Missoula’s Corbin eighth at Ironman World Championships

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – Missoula’s Linsey Corbin placed eighth in the Ironman World Championships on Saturday.

The 31-year-old professional triathlete completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run in 9 hours, 32 minutes, 18 seconds.

Corbin, who placed fifth overall and was the first American in 2008, was the fourth American to finish Saturday.

Corbin was 14th after the biking portion of the course through scorching lava fields and moved up six spots in the marathon-length run.

Britain’s Leanda Cave pulled away in the last 3 miles of the run to win her second world title of the year. The 34-year-old Cave won the Ironman 70.3 world championship last month and carried that momentum into Kona, finishing in 9:15:54. Switzerland’s Caroline Steffen was second in 9:16:58.

Australia’s Pete Jacobs won the men’s championship, beating Germany’s Andreas Raelert by more than 4 minutes.

The 31-year-old Jacobs, second last year, finished in 8:18:37.

“I’m in love with this sport,” Jacobs said moments after winning. “I’m so lucky to have this opportunity and have a good day out there. It was an unbelievable day and there’s much love out there.”

Jacobs was second off bike, more than 8 minutes behind Belgium’s Marino Vanhoenacker, and passed Vanhoenacker with little more than 10 miles left in the marathon. The winner earned $120,000.

The 36-year-old Raelert has his third top-three finish in four years. He finished in 8:23:40.

Belgium’s Frederik Van Lierde was third in 8:24:09.

Vanhoenacker faded badly in the run after Jacobs passed him and wasn’t a factor at the finish.

To read the whole story, visit here: http://missoulian.com/sports/catch-all/missoula-s-corbin-eighth-at-ironman-world-championships/article_97665236-15a8-11e2-9db3-0019bb2963f4.html

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