AUGUSTA — The flags flying in the vicinity of Maine’s capitol area might be American — but this summer morning in the capital city belonged to Canada.
Dante Manchester of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia carried his 16-month-old son, Eddie, around the finishing tent, first-place medal around his neck; Andrée Burke of Gatineau, Quebec, addressed spectators in French with a medal of her own. Moments earlier, both had conquered the Ironman 70.3 Maine as the overall event winners.
“This is my third time in the Ironman here, and it’s great (to represent the country),” Manchester said. “I’ve been coming to Maine my whole life because my grandfather and family have cottages here, so I’m no stranger to the state, and it feels good to be able to win here.”
Manchester comfortably won the men’s race, finishing in 3 hours, 56 minutes, 39 seconds to beat out Liam Kennedy of Yardley, Pennsylvania (4:04:40). Burke (4:40:00) overtook Elena Jasper (4:41.58) of Wayzata, Minnesota, during the running portion after Jasper had led for much of the race.
A year ago, Manchester finished 27th overall and third among non-Pro class racers (the Ironman 70.3 Maine was a Pro race in 2023 and 2024, but not this year) with a time of 4:03:35. After finishing 13th in the non-Pro 2022 race in 4:24:23, he felt another improvement this year was possible.
That belief turned out to be a well-placed one for Manchester, who led almost the entire way. After finishing the swim portion in fifth place, he quickly moved up the field, overtaking Yannick Dupuis (Notre-Dame, New Brunswick) early in the biking stage and never relinquishing the lead.
“I just kind of wanted to ride my race,” said Manchester, whose win marked his first in an Ironman event. “I was hoping to go under four (hours), and I knew that if I hit all my milestones and kept my nutrition dialed, I would be able to do it. I’m glad it all came together for me.”
For Kennedy, a second-place finish was especially noteworthy given what had happened during the race. During the biking portion, the 22-year-old reached out to grab a water bottle from a spectator along the course but fell, nearly costing him two minutes. He still finished with the best bike time at 2:12:35.
“I kind of fell over the front (of the bike), but luckily, I didn’t have any injuries and came out good,” Kennedy said. “I had a much worse accident in a race three months ago where I got all bloodied and cut up, so when I saw that I was OK, that was actually a big boost to my morale. I just said, ‘I’m still good; I can do this.’”
Mike Consolini of Massachusetts joined Manchester and Kennedy on the podium, finishing in 4:07:20 to place third. Alden Basmajian (Richmond, Virginia; 4:01:19) and Alexandre Guay (Chambly, Quebec; 4:09:27) rounded out the top five, while Dupuis (4:09:44) finished sixth.
Jasper established the women’s lead fairly early in the race, overtaking Marie-Jeanne Landry at the 10.3-mile mark. Burke, meanwhile, was back in the seventh two-thirds of the way through and was 4 minutes, 32.57 seconds back of Jasper in fourth at the transition to run.
With 10 miles to go, Burke made her way up to second. She ate away at Jasper’s lead little by little, passing her with about 4 miles to go and cruising the rest of the way to finish as the top women’s runner (1:35:52) and biker (2:36:18).
“I was behind in the swim a lot, but I got up to fourth in the bike, and I just took my time,” Burke said. “I forget (exactly when) I passed her, but it was up in the climb on the run. … I just kept pushing and pushing.”
This year’s Ironman 70.3 Maine was the event’s fourth in Augusta and eighth overall. It was held in Old Orchard Beach from 2016-19 and again in 2021 after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 event. It is scheduled to remain in Augusta through 2027.
The course drew praises from Burke and Kennedy. At 70.3 miles, it featured a 1.2-mile swim on the Kennebec River in Augusta, a 56-mile bike through Augusta, Chelsea, Randolph, Pittston, Dresden, Richmond, West Gardiner, Gardiner, Hallowell and Farmingdale and a 13.1-mile run back through Augusta at Hallowell.
“That was by far the toughest course I’ve ever done,” Kennedy said. “The hills are fast, and the whole bike is really technical because you’re never really flat; you’re always doing sharp turns and going this way and that way. … It was very rewarding. I loved it.”
