Rachel Joyce crossed paths with Mirinda Carfrae late in the Hawaiian Ironman triathlon and her heart sank.
After seeing her on an out-and-back section of the run course, the British star knew Carfrae was coming.
And there was nothing Joyce could do about it.
A few kilometres later, the Australian blew past her and leader Daniela Ryf on the way to an amazing win.
Carfrae overcame a deficit of nearly 15 minutes at the start of the marathon to beat Ryf, with Joyce finishing third.
She is only the fourth woman to win at least three Hawaiian Ironman world titles.
"I'm a little too familiar with that," Joyce said of Carfrae's emphatic pass.
"You feel a little powerless because the pace difference is so big."
Joyce had done everything right - swim well, then put as much time as possible into Carfrae on the bike and run consistently.
But Carfrae is, by far, the best women's runner at this race.
She broke her own run split record at Hawaii with a scorching two hours 50 minutes and 26 seconds.
Carfrae now owns four of the fastest marathon splits in race history.
Still, it was a near-run thing.
Carfrae revealed that before the race, she had told her coach Siri Lindley that a gap of more than 10 minutes off the bike would be too much to bridge.
After a poor 3.8km swim and a serviceable 180km bike, Carfrae started the run only hoping for a top-five finish.
She was mindful that Joyce in particular would push the bike pace after Carfrae had beaten her solidly at the Challenge Roth triathlon earlier this year.
"In the race, I was even thinking 'I shouldn't have given her a touch-up in Roth, she's cranky at me' and I knew Daniela would be solid," Carfrae said.
"I'm over the moon, to say the least.
"These girls pushed me all the way to the end.
"There wasn't any letting off on the gas, all day long.
"They've got me worn out, for sure."
While Carfrae admitted to some disappointment that she is still yet to break 2:50 for the Hawaiian Ironman marathon split, winning three times more than makes up for it.
She joins Paula Newby-Fraser (eight titles), Natascha Badmann (six) and Chrissie Wellington (four) as the most prolific women's winners.
Carfrae and Craig Alexander are also the only Australians to have won Hawaii three times.
"I'm pretty over the moon with it, to be honest," she said of her history-making result.
Share
