welcome.

“I believe anything is possible with hard work and effort and determination. It was just a case of never panicking and finishing in one piece.”

Kelly Williamson (08:56:01), 34, from Austin, finished second.

Rounding out the top five in order were Californian Tyler Stewart (08:59:52), Belgian Sofie Goos (09:00:12), and Belgian Tine Deckers (09:00:13).

Vermont’s Kim Loeffler (09:20:04) finished sixth, ahead of Austin’s Desiree Ficker (09:24:09), New Jersey’s Jacqui Gordon (09:27:20) and New Zealand’s Joanna Lawn (09:32:19).

Arlington’s Patrick Schuster won the age group competition in 08:55:33, just ahead of Kingwood’s Andy Gardner (09:00:59), who led through the swim and bike but couldn’t hold off Schuster.

Californian James Walsh was third in 09:11:54 and France’s Sesboue Gwenael (09:17:56) was fourth. Oregon’s David Ciaverel (09:29:04) rounded out the top five.

Aleck Alleckso, of Oregon, finished in 09:30:36 for sixth place, while Di Snyder, of Idaho, recorded a 09:31:51 for seventh place. Austin’s Lon Breitenb (09:33:08) was eighth, followed by Ryan Barnett (09:37:02), of North Carolina, and Keish Doi (09:37:46), of California, rounding out the top 10.

Local top 20 finishers by age group:
- Karen Ponette-Maldonado finished third (11:01:25) in the women’s 40-44 age group

- Janet Baker finished 3rd (16:01:12) in the women's 60-64 age group

- TJ Fry finished 11th (10:14:29) in the men's 35-39 age group

- Anna Robertson finished ninth (11:23:12) in the women’s 30-34 age group

- Bruce Cobb finished eighth (13:14:19) in the men’s 60-64 age group

- Sheri O'Keefe finished ninth (13:33:43) in the women’s 50-54 age group

- Derek Cooper finished 12th (11:25:42) in the men’s 25-29 age group

- Andrew O'Brien finished 13th (10:36:49) in the men's 40-44 age group

- Ronnie Delzer finished 18th (10:26:48) in the men’s 30-34 age group

- Jossie Velazquez finished 18th (12:57:19) in the women's 25-29 age group

- Guillermo Ocejo finished 18th (10:43:14) in the men's 40-44 age group

- Bob Maus finished 19th (10:53:36) in the men’s 45-49 age group

- Tate Wright finished 20th (10:46:08) in the men's 40-44 age group