IRONMAN 70.3 La Quinta was a season ender for the ages! In the year's final west coast 70.3, Sam Long and Lionel Sanders showed up in incredible form to go 1-2, and the ROKA STNDRD Racing team put on electrifying performances that put them atop the overall AG and relay podiums.
Just 3 weeks after welcoming son, Sebastian--and placing second at IMAZ--Sam Long put together a powerful performance to cross the finish line first in 3:36:26. "All I want for Christmas is to win 70.3 La Quinta," he posted the day before the race. With incredible determination and a big smile, Sam cinched his wish--and his 20th professional win.
And Lionel Sanders is BAAAAAACK! Lionel's 2025 was a season of relentless patience as he carefully trained while healing from a sacral stress fracture, a hairline crack in the base of the spine.
"The last 6 months have been extremely difficult but the fitness is improving and I'm finally feeling ready to race," he posted the week before the race. Ready he was. He surged to the front of the bike before running 1:13:10 to come in second, in 3:39:16. Welcome back, Lionel!
ROKA STNDRD Racing teammate Ryan Lewis dominated the age group race, posting a 26:10 swim, 2:09:06 bike, and 1:15:35 run for the overall AG win in 3:55:46. Fellow RSR teammates John Matson and Julia Weisbecker won the 35-39 and 55-59 age groups, respectively, in crazy fast times of 4:10:08 and 5:03:57.
The ROKA STNDRD Racing relay also turned out big time! Angel Rodriguez smoked the swim in 25:18, Mac Brown crushed the bike in 2:13:41, and Luke Creger ran it in for the win in a blistering 1:10:22 for an overall time of 3:53:18--more than 14 minutes ahead of the next team.
Congratulations to these incredible athletes and to all of the athletes who took on the challenge this weekend. It's not easy to keep the stoke high when the temps drop, but you stuck with it and the results were spectacular!
