Linsey Corbin captured her first full Ironman in three years at Subaru Ironman Canada on Sunday.
The 36-year-old Oregon resident passed Vancouver's Rachel McBride in the run portion of the event to win her sixth Ironman race overall, crossing the finish line on Blackcomb Way West in a time of nine hours, 17 minutes and 12 seconds (9:12:17) to best Penticton's Jen Annett by 7:44 and McBride by 10:04 in the pro women's division.
"It really honestly was a dream. I haven't won an Ironman in a few years and I realize it's not every day that you get the opportunity to win one," Corbin said. "I was pushed all day by Rachel. She was ahead on the bike and just killing it."
At about the 17th kilometre of the run, Corbin overtook McBride and never looked back, finishing the race strong.
In her recent races, Corbin said she'd been more influenced by the other racers than she'd like, but overcame that mindset even after McBride put up a lead of over 10 minutes early on in the bike ride.
"I've let the other racers dictate my race and in this race, I wanted to race on my own terms so I really focussed on myself. I had a strong swim and rode within my means on the bike and really pushed on the ride from Pemberton back to town. The marathon, I just ran as fast as I could. It was really windy coming back into town - the last 5K of the marathon, I was suffering," she said. "Today, I just said I'm going to do what I can do and not worry too much about what everyone else is doing."
McBride acknowledged she knew, even with her lead, that it wasn't insurmountable, especially with the personnel that was chasing her. Even though she didn't come up with the victory, she knows there were plenty of positives to take from her second-ever Ironman.
"I had the swim of my life. I came out of the water first, which has never ever happened. I felt really strong on the bike - I had a plan and stuck to it. I came off the bike with quite a good lead and knew I had some speedy runners coming up from behind," she said. "I held a pace that I felt I could hold and was pretty consistent throughout the run.
"I'm so lucky to have held onto third place and ended up on the podium."
Penticton's Annett, meanwhile, said she came in gunning for the top spot, but knows there's no shame in coming second to Corbin, especially making gains since her last time in Whistler.
"I was hoping for the win, I'm not going to lie, but I took half-an-hour off my time from two years ago. I finally came under an hour for my swim. I can't complain with that since I'm not a strong swimmer, and I biked a little harder than I had planned to bike so I was a little scared that I was going to blow up on the run, but I held it together for a solid finish," she said. "Linsey is an amazing runner, so even if I had something else in my body left, I don't think I would have caught her anyways."
Runners will continue to cross the finish line until midnight.
