As www.islandstats.com reported yesterday, Tyler Butterfield placed third at the Ironman 70.3 Calgary, earning a highly sought after entry to October’s Ironman World Championship in Kailua‐Kona, Hawaii.
Butterfield’s Calgary performance, along with points accumulated at prior races this season, moved him into 30th place in the Kona Points Ranking (KPR), wherein the top 40 men as of the July 28th early round cut off qualified for the Kona race.
Calgary champion Tim Don led out of the water, with Matt Reed one minute down, Butterfield emerging a minute later and Trevor Wurtele following 45 seconds behind.
While Don held his lead during the early miles of the bike, Butterfield, Reed and Wurtele were soon cycling in close contention for the next three spots. Butterfield’s professional cycling experience served him well, as he was able to strategically break away from former Olympian Reed, a rival with whom he hoped to avoid a foot race on the run.
Accompanied by Wurtele, Butterfield bridged the gap to race leader Don to set up a three‐way running duel out of Transition 2.
Don showed his strength from the start of the run, reclaiming the lead and ultimately holding off his closest competitors to celebrate his first Ironman 70.3 win. Butterfield enjoyed second‐place status over Wurtele until the run’s halfway point, but was eventually overtaken.
He was thrilled, however, to hold onto a podium spot and finish third overall, his second podium placing in just 15 days, with three Ironman 70.3 finishes in the past three weeks. Butterfield received his Kona qualification notice the same evening.
“With so many races on Sunday that could potentially affect the rankings, it was a nice surprise to know for sure so quickly that I made it,” said an elated Butterfield. “It’s been a tough few weeks for sure, chasing those final points to make sure I would qualify with a comfortable margin. Now that I’m in, it’s time to put my head down and focus on long course training to be sure I step up to the line in Kona in the best shape possible.”
With less than 11 weeks remaining until the world championship in Kona, Butterfield will prepare from his home base in Boulder Colorado. He’ll head to Hawaii a few days before the race, with his wife Nikki, daughter Savana, mother, father, brother, sister‐in‐law, niece and nephew all joining him in time for the competition.
This “Bermuda cheer squad” has followed Butterfield in his racing career around the globe, including a trip to the London Olympics in 2012, and all are excited to again support his efforts on triathlon’s world stage.
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