Bradley has top 10 Ironman 70.3 finish

Contributed Story Posted 30 June 2015 at 12:00 am

Contributed Photo – Scott Bradley during the 13.1 mile run portion of the Ironman 70.3 at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.

Lyndonville native Scott Bradley earned the first top 10 finish of his pro triathlete career at the Ironman 70.3 in Raleigh, N.C. on May 31.

In posting a career best total time of 4:09.27, he finished 10th out of 24 competitors in the Male Pro Division and out of 2,156 overall competitors.

The competition opened with the 1.2 mile swim and Bradley came out of the water 20th out of 24 male pros which was the most he had beaten out of the water in his four professional races.

He then made his biggest move on the leader board in the bike competition, which is his strongest event. He finished the bike in 14th place, riding the 56 miles in a personal best time of 2:10.07. It was the third fastest bike time among any of the competitors.

He also did a personal best time in the 13.1 mile (half marathon) of 1:22.02 which was the 11th best time of any of the competitors.

In besting his own previous best by over 5 minutes he made another strong move up the leader board. After 6.7 miles he was still in 14th place trailing No. 13 by 40 seconds and No. 12 and No. 11 by 2 minutes and 40 seconds. However, he passed all three over the next 6 miles before turning the last corner about .4 of a miles from the finish line.

At that point he set his sights on the 10th place runner, about 75 to 100 yards ahead of him. He put on a late burst and passed the runner to earn the coveted top 10 finish by a narrow one second margin.

Bradley then just missed another top 10 finish when he placed 11th in both the Pro Male Division (22 competitors) and overall (2,279 competitors) at the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant, Quebec on June 21 with an overall time of 4:09.50.

He came out of the water 21st out of 22 Male Pros with a personal best time of 29:45 but had trouble shedding a new wet suit and left the transition in 22nd place.

Again though he made his biggest move up the leader board in the bike competition finishing the 56 miles in 2:12.25 and in 13th place. This was the ninth fastest bike among all the competitors.

Keeping the momentum, he picked up two more spots on the half marathon run finishing the 13.1 miles in a time of 1:22.39. for an 11th place finish.

“In past years, Scott would climb the leaderboard on the bike, but he would be fortunate if he was able to not lose a few spots during the run.  That he is now able to gain spots on the run is a huge step forward this year,” said Scott’s dad, Wes Bradley.  “Breaking the 30 minute barrier in the swim was a nice improvement, but realistically he is targeting the 27 minute range in order to be able to finish in the money.  Again in Mont-Tremblant, the top 8 Male Pro finishers received a paycheck.  As in Raleigh, Scott was pleased with his performance.  Though it was a few seconds slower the IM 70.3 Raleigh, this was a much more difficult bike and run course, so finishing so close to his Personal Record from Raleigh was very positive. ”

Bradley, who is currently on vacation from his position as Intern Coordinator at Wayne Central School, now has three more competitions scheduled over the summer. He will compete in the New York City Triathlon on July 19, the Ironman 70.3 in Calgary, Alberta on July 26 and the Ironman 70.3 Timberman in Gilford, N.H. on August 16.