Sam Long wins 2023 Ironman 70.3 North American Championship, proves hard work really does pay off

Written by E. George Goold
May 6, 2023

ST. GEORGE — Sam Long was due.

The veteran Ironman triathlete from Boulder, Colorado won the men’s professional division of the 2023 Ironman 70.3 North American Championship Saturday morning, finally tasting victory in his favorite town to race in, St. George.

“It’s just elation, on top of the world,” Long breathlessly told St. George News seconds after crossing the finish line. “It’s just a dream come true for me.”

As reported previously in St. George News, Long has been coming to St. George for Ironman races since 2016. 

The top men’s finishers in the Ironman 70.3 North American Championship triathlon celebrate on the podium — (L-R) Trevor Foley (2nd), Sam Long (1st) and Jackson Laundry (3rd), May 6, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

The energetic Long is known for his “Yo! Yo! Yo!” greetings and has developed a huge fan base in St. George after valiant local Ironman performances that came up just short.

He finished second to Lionel Sanders in a sprint to the finish at the Ironman 70.3 North American Championship in May 2021.

Then, he finished second again at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in September 2021, that time just behind winner Gustav Iden.

Long finished 15th overall in the full 2021 Ironman World Championship held in May 2022 in St. George. That might be his most impressive achievement, considering he had to recover after being hit by a car, while training, just 10 days before the race.

Long overcame double the adversity in that event, getting charged a five-minute penalty for drafting during the bike race, but still posting a strong finish.

He dropped all of that baggage as soon as he crossed the line first on Saturday, finishing the 70.3-mile swim, bike and running race with a time of three hours, forty-three minutes and five seconds.

“Absolutely. Vindicated maybe isn’t the right word but I just feel like it’s a story that you can get knocked down, and you can get back up,” Long said. “Hopefully that gives inspiration to the people that if you have a dream, you can pursue it and reach it and it’s not going to happen on the first try.” 

After all, he noted, this was his seventh or eighth run in St. George but his first win.

“It’s about persistence,” he said. “Not just thinking it will happen right away.” 

Fellow American Trevor Foley finished second on Saturday, a little over two minutes after Long won the race. Foley’s time was 3:45:27.

“It was unbelievable,” Foley told St. George News. “I have no words. This is the best performance of my life by far. Literally like crying tears of joy.”

Triathletes get out of Sand Hollow reservoir and head for their bikes at the Ironman 70.3 North American Championship, Hurricane, Utah, May 6, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Foley has had issues with hypothermia in previous races.

“I’m from Florida, born and raised, so I’m really good in the heat,” Foley said. “The cold is definitely a new challenge for me that I’ve had to practice.”

Foley said that a pre-race dip in Sand Hollow on Thursday was especially helpful in preparing for the cold water.

“We got acclimated to it, so it didn’t feel too bad on race day,” Foley said. 

Canadian Jackson Laundry finished third with his time of 3:46:11.

“It was a really solid day for me,” Laundry said. “Pretty good swim, would have loved to be a little further up but that’s just about where my swim is right now so that was totally fine.”

Laundry said he fought to work his way into the leader group during the bike stage after Long blazed ahead of the field.

“Sam just took off and I was unable to go with him the rest of the way,” Laundry said. “He was really, really strong off the gate, so I kind of paced myself and rode in third for a long time.”

Rounding out the top five finishers were Canadian Lionel Sanders, a fixture in recent St. George Ironman events, with his fourth-place time of 3:48:20.

And finishing fifth in the men’s pro division was Mexican triathlete Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez, who completed the course in 3:48:23.

Visit the Ironman website to see the complete list of men’s finishers in the 2023 Ironman 70.3 North American Championship.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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