Melanie McQuaid wins Steven's Pt. 70.3

Melanie dominated the bike and had a killer run and a good swim too, in her Mako Speedsuit.

Super swimmer Amanda Stevens put big gaps into the field, exiting the water in 25:56. Joanna Zeiger trailed in 27:01, and the rest of the contenders, including Sam Warriner, Samantha McGlone, and Melanie McQuaid, exited over three minutes back in about 29:19 and up. Americans Lindsey Corbin, Haley Cooper-Scott, and über-biker Tyler Stewart came out another two minutes back in 31:30. In what would seem to be an omen for the day, McQuaid led the AKiwi and her fellow Canadian - both Olympians in the non-drafting format where swimming is crucial - out of the water.

Once onto the bike, McQuaid piloted her TT bike the same way she's piloted her off-road wheels for many seasons - fast and furious. Only super-cyclist Stewart managed to outsplit McQuaid, but both women clocked sub-2:30 rides over the challenging course. The duo rolled into T2 about two minutes apart, with Kiwi Sam Warriner rolling in third. Swim-specialist Amanda Stevens came in fourth, trailed closely by 2006 Ironman 70.3 World Champ Samantha McGlone.

Once on the run, the top three held their spots, with McQuaid breaking the tape in 4:27:16, only 20 seconds ahead of Stewart, who ran well to finish 2nd. Sam Warriner had been in 2nd for much of the day, coming as close as 25 seconds behind McQuaid with about 3 miles to go. That was as close as she would come, though, and she paid the price for her efforts, falling back in the closing miles. Warriner managed to hold onto third by a somewhat comfortable margine despite her struggles, three and half minutes ahead of McGlone. McGlone managed to sneak by early leader Stevens, who had her work cut out for her holding of a fast closing Linsey Corbin for fifth and sixth respectively.

"The run was very hilly! I was so stoked to swim beside Sam Warriner today... that was cool. And the more I do these races... the more of these races I want to do. But first I have a little tri meet in Maui I need to be at," said McQuaid. "I started working with Jacky Evereardt of triathlon-hebdo.com fame in Europe and I think that is now tipping the balance between good-ish potential and execution. My first triathlon coach ever!"

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