Kimberley Morrison digs deep to secure podium place at Ironman 70.3 Buenos Aires

Norfolk's professional women's triathlon star Kimberley Morrison secured a podium place in Argentina at the weekend.

Kimberley Morrison on her way to finishing second at Ironman Buenos Aires 70.3. Picture: @TriathlonKim on Twitter - Credit: @TriathlonKim on Twitter

The 29-year-old Tri-Anglia member finished second at Ironman 70.3 Buenos Aires, just missing out on retaining her crown after a close battle with eventual winner Hayley Chura.

Morrison, from Bale, near Fakenham, finished the course in four hours, 18 minutes and 29 seconds yesterday – two minutes and 14 seconds faster than when she won the event last year.

'The race was going to plan. I led the chase pack of swimmers for the 1.9km lake swim behind American super swimmer Hayley Chura,' Morrison explained.

'On to the 90km bike and by 29km I took the lead and extended this lead to give a total time (around) nine minutes quicker than the next fastest female.

'The half marathon run went very well for me today and we have taken a handful of minutes off my run time from Ironman 70.3 Dubai in January. Six kilometres to go and I was running scared, I knew second position was hunting for the win.

'When Hayley caught me with just two kilometres to go I was already pushing and dug very deep to stay with her. Every meter felt excruciating and I was giving all I could ... not enough for the win today but happy with my overall race and enjoying that Champagne podium!'