Memorial Hermann IRONMAN: Amey, Joyce claim titles

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - The Woodlands resident Balazs Csoke finished seventh Saturday in the 2013 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas. Paul Amey (Cardiff, Calif.) won the men's division while Rachel Joyce (South Cave, England) claimed the women's title.

Amey, a native of Great Britain, negotiated the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run in 8 hours, 25 minutes, 6 seconds to lead the pack and claim his first IRONMAN title.

Joyce led the women's division with a time of 8:49:14. Jennie Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) was second in 9:25:35 followed by Kimberly Schwabenbauer (Knox, Pa.) in 9:33:01, Ashley Clifford (Carmel, Ind.) in 9:36:51 and Christine Anderson (Boulder, Colo.) in 9:44:51 to round out the top five in order.

Amey was followed on the men's side in order by James Cunnama (Stellenbosch, South Africa) in 8:27:35, Ian Mikelson (Torrance, Calif.) in 8:30:06, Justin Daerr (Boulder, Colo.) in 8:30:35 and Swen Sundberg (Herzogenaurach, Germany) in 8:37:30 to round out the top five.

The Woodlands' Csoke, a native Hungarian born in Szeged, Hungary, made the top 10 with a time of 8:44:01.

Csoke used his extensive background in swimming to get a jump on the competition. He was clocked at 49:21, second-fastest time out of the water.

But Csoke, who competed in his first IRONMAN in 2001 and will turn 30 years old on June 6, said his many recent competitions may have caught up to him on the final legs of Saturday's event.

"Three IRONMAN (competitions) in three months is definitely not something you want to do," he tweeted after the race. "Hopefully (I gained) enough points for Hawaii (IRONMAN World Championship)."