Slack gets one victory over Bucher

No more bridesmaid finish for United Kingdom’s Jacqui Slack.

After placing runner-up to Renata Bucher in the first three races in March, Slack managed to squeeze out a victory over her Swiss rival, following a win in last Saturday’s 2012 Tagaman Triathlon.

“Finally, the victory is mine,” said Slack, who completed the 2-kilometer swim, 60K bike, and 15K run in 3:18:25. “It was a perfect ending for a whole month of tough racing, as competing in a road race is my comfort zone.” Before joining the XTERRA Tour, the 28-year-old Slack had joined World and European road races.

As expected, Slack was the first woman out of the water during the swim leg at the Pacific Islands Club. She timed in at 28:13, the second fastest time behind Australia’s Ben Allen (25:16) and two minutes ahead of Saipan’s Mieko Carey 30:16. Bucher was third in the women’s with her 30:52, while Carina Wasle finished fourth (31:41).

Then in the bike leg, Slack pulled away from the pack, which had Bucher, Wasle, Carey, and some male pros.

“I had to be on my own, while some of the girls stayed and worked together on their way up to Marpi,” said Slack, who maintained her about two minutes lead, heading up to the Bird Island Lookout.

Bucher was second, followed by Wasle and they stayed with a small group of male bikers, while Carey was a few second behind the pack. Then on the way down the course and back to the bike-run transition area, Wasle managed to overtake Bucher, while Slack remained in the lead.

Slack finished the bike leg at the 1:45:17 and was already heading out to the run course when Wasle, Bucher, and Carey began entering the American Memorial Park for the transition. Wasle stole the second spot with her 1:42:43 in the bike leg, while Bucher (1:43:12) and Carey (1:45:43) were still in the fight.

In the last leg, Slack gave her all and was already on her final turn at the AMP en route to the finish line, while the rest of her foes were just entering the park’s compound.

“When I entered the park, I knew I had a great chance of keeping the lead. It was a good run and the weather was good, “I am glad I am leaving Saipan with a win,” said Slack, who went back to Australia to train yesterday.

The United Kingdom triathlete crossed the finish line more than four minutes ahead of Wasle (3:22:54). Wasle had another runner-up finish in Tagaman after placing second to U.S. pro Suzie Snyder last year, but was happy with her result.
“I had a good race today, no crash. I am very happy with my result,” said Wasle, who had a bad crash in XTERRA Saipan and almost did not finish the race.

Carey managed to finish third with her 3:24:05, passing Bucher near the Marianas Visitors Authority office in San Jose on their way back to Micro Beach.

“We ran together along Beach Road, but when we entered the AMP compound, I pulled away,” said Carey.

Bucher ended up in fourth place with her 3:26:01, followed by Japan’s Ai Hirano (3:51:19) and Saipan’s Dawn Hammermeister (4:04:59).