Radka Kahlefeldt Wins IM 70.3 Davao

Zone3 Pro athlete and super mum won IM 70.3 Davao on the weekend. With a troublesome start to her pre-race rituals and a broken bike to replace, Radka managed to dig deep and pull off another victory in the heat of the Philippines. Hear what she had to say about the race: 

“I was really excited to race at 70.3 Davao this weekend, as I was coming back as the reigning champion from 2018. Unfortunately, I had a pretty challenging few days leading into this race. I arrived in Davao to unpack my bike on Friday morning to find out that my bike frame had been damaged during the flight over, and had to set about frantically finding an alternative to race on. Having travelled to Davao with baby Ruby, who is now just over a year old, pulling out of the race was not an option. It was already a mission having to travel to the race with Ruby, so giving up now was not an option.

I was really lucky as there was a Giant dealership in Davao and they had one last Liv bike there in my size. There was a great bike mechanic who was able to rebuild my parts onto the new frame and I was ready to race. 

 I was really happy and thankful to be on the start line, but it was not without stress! The race started well with a great swim, I used completely brand new Volare goggles, and a new Zone3 Kona Target swimskin so I was flying through the water. I was second after the swim but ended up having the fastest swim split as the fastest female swimmer didn’t finish the race. 

I made a small mistake in forgetting to apply any glide (Shop glide) to my neck so I got some chafing on my neck. Lesson learned. It didn’t happen to me last year so it may also been from my racing trisuit and not from the speed suit. Everyone loves the look of the Volare goggles and the speed suit!

The bike leg went ok. I was nervous about being on the brand new bike, but the mechanic had done a great job and I had no problem even though the road surface was really rough. Many of the athletes ended up with mechanical problems, but I was lucky.

Starting the run was the toughest part of the race, it was very hot and I started the run shoulder to shoulder next to Caroline Steffen. We ran side by side for the first 5km, pushing each other on hard. We were holding an average pace of 3:40/km which is fast for a normal half IRONMAN, not considering the crazy heat here in the Philippines. I was pouring water all over myself at every aid station to stay cool and started feeling better after the first hard 5km and ended up pulling away from Caroline. I think seeing Ruby at the 5km mark helped me mentally and gave me extra power to push all the way to the finish line to claim another victory here in Davao. I’m really happy to win again in the Philippines, I love racing here as the support is amazing!"

So there you have it, Radka we congratulate you for such a fantastic hustle!

Photo credit: Marvin Manalang