Nick Baldwin of Seychelles at the finish line after a grueling full Ironman race. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
SUBIC—Nick Baldwin hung on to beat Cameron Brown of New Zealand in a close finish in the first full-distance Ironman race in the Philippines on Sunday here.
It was a victory of firsts for Baldwin, who finally won his first full Ironman in the Philippines’ inaugural whole distance competition and became Seychelles’ maiden winner.
“The motivation I think was to have the chance to finally win the Ironman. I worked so hard for so long and when I had that chance within sight I wasn’t gonna let it slip,” Baldwin, who looked like he could still go for another round despite completing a grueling 3.8-kilometer swim, 180 km bike and 42 km run.
“I was just prepared to suffer for so much today and I did and that’s what got me to the line first and I was very happy.”
Baldwin had a comfortable lead after the second transition from bike to run with another Kiwi in Simon Cochrane, who was running second at that point and was five minutes and 20 seconds behind heading into the run, while Brown, a 12-time Ironman champion in New Zealand, trailed by eight minutes and 33 seconds.
But Brown gained steam as the race went weary, overtaking Cochane near the halfway mark of the marathon and cutting Baldwin’s lead down to less than two minutes approaching the last 10 kilometers.
Baldwin, though, showed what being an Ironman is all about as he mustered enough strength to push through and keep Brown, a 12-time Ironman champion in New Zealand, at bay. He finished with a time of eight hours, 50 minutes and 13 seconds.
Brown came in second while Cochrane was in third.
Brown put the pressure on Baldwin beginning the 19-kilometer mark onwards where he was just about a minute away from catching up.
Sensing the serious threat, Baldwin went for one last push to create a sizeable distance inside the last 10 kilometers.
“The hardest part was the run for sure. The first 10k I felt quite good. The 10-20k was terrible and then the last 20k, I just dug in,” he said.
Baldwin was met by his fiancée just before crossing the finish line and the two shared an emotional moment after.