Today (18 November) Sweden’s Fredrik Croneborg, finished first and gave Laguna Phuket Triathlon (LPT) first Swede champion in its 25-year history. In 02:21:39 hours, Croneborg claimed his title less than 2 minutes before his toughest contender Bart Aernouts (Belgium), who recently took 2nd place on the podium at the World Championship in Kona. Followed in 3rd was Per Van Vlerken of Germany, timed 02:24:02. Also racing with bib number 1 to honour his 4-time LPT title was Massimo Cigana of Italy who came in 4th at 02:27:00 as the crowd cheered on a field of more than 1,000 triathletes, represented 50 countries in the unique destination distance of 1.8K swim, 50K bike and 12K run, with USD 20,000 prize purse.
In the women’s field, world champion and LPT first-timer, Annabel Luxford from Australia finished first, in 02:39:50. Followed Luxford in second was fellow Australian Dimity Lee-Duke (02:42:08) who then saw her follower, Hungary’s Anna Eberhardt in 3rd, timed 02:46:21.
The race’s transition area located at Laguna Grove in the heart of Asia’s premier destination resort, Laguna Phuket. The race start on the resort’s beachfront was comfortable with mild weather and small waves of the Andaman Sea. The bike and run courses became challenging when the Phuket heat kicked in.
“I was 2nd on the podium before at LPT, so it feels really good to win today,” said Croneborg who has been training in Phuket for years, “I know every corner of the race course and it really helped to have been familiar with the bike course on which I had to push hard today. I had a good swim leg and tried to keep the other guys away on the run course,” he concluded today’s performance with his signature big smile.
Wowing the Thai crowd were defending champions in the men’s and women’s fields; Jaray Jearanai was once again the first Thai finisher (in 02:34:26), breaking his own record from last year and claiming his 8th consecutive LPT win (since 2011), and Nichakarn Ruttanaporn, in 03:11:58.
In the “25 For 25 Sprint” category, newly launched this year with the race distance of 25K (swim 0.5K, bike 18.5K and run 6K combined) to celebrate LPT’s 25th anniversary, Phuket-based British; Oliver Trott (in 01:02:21) and Sam Mcinnes (01:12:11) finished first in male and female categories.
The race today followed LPT Charity Fun Run, hosted yesterday (17 November) and participated by 1,500 runners in the 2K Kids, 5K and 10K categories. LPT Charity Fun Run raised baht 250,000 for Children First Fund in support of 7 orphanages in Phuket, housing more than 400 children.
Results: 25th Laguna Phuket Triathlon (18 Nov)
Men Swim Bike Run Overall
1 Fredrik Croneborg (SWE) 00:24:24 01:08:52 00:46:09 02:21:39
2 Bart Aernouts (BEL) 00:26:45 01:10:36 00:43:36 02:23:28
3 Per van Vlerken (DEU) 00:24:28 01:10:46 00:46:37 02:24:02
4 Massimo Cigana (ITA) 00:28:29 01:11:58 00:44:23 02:27:00
5 Stuart Hayes (GBR) 00:24:22 01:16:09 00:48:24 02:31:04
Women Swim Bike Run Overall
1 Annabel Luxford (AUS) 00:25:28 01:22:09 00:49:43 02:39:50
2 Dimity Lee-Duke (AUS) 00:29:47 01:19:13 00:50:25 02:42:08
3 Anna Eberhardt (HUN) 00:32:36 01:21:03 00:50:06 02:46:21
4 Sylvia Gehnboeck (AUT) 00:31:05 01:19:44 00:57:38 02:51:07
5 Beate Goertz (DEU) 00:34:09 01:22:03 00:54:39 02:53:59
Results: 25 For 25 Sprint (18 Nov) Swim Bike Run Overall
1 (Male) Oliver Trott (GBR) 00:07:30 00:30:23 00:22:21 01:02:21
1 (Female) Sam Mcinnes (GBR) 00:25:15 01:19:21 00:47:53 01:12:11
Results: LPT Charity Fun Run (17 Nov) – 10K
1 Chun Kit Tsang (HKG) 00:36:53.7
2 Justin Granger (AUS) 00:38:07.7
3 Nick Bensley (AUS) 00:38:20.2
