Emma Pallant started her season with a 2nd place at IM70.3 South Africa. After being in contention for the win all day long and leading the race briefly, she crossed the finish line after 4:23:12. Annah Watkinson (RSA; 4:21:15) won the race as Jade Roberts (RSA; 4:44:06) rounded out the podium.
After finishing second at IM70.3 South Africa last season, Emma Pallant was back at the starting line to kick start her season. Pallant started the day well with a strong swim, exiting the water with a deficit of only 24 seconds. A fast transition got her within a few seconds of leader Watkinson. In the early stages of the bike, the BMC-Vifit athlete matched the pace of Watkinson as the duo continued to extend their lead over the rest of the field. In the back end of the bike, Emma decided to lower the pace in order to fuel for the upcoming half marathon. She entered T2, 1 minute behind the lead. Yet again a fast transition saw her cutting down the disadvantage to 45 seconds already. Within the first 6k the British athlete caught up with Watkinson and made her move to take over the lead of the race. Watkinson responded to that move by picking up the pace. Pallant settled for 2nd, securing her podium finish in the closing kilometers of the race. In a time of 4:23:12 Emma crossed the finish line. A great performance to build on for the rest of the season.
Very tough day
Afterwards Emma reflected on her race: “It had a real tough day from the start. Unfortunately earlier in the week I suffered from flu symptoms leading up to this race. I hoped to have shaked it all off before the start, but I wasn’t able to get rid of it completely. Unfortunately, racing at half speed is never easy and it was a hard-fought race. I am definitely dissapointed as I did some very good work leading into this race and I know I was in a very decent shape already. But hey that's sport though, so onwards and upwards from here. After all, I’m happy to claim 2nd place today and I look forward to recover well and build on this for the rest of the season".
