Tyler Butterfield produced a storming run to clinch a place on the podium, finishing second at the Ironman 70.3 Cozumel in Mexico today.

Butterfield was highlighted as one of the pre-race favourites along with Matt Hanson and Sam Long but all found themselves well behind Mexican pair Irving Perez Pineda and Joaquin Pereda exiting out of the water.

By the 55-kilometre point of the bike ride Long had seized control, with Jackson Laundry and Hanson about two-minutes down.

At the end of the ride Long had opened up a lead of almost four minutes on countryman Nick Chase, with Butterfield, Martin Ulboa, Laundry and Hanson all just over four-minutes down.

In the decisive run, in hot and humid conditions Butterfield showed his determination to claw back the deficit, and while he was unable to haul back Long, who won in a time of 3hr 42min 44sec, the Bermudian sealed an impressive second-place slightly over a minute behind the race winner.

Butterfield’s efforts saw him finish with the day’s fastest run split of 1:14:32.

Former Xterra world champ Mauricio Mendez Cruz ran his way to third in 3:46:57, ahead of Luxiano Taccone, Hanson and Laundry.