Southport Triathlete 4th In World Half Ironman Championships

EASTON, Conn. -- Easton’s Chris Thomas finished fourth in the 40-44 age group Sunday in the Ironman 70.3-mile World Championships in Mont Tremblant, Canada.

Chris Thomas of Easton finished fourth Sunday at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Canada.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

Tom Renner

09/10/2014 1:00 p.m.

Thomas, the two-time defending champion in his age group, finished 64th overall. The race consists of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run. The race is half the distance of the full Ironman race. Thomas covered the 70.3 miles in 4 hours, 10 minutes and 44 seconds.

“It was extremely competitive,’’ Thomas said. “It gets more competitive every year.”

Thomas finished 31st in his age group in the swim but made up ground on the bike. He had the fastest split on the bike in his age group, averaging an astounding 39.9 kilometers per hour, or about 24 mph.

Thomas ran 1:22.36 for the half-marathon, the fourth best time in his age group.

Thomas was less than two minutes behind the age group winner, Ritch Viola of California. David Slavinsky of New Jersey took second, and Luca Bonazzi of Italy finished third.

Thomas is the owner of Personal Training Professionals in Southport.

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