Jason West Wins IRONMAN 70.3 Northern California

The IRONMAN calendar has a new stop: Redding in northern California. The first professional titles went to Jason West (3:39:23) and Grace Alexander (4:17:02), and the most interesting story of the day played out off the podium.

August around Redding usually means over 37°C (99°F). On Sunday 16 August the temperature let go, and Whiskeytown Lake sat at 25.6°C (78°F). That is above the 24.5°C (76°F) threshold up to which a wetsuit keeps full competitive status in IRONMAN racing. Swimming in one above that line is allowed, but only in a non-qualifying wave. The course: 1.9 km / 90 km / 21.1 km.

The bike built this race and the run settled it

The swim belonged to Gregory Harper (25:41), with Brennen Smith two seconds behind him. West came out of the water in the same group. Long and Sanders exited well down on the leaders, both around 28:43. Familiar ground for the pair of them.

On the bike Jackson Laundry ran the show and simply put his foot down in the closing kilometres. He arrived at T2 with a clear cushion over West, Long and Sanders. The fastest bike in the top ten: 1:58:27, the only split under two hours.

Laundry’s problem was called the half marathon. West took back second after second, went past in the back half of the run and never looked round. A 1:08:49 half marathon and a first win of the season. Laundry second, 1:50 down.

Long and Sanders: meeting 26, series 14-12

This was the twenty-sixth meeting of Sam Long and Lionel Sanders in a professional race, counting the Collins Cup. Long won this one and moved to 14-12 across the whole series. Neither of them threatened the win. They took third and fourth, 3:43:50 and 3:45:35, over four and six minutes behind West.

Their bike splits were near identical: 2:00:32 against 2:00:26. They lost the race in the water and on the run.

The fastest half marathon of the day went to seventh-placed Benjamin Randall, in 1:07:10. After a 33:13 swim it was never going to be enough.

Alexander: a third win of the season

In the women’s race Alexander was the favourite before the start, and Grace Thek’s late withdrawal only sharpened that.

Rebecca Clarke led out of the water (27:22), the only athlete in the field from outside North America. Alexander gave up 29 seconds there and took it back on the bike. Inside 30 km she was 38 seconds up, and by 58 km close to two minutes. She rolled into T2 with 2:26 in hand.

Clarke pulled time back on the run but ran out of road. Alexander brought home 4:17:02 and a third win of the season after 70.3 Chattanooga and Gulf Coast. Clare Dasso was third (4:19:02), 34 seconds behind Clarke.

One for anyone who reads further down a results sheet: tenth-placed Marissa Lovell ran the half marathon in 1:17:37, nearly ten minutes faster than the winner. A 34:00 swim and a 2:31:50 bike had closed the question long before.

Where the race was actually won

This race is a textbook case that no single discipline wins a 70.3. Laundry had the best bike and lost. Randall had the best run and finished seventh. Harper led out of the water and finished sixth.

West won because he gave nothing away in the swim (26:21, 15 seconds faster than Laundry) and rode a bike that did not kill him before the run. He rode 2:02:07, which is 3:40 slower than Laundry. That loss on the bike was a decision, not a weakness.

Anyone whose half-distance races fall apart over the last 7 km of the run should look at the power file from the bike first, not at the run plan.

Results: IRONMAN 70.3 Northern California, 16 August 2026

Pos	Men	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Jason West	26:21	2:02:07	1:08:49	3:39:23
2	Jackson Laundry	26:36	1:58:27	1:13:41	3:41:13
3	Sam Long	28:42	2:00:32	1:12:30	3:43:50
4	Lionel Sanders	28:44	2:00:26	1:13:51	3:45:35
5	Luke Tasker	28:09	2:03:25	1:13:48	3:48:08

Pos	Women	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Grace Alexander	27:51	2:19:05	1:27:04	4:17:02
2	Rebecca Clarke	27:22	2:22:09	1:25:57	4:18:28
3	Clare Dasso	28:37	2:21:21	1:26:25	4:19:02
4	Leah Parker	29:56	2:23:34	1:23:53	4:20:31
5	Emma Skaug	29:50	2:19:36	1:28:12	4:20:32