Bradley earns first podium finish

Contributed Photos  – Scott Bradley in action at the Ironman Chattanooga.

Lyndonville native Scott Bradley’s first experience in the Toughman series in mid September proved to be a very successful one as he earned the first podium finish in his brief pro triathlon career.

Bradley placed third in both the Male Elite Division (14 competitors) and overall (353 competitors) at the Toughman 70.3 Championship Race at Croton-On-Hudson, N.Y. to earn his first podium finish and prize money.

Bradley came out the the 1.2 mile swim 8th out of the 14 Male Elite in a time of 31:08.

As usual, the bike is where he made his biggest move up the leader board. For the first time in a 70.3 competition he had the best bike time of the day. He rode the 56 miles in 2:18.31, which was 2:23 better than the second best bike time. Dismounting the bike, he had moved into 3rd place.

Bradley then ran the 13.1 miles in 1:27.20 to maintain his third place position to the finish.

His total time was 4:19.32 as he attained both of his goals for the competition, to land on the podium and earn some prize money.

The bike has been Bradley’s strongest event.

Bradley also placed 26th in the Male Pro Division (45 competitors) and 27th overall (2,247 competitors) at the Ironman Chattanooga on September 27. This was the largest pro field that he has competed against since turning professional last September. It was also his highest finish in a full Ironman.

Bradley came out of the water after the 2.4 mile swim 42nd out of 45 male pros with a personal best time of 51:52. This was a current aided swim in the Tennessee River, but still a big mental boost as the time was over 8 minutes faster than his previous best.

Again, he made his biggest move up the leader board on the bike. He finished the bike in 29th place after riding the 116 miles in a personal best time of 4:47.36. The fact that the course was 116 miles, instead of the standard 112 miles, and that he still earned a personal best time, was a motivator heading into the run.

The run took place in the warmest and muggiest part of the day, which is not uncommon for such competitions, and his time of 3:17.52 was a personal best by nearly 10 minutes.

His total time for the competition was 9:02.31 which was a personal best by over 28 and a half minutes.

This event concluded Bradley’s 2015 triathlon season, his first full season as a professional.

In all three triathlon distances in which he competed this year (Olympic, 70.3 and 140.6) he set a personal record in each of the three events as well as a personal record in his overall time for all three distances. The coaching change that he made near the end of last season certainly paid huge dividends and he and his coach are already putting together a race schedule for 2016.

Bradley has one more race left this year, the Philadelphia Marathon on November 22, where he will run with his sister Jennifer who competed in the race last year.

Bradley is an Intern Coordinator at Wayne Central School.