In a race where few would have penciled her in as the victor, Lydia Russell delivered a breakout performance at Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania, surging past a stacked field that included former world champion Chelsea Sodaro to claim a stunning victory.
From the outset, the swim set the tone for a tactical showdown. Brazilian star Vittoria Lopes dominated the opening leg, exiting the water in 24:16, over 90 seconds ahead of a chase pack that included Sodaro, Russell, and other notable contenders like Jeanni Metzler, Sara Roel Lopez, Grace Alexander, and Kristen Marchant.
Despite being in the same bike pack, none of the chasers could initially make up ground on Lopes. In fact, the Brazilian extended her lead to over three minutes by the 70 km mark. It wasn’t until the final stretch of the bike leg that the tide began to turn. Heading into T2, Lopes still led, but her gap was shrinking: Sodaro and Alexander were just over a minute behind, while Russell and Metzler followed nearly three minutes back.
On paper, the advantage looked to favor Sodaro, and the former Ironman World Champion did not disappoint early on the run. Within five kilometers, she had overtaken Lopes to take control of the race. However, Russell was on a mission. Unleashing a powerful half-marathon, she reeled in Sodaro with relentless pace, catching her around the 11 km mark.
From there, the battle was set: Russell versus Sodaro, stride for stride. But Russell had another gear. Inch by inch, she began to break away, creating a gap that grew slowly but steadily. In the final kilometers, Sodaro had no response anymore, and Russell powered to a memorable win with a decisive margin.
Lydia Russell stopped the clock at 4:16:45, capturing her first major Ironman 70.3 title. Chelsea Sodaro followed in 4:20:20, while Jeanni Metzler rounded out the podium in 4:23:00.
