{"id":17702,"date":"2019-07-15T14:43:34","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T14:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/uncategorized\/aussies-steven-mckenna-and-laura-dennis-win-the-2nd-edition-of-ippgroup-challengevietnam\/"},"modified":"2024-05-29T15:46:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T15:46:20","slug":"aussies-steven-mckenna-and-laura-dennis-win-the-2nd-edition-of-ippgroup-challengevietnam","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/news\/aussies-steven-mckenna-and-laura-dennis-win-the-2nd-edition-of-ippgroup-challengevietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussies Steven McKenna and Laura Dennis win the 2nd edition of IPPGroup CHALLENGEVIETNAM"},"content":{"rendered":"

A spectacular coastal race course and high temperatures saw both Steven McKenna (AUS) and Laura Dennis (AUS)\u00a0dominating the second edition of\u00a0IPPGroup<\/strong> CHALLENGE<\/em><\/strong>VIETNAM<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With a near start to finish victory, McKenna already took the lead in T1 from Taiwan\u2019s Chang Tuan Chun and with the best bike split in the race, he was first to cross the finish line in a time of 4:05:03.\u00a0This was McKenna\u2019s second CHALLENGE<\/strong>FAMILY<\/em> race in two weeks after winning CHALLENGE<\/strong>GUNSAN-SAEMANGEUM <\/em>on June 30th.<\/p>\n

In the women\u2018s race, Dennis\u00a0dominated the event right from the swim\u00a0and kept her lead on the bike course ahead of fellow Aussie Lisa Tyack, who later came second. Dennis had the women\u2019s best swim-bike-run splits to win in a time of 4:31:34.<\/p>\n

CHALLENGE<\/em><\/strong>VIETNAM<\/em> 2019 kicked off at 06:05 am with a spectacular\u00a0beach\u00a0start\u00a0for both professionals and age groupers in the ocean waters of the South China Sea.\u00a0The professional men were first to enter from the beach of Nha Trang in a 2-loop triangular swim course. Taiwan\u2019s Chang was the first Pro out of the water in 26:44, but was closely followed by McKenna. McKenna was first out of T1, and immediately pulled away from Chang. It was in the hills of Nha Trang that McKenna was able to increase his lead.\u00a0His 2:11:41 bike split was nearly six minutes faster than anyone else on the field.\u00a0Chang posted the 2nd best split of 2:17:32, followed by Australia\u2019s Samuel Tebeck at 2:17:42.<\/p>\n

McKenna didn\u2019t let up in the run, despite a six minute lead going out of T2.\u00a0The 21km single loop running course with spectacular beach views, saw McKenna post the day\u2019s best run split at 1:24:34.\u00a0 Despite the scorching temperatures on the run, typical of Southeast Asian weather, McKenna finished strong in 4:05:03.<\/p>\n

“I think I had the best race of my professional career.\u00a0I had a good swim, and when I was first out of T1, I felt I had good legs, had lots of power, and was surprised I handled the heat well, just drank lots and lots of water and electrolytes. It made it easier that the race course was so scenic here in Vietnam.\u00a0It was a really good day for me\u201d, said McKenna.<\/p>\n

Surprise runner-up Chang Tuan Chun of Taiwan also finished strong, had the day\u2019s 2nd best run split of 1:26:10 and finished in 4:12:14. \u201cI was happy with the way it turned out because I did not train well for a half-distance race.\u00a0I am going into the army after this, so I just signed up before that and was surprised with the runner-up result\u201d, said Chang.
\nSamuel Tebeck finished 3rd to close the podium at 4:20:08.<\/p>\n

Despite a small field in the professional women\u2019s race, Laura Dennis did not hesitate to push the pace, and brilliantly executed a dominating performance. She reached the swim exit after 29:04, and was able to increase her lead\u00a0on the bike course with a split of 2:30:18. This was eight minutes faster than Tyack\u2019s.\u00a0A run split of 1:30:16 took her home in 4:31:34, with a margin of 23 minutes and 5 seconds over runner-up Lisa Tyack. Emily Donker made it an All-Aussie podium after finishing third at 5:28:33.<\/p>\n

Vietnam is the easternmost country of the Indochina Peninsula, with its white sandy beaches boardering the South China Sea. Because of the year-round warm weather, Vietnam\u2019s beach cities are ideal for both sports and tourism. Subsequently, Nha Trang has become a hotspot for travel and tourism. Hosting IPPGroup<\/strong> CHALLENGE<\/em><\/strong>VIETNAM<\/em> and the addition of the new international airport Cam Ranh has generated a lot of buzz for the tourism industry in Nha Trang.
\nHaving been awarded \u201cBest Inaugural Long Distance Triathlon in Asia\u201d by AsiaTri after its first edition in 2016, the competition doubled its participation this year. IPPGroup<\/strong> CHALLENGE<\/em><\/strong>VIETNAM<\/em> is in its 2nd edition; The race brings out the best in every athlete, and it will become a \u201cmust-try\u201d competition for triathletes all around the world.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit <\/strong>by: AsiaTri.com\/Marvin Manalang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A spectacular coastal race course and high temperatures saw both Steven McKenna (AUS) and Laura Dennis (AUS)\u00a0dominating the second edition of\u00a0IPPGroup CHALLENGEVIETNAM. With a near start to finish victory, McKenna already took the lead in T1 from Taiwan\u2019s Chang Tuan Chun and with the best bike split in the race, he was first to cross […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":17703,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[25,65],"class_list":["post-17702","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-challenge-family","tag-ippgroup-challenge-vietnam"],"yoast_head":"\nAussies Steven McKenna and Laura Dennis win the 2nd edition of IPPGroup CHALLENGEVIETNAM - Challenge Family<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.challenge-family.com\/challenge-family\/news\/aussies-steven-mckenna-and-laura-dennis-win-the-2nd-edition-of-ippgroup-challengevietnam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aussies Steven McKenna and Laura Dennis win the 2nd edition of IPPGroup CHALLENGEVIETNAM - Challenge Family\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A spectacular coastal race course and high temperatures saw both Steven McKenna (AUS) and Laura Dennis (AUS)\u00a0dominating the second edition of\u00a0IPPGroup CHALLENGEVIETNAM. 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