Hannah Pace stormed to victory in her Age Group at last weekend’s Ironman 70.3 race in Budapest, Hungary in what was the first foray for the Pembroke Athleta and national team triathlete in endurance racing.

Pace’s result, in a hotly contested and highly competitive age group, also saw her qualify for a coveted place at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Australia.

Although cautious due to the fact that this was her first race on the longer distance, Pace’s recent improvement in swimming paid off, resulting in her being the third woman to finish the 1.9km swim in Kopaszi bay.

With fairly strong winds prevailing on the day, Pace maintained her progress as she tackled the flat 90km cycle route.

The nature of the course ensured that the race would be a very fast one, where the average speeds of 34.6km/h were reached.

Transitioning into the run segment, Pace was still leading her category and ahead of some of the pro triathletes in the women’s race.

Perhaps due to lack of experience in this type of race, Pace opted to start the 21km run somewhat faster than normal but nevertheless she held her own for first place in the age group. Her time was a women’s national record for an Ironman 70.3 race.

“I am still overwhelmed with this result,” she said.

“This is my first attempt at endurance racing and while I was hoping for a good result, placing first in Age Group was not expected.”

Participating in the Ironman 70.3 Budapest race were fellow Maltese athletes Josef Bonavia, Kenneth Camilleri, Nicholas Micallef, Kevin Muscat, Victor Sammut, Fabio Spiteri and George Vella.

Borg places second

Graham Borg, of Birkirkara St Joseph, produced a very fine showing in his debut on the 5150 Triathlon circuit to secure a second place in his age group category race.

The 5150 race in Budapest kicked off with a 1.5km swim.

Borg exited the water fourth in a time of 21 minutes and 26 seconds.

He gained precious time with a fast and smooth transition into the 41km cycling segment and his skill on the bike enabled him to move up two places in his category, a position he maintained on the 10km run.

Borg completed the course in 2:06.41 which placed him in 11th place in the overall standings.

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