‘Twas a fairytale ending at Port Elizabeth April 13, as the soon-to-be-married duo of Stephen Bayliss and Bella Comerford topped the men’s and women’s podiums at the fourth annual Spec-Savers Ironman South Africa. Great Britain’s Bayliss came from behind on the run to push past home-country favorite Raynard Tissink for his first Ironman crown in a course-record-breaking time of 8:18:23, while Comerford of Scotland dueled with Italy’s Edith Niederfriniger, surging ahead in the final few hundred meters to break the tape first in 9:27:48.

Bayliss may have awoke Sunday morning knowing it was his time to shine, as he began the day with a second-fastest 47:29 swim, just 23 seconds back of Anton Storm and well ahead of chief threats Tissink, Austrian Peter Schoissengeier, Spain’s Marcel Zamora Perez and Frenchman Francois Chabaud.

But a hotwheeling Chabaud soon proved his cycling prowess, taking the lead from the swim stars and flying into T2 roughly five minutes up on a late-charging Tissink, who made up for a flat at the 80km mark to hold off Zamora Perez for second place on the leg. Then just a short way into the marathon, Chabaud cracked and walked, allowing Tissink, Bayliss and Zamora Perez to pass. Bayliss kept it cool and collected, nipping at the frontrunners’ heels until 34km, when the hungry Brit unleashed his venom, passing Tissink and the fast-fading Zamora Perez, never once looking back.

Bayliss busted the tape free and clear of challengers to crush the course record with his 8:18:23 time and snag his first-ever Ironman victory. Tissink staved off a fast-charging Schoissengeier for second in 8:23:09, while bike leader Chabaud came in just 29 seconds behind the Austrian for fourth. The stomach problem-plagued Zamora Perez dropped to a disappointing 12th place.

As Bayliss basked in his record-smashing first title, his lady was busy battling hard for a first-place finish. Comerford opened with the fourth-fastest swim, exiting over five minutes behind swim leader, Czech Lucie Zelenkova, who busted out a strong 17th-best overall 50-minute swim.

Zelenkova maintained the lead through the bike’s opening miles with South Africa’s Kathryn Cronje tooling along in second. But the Iron-tested veterans loomed close behind, and by 23km, Comerford and Niederfriniger advanced to second and third positions and had their sights set on the Czech. Fortunately for Zelenkova, who remained strong, both challengers suffered technical problems, with Comerford dropping to 17-minutes back with a punctured tire before rallying on the final loop. Thus the Czech rolled into transition and begin the marathon with a more-than 10-minute advantage.

While Zelenkova chugged along out front, Comerford and Niederfriniger set to chewing up her lead. Running elbow to elbow, the two breezed by Zelenkova at the 34km mark, setting up the nail-biting fight to the finish. Though both women bore down with fire in their eyes, it was Comerford who managed to shirk her opponent, crossing the line five seconds ahead for first place in 9:27:48. As the Scotswoman joined in her sweetheart’s race-winning glee and Niederfriniger settled for second, Zelenkova ran in just under seven minutes later for the bronze.

Comerford's latest win gave the reigning International Triathlon Union long-distance world champion a total of six official World Triathlon Corporation Ironman career victories. The Bayliss-Comerford win also put an exclamation point on an incredible month for Singapore-based Team TBB overseen by coach Brett Sutton. In March, Erika Csomor beat a deep and talented field to win Ironman 70.3 California. In April, 2007 Ironman Hawaii surprise champ Chrissie Wellington won Panthers Ironman Australia, Csomor took Ford Ironman Arizona and Team TBB athletes Bayliss and Comerford won Spec-Savers Ironman South Africa.

Spec-Savers Ironman South Africa
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Sunday, April 13, 2008
2.4mi S/112mi B/26.2mi R

Men’s Results
1. Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 8:18:23
2. Raynard Tissink (RSA) 8:23:09
3. Peter Schoissengeier (AUT) 8:33:24
4. Francois Chabaud (FRA) 8:33:53
5. Steffen Liebetreau (GER) 8:34:00

Women’s Results
1. Bella Comerford (SCO) 9:27:48
2. Edith Niederfriniger (ITA) 9:27:53
3. Lucie Zelenkova (CZE) 9:34:09
4. Cordula Moller (NAM) 10:00:33
5. Kathryn Cronje (RSA) 10:01:14