Yes, the choice of events has never been greater. This weekend’s Duathlons in Tyrone and Naas will see the start of a fun year of racing, which should hopefully peak with Gavin & Aileen’s racing for Ireland at the London Olympics. Check out the largest calendar of triathlons, duathlons & adventure races in Ireland.

Triathlon & Adventure News Update

The biggest story internationally this week is that the reigning four-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington announced on her website that she will not compete in Ironman events in 2012 to pursue “other opportunities”. See the news release from her website, Chrissiewellington.org.

At the other end of the spectrum, are you finding you new year resolution difficult? Look at what Limerick man Gary Kirwan has achieved in one year, when he started at 41stone. His plans for 2012 include TriAthy in his build up to GaelForceWest. Follow Gary on GaryKirwan.ie

Looking to buy some speed, the new Cervelo P5 is out. There’s two versions this time, one for cyclists (which conforms to the UCI rules) and then the proper frame for triathletes, where speed is the only concern. A full review of the bike is on SlowTwitch.com.

Spiddal Sprint & Olympic Tri – 26th May

Start your season in the blue waters of Galway Bay. Race along the classic Galway spin from Spiddal to Moycullen, before running through Spiddal village and out along the old pier. 100 early bird entries are now available.

53N WAR: Wicklow Adventure Race – Glendalough

If you’re looking for a bit more adventure in 2012, then there is of course the Wicklow Adventure Race- WAR: Glendalough.

53N WAR Glendalough is on the 14th of April opens with the Spink run around Glendalough’s Upper Lake, before taking you kayaking in Lough Dan, cycling over the Sally Gap, running up Djouce Mtoutain and back to Glendalough Valley. This course has it all; the best that Wicklow has to offer in a day. There’s a few earlybird entries left so register soon!

It’s time to start planning your 2012 season.  All the usual events are back, with a few new ones like the “Escape from Spike Island” triathlon.  However a number of events won’t be returning for 2012, like the Tri3 Series, with the result that over numbers are down.

There’s a few more races to be added, with some tempting new events like the Rosslare Olympic Triathlon, so the number of races shouldn’t be down by much.

If you have an event to add to the calendar, please do fill in the event details here.

Video of the Irish Web Award announcement

Expect another announcement for triathletes at the Eircom spiders awards in the next few hours.

Ironman Hawaii 2011 – another hard day at the office

Martin Muldoon: Ironman Hawaii

Right outside T1 a rear cage bottle jumped out as the road had some bumps and as this bottle was a heavily loaded part of my nutrition I went back for it and noticed a lot of people had dropped bottles there. The first section out to the first turn and back is always fast as people get carried away with the screaming crowds and their fresh legs. It was a good atmosphere but I was keen to get out on the Queen K and find rhythm. As soon as I got out there it was quite busy ahead unlike last year where it was quiet on the first section. About 10mins in on the Queen K I was watching my HR/power but also looking out for some good guys to work with, there was a few of us trying to pull away from the crowd and there were a few motorbikes around. One came up beside me but I wasn’t concerned as I felt I was well outside the 10m box. I had been using the cateyes on the side of the road as a guide as a few guys had told me they were around 10m between, so when the bike slowed down near me I stayed where I was maintaining the distance between me and the guy ahead, but all of a sudden she pulled a red card and told me to check in to the next penalty box. I asked her to repeat it as I couldn’t believe it. I stayed where I was and argued that the gap was legal but she wouldn’t respond, instead just repeating that I should check in next penalty office. I was in shock, The bike hadn’t even started and I was being told to stop for a 4minute penalty. I was so disappointed that I felt like immediately turning and trickling back in to town. I kept going but the penalty tent was a long way up the road and all I could think about was the fact I had been penalised. I was devastated and it distracted me from my race plan. I was determined to not let it bother me but in truthfulness it dominated my thoughts for a long time and it wasn’t until the pain of the run later on that I stopped worrying about it. When I was in the penalty tent I was chatting with another guy and we were laughing at how we were usually giving out grief to drafters and here we were standing in the tent. Not much we could do but laugh about it, and to top it off some pro photographer was snapping us standing there looking bemused.

Martin Muldoon at Hawaii Ironman

Palani was harder than I remember last year, as the breeze dropped I really felt the heat and my pace to keep hr down was close to a jog. On the Queen K I felt alright but decided now to move hr up to 145 earlier than last year. It seemed a long way out and I was very aware of the 16mile still to go. I just kept my head straight  and focused on nutrition and heat management at aid stations. The pro women coming back lightened the load a bit as I watched the leaders go by and figured out what was happening there.

Martin in the finishing straight.

Coming over the line I felt weird so they had me in medical within minutes to raise my temp and get me on the drip as I weighed 10lbs less than before the race. The drip helped replace electrolyte levels and I got an ice bath before leaving too so I was very impressed with the medical setup. It’s the first time I’ve had medical and it really helped me recover after the severe dehydration. A very tough day and a great but painful experience. This race is always my biggest challenge but I can’t wait to get back for the next round!

I’m writing this from Waikiki in Honolulu where I plan to have some proper rest and keep my feet in the air. I will give the body and mind the rest it needs and I look forward to getting out there and improving for next year. Mahalo, Aloha!

Martin Muldoon’s Hawaii Ironman Splits:

Women's field lined out in the World Cup Triathlon Korea

Aileen Morisson has just finished 2nd in the Tongyeong World Cup, Korea.  This podium adds to what has been a great end of season for Aileen, with a 4th in the Mexico World Cup last weekend and probably her best result of 4th in the highly competitive ITU World Champions Series in Japan.

Aileen was 2nd place out of the water and worked well to stay in the front pack coming into the second transition.  A super quick transition of 26seconds set her up at the front of the run.  In the end Jessica Harrison (France) was simply too fast on the run, but nobody will be unhappy to finish the world cup season with a 2nd place finish.

Top 10 results from Tongyeong World Cup, Korea

Pos	First Name	Last Name	Country		Time	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
1	Jessica	Harrison	FRA		02:00:41	00:18:19	00:00:53	01:05:27	00:00:28	00:35:35
2	Aileen	Morrison	IRL		02:01:09	00:18:20	00:00:56	01:05:24	00:00:26	00:36:03
3	Zurine	Rodriguez	ESP		02:01:18	00:18:27	00:00:52	01:05:22	00:00:34	00:36:04
4	Carole	Peon	FRA		02:01:29	00:18:25	00:00:58	01:05:16	00:00:27	00:36:24
5	Mariko	Adachi	JPN		02:01:48	00:18:21	00:01:00	01:05:19	00:00:30	00:36:40
6	Radka	Vodickova	CZE		02:01:54	00:18:22	00:00:54	01:05:24	00:00:27	00:36:48
7	Kathrin	Muller	GER		02:02:06	00:18:55	00:00:57	01:05:34	00:00:26	00:36:14
8	Kiyomi	Niwata	JPN		02:02:10	00:18:38	00:01:00	01:05:46	00:00:28	00:36:14
9	Irina	Abysova	RUS		02:02:17	00:18:26	00:01:00	01:05:17	00:00:30	00:37:05
10	Margit	Vanek	HUN		02:02:32	00:18:23	00:00:57	01:05:22	00:00:37	00:37:15

This race has been on the agenda for 2 years since I set down a goal to qualify. Having qualified, it took me some time to actually establish what I wanted to achieve. Based on some analysis of my competitors, a frank assessment of my performance in Austria and discussion with Bill (my coach), the aim was to use the race as part of my iron distance apprenticeship with little expectation and no time or position goal.

I knew my swim would be up there as it’s my background. I identified my main competition in the M40 age group as Chris Hauth, a US Olympian at Barcelona. However, having never met him, the chances of meeting him on the start line with 1800 other age groupers to try and get on his feet were slim! I positioned myself at the front of the swim about 7 metres away from the pier (the Pros go off in a more civilised pack of 80, 30 minutes ahead). Finding space was difficult and when the cannon went it was the usual bun fight for a minute or so. Usually things die down by then and I get some clear water. Not this time! The standard is high and I found myself stuck in the middle of high energy biff to the extent I’ve never experienced before, not being able to breathe or hold the water. It didn’t feel like swimming, more like being mowed down by a herd of buffalo. Jaysus (a quick assessment) and I decided that the best strategy was to battle my way over whatever was in front of me. After a minute or so of anaerobic climbing and pulling myself through the field things eventually settled down and I was then able to find a rhythm. I could see I was fairly near the front. I reached the turn buoy in about 27 minutes and change, which I was happy with for a choppy non wetsuit swim. As well as biff to contend with, I also felt some chafing from the salt water on my neck which I think was a result of the battle and contact in the early stages. Oh well. Coming back was a joy in comparison and a 55:40 swim put me in second in my category, 1 second behind Chris Hauth –totally unknown at the time, but very pleased with that.

Transition was not rushed and I took time to put on my de soto arm/shoulder coolers. A 3:27 T1 time had me out on the road with no crowds around me and I then got to work. Having ridden the turn at Hawi on the Tuesday before the race, I knew that I needed to be strong for that section. I felt good and settled in to my power figures comfortably. After about an hour Curt Chesney (last year’s winner and also the 2011 and 2010- 70.3 World M40 AG champion) came past me. OK, so do I let him go….? Hell no – time to race! I stayed with him for a bit before deciding to push the pace a bit. We exchanged places a bit on the Queen K and at the bottom of Hawi before I kicked on. I was loving this bit. I’m in Kona at the World Ironman Championships and duelling it out with the current world champion – how cool is this? Bring it on – show time! I turned at Hawi (which is just under 60 miles) in second. I saw 2:37 on the clock. Wow! That sounded fast, but my power numbers were in the lower range of target intensity so I was happy. The winds were kind too, so I used my weight to hammer down Hawi with no concern for crosswind. At the bottom of Hawi there’s a short drag before rejoining the Queen K where I span up and, hitting the Queen K at the 80 mile point, I felt ok. With some time banked, my power numbers where they needed to be and nutrition going well, I decided that it was now just a matter of ticking over back to T2. At about the 90 mile mark, Curt came past. This time I decided that it wasn’t the time to race. It wasn’t a case of not feeling strong, but more a case of contemplation of the run ahead. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to compete in a foot race with him, so decided the best option for my race was to just hold my average power at the level I had held to that point. I also knew that a sub 5hr bike was comfortably within range. I rolled into T2 in 6th with a 4:52:28 and again was very happy.

T2 was orderly and 3:09 saw me out for the run.

My strategy for the run was all about core temperature and heart rate control with no pace goal. So, heart rate for first 40 minutes was lower than target average (allowing for cardiac drift), walking aid stations to take on board sponges, ice, drink water and electrolyte drink. This worked well. The run was not comfortable – running in sweat filled runners sloshing around in water is not pleasant – but I was mentally strong. I figured that as long as I didn’t blow up I wouldn’t disgrace myself. I didn’t know my overall time, but thought I must have gone out on the run with just under 6 hours on the clock, so I had a rough indication of overall time. I went through half way with 1:40 on my watch and feeling ok (it’s a relative term). When I entered the Energy Lab I saw Curt coming out – wow, he had put just under 4 miles into me over 16 miles – impressive stuff. Some cloud cover came over at this point which was welcome and by the time I exited the Energy lab and onto the Queen K, I was ready to run through the remaining aid stations, remove my arm/shoulder coolers and hat and enjoy the last 6 miles. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t particularly comfortable, but my heart rate was bang on target and, apart from the unpleasantness of running on hot tarmac with what felt like burning and blistered feet, I had no GI issues and nutrition was seemingly working.

Coming off the Queen K and running down Palani was a good feeling, then to be followed by a cruel loop around town where you run away from the finish line and the buzz before hooking back for the final run down Ali’i Drive. Helen passed me the tricolour before I entered the finish chute to see 9:13 ticking away on the clock. Wow! I didn’t expect that when I woke up in the morning!! Crossing the line, I was a very happy man. My run split was unspectacular – 3:19:12 BUT it was a negative split AND I had managed it well AND felt in control. That has left me happy, but also with something to work on over the winter.

My overall time was 9:13:56 and I placed 9th in my AG. I wrote the following on a blog entry entitled “managing expectations” a few weeks ago:-

“I noticed that last year’s M40 winner at Austria posted 8:47 and was 30 minutes slower at Kona. That drop off looks to be a pretty good indication of what to expect. In terms of position, 9:32 is unlikely to make the top 10. Taking into account the fact that I only came 11th in a qualification race, the odds for a top 10 placing are high”

Before I came out to Kona, Bill had said 9:20 to 9:30 would be an excellent result for a debut at Kona. Based on my 9:02 at Austria, I rationalised that sub 9:30 would be good. In that context, I’m chuffed to actually only drop 11 minutes on my Austria time and place higher at Kona than Austria.

The support I’ve received from family and friends before, during and after the race has been phenomenal. If I were to acknowledge you all now individually it would double the length of my report. So, a collective thank you and I apologise for not giving you a direct mention!

Next up for me is the ITU Long Distance Championships in Henderson Nevada on 5th November which is my end of season (finally!). I go out there with a small Irish team of 7 athletes. I’m in a good place going into the race and will go into it mentally fresh and full of confidence t what I consider to be an ideal distance for me – 4k swim/120k bike/30k run. However, right now I’m kicking back with Helen for a week on the Big Island before going home to see my kids. I miss them.

Bryan McCrystal finished 7th in a stacked field at the Lanzarote ‘Ocean Lava’ half-ironman distance triathlon, which is run over the other triathlon format; non-drafting.

Top 7 results from the Lanzarote Ocean Lava Triathlon

Pos	Name	Finish	Swim	min / 100m	Cycle	speed	Run	min / Km	PRun	Club
1	Sebastian Kienle	04:14:40	25:28:00	01:21	02:29:49	36,05	01:19:23	03:46	2	INDEPENDIENTE
2	Thomas Hellriegel	04:21:34	23:52	01:16	02:31:45	35,59	01:25:58	04:05	11	INDEPENDIENTE
3	David Rodriguez Rodriguez	04:21:36	27:31:00	01:27	02:34:31	34,95	01:19:36	03:47	3	BIG DUTCHMAN
4	Joel Jameson	04:22:24	25:43:00	01:22	02:36:21	34,54	01:20:21	03:49	4	GL TRI BRIDGTOWN
5	Gregorio Cáceres Morales	04:22:40	25:12:00	01:20	02:39:47	33,80	01:17:42	03:41	1	C.D. TRIATLÓN TRIYAIZA
6	Dennis Devriendt	04:23:19	23:40	01:15	02:37:51	34,21	01:21:49	03:53	7	LTTC
7	Bryan Mccrystal	04:24:47	29:17:00	01:33	02:32:44	35,36	01:22:47	03:56	8	PRIMERA TBUK SETANTA

Aileen Morrison (No.2) leads the pack up the hill at the 2011 Huatulco World Cup Triathlon

Mexico is the final world cup triathlon of 2011 and Ireland’s top Olympic triathletes; Aileen Morrison and Gavin Noble were racing for more olympic ranking points to keep them inside the London Olympic qualification list.

It was a much better day for Aileen Morrison than Gavin Noble.  Aileen finished 4th, which added to her 4th place at the ITU World Champions Series in Japan last month puts a great finish is a season plagued with minor injuries.  Gavin unfortunately retired on the bike section, so no extra Olympic qualifying points this time.

Pos	First Name	Last Name	Country		Time	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
1	Juri	Ide	JPN		02:12:52	00:19:07	00:00:47	01:15:51	00:00:29	00:36:38
2	Annamaria	Mazzetti	ITA		02:13:39	00:19:15	00:00:46	01:15:44	00:00:25	00:37:29
3	Marina	Damlaimcourt	ESP		02:13:52	00:19:13	00:00:48	01:15:45	00:00:25	00:37:41
4	Aileen	Morrison	IRL		02:14:27	00:19:05	00:00:51	01:15:49	00:00:27	00:38:15
5	Mateja	Simic	SLO		02:14:37	00:19:18	00:00:49	01:15:38	00:00:26	00:38:26

Full Race Report from triathlon.org

Juri Ide runs away with Huatulco World Cup title

Japanese women continue to dominate the Huatulco ITU Triathlon World Cup.  With 2-time defending champion Ai Ueda not back to try for a third straight title, her teammate Juri Ide kept the title in Japan by storming to her second career World Cup victory.

Following a solid swim, Ide rode safely in the lead group before burying the field on the 10km run to win by a comfortable margin, stopping the clock at 2 hours, 12 minutes and 52 seconds.

Italy Annamaria Mazzetti crossed the finish line 46 seconds after Ide for silver in the second straight World Cup this year after finishing runner-up in Tiszaujvaros in August.  Spain’s Marina Damlaimcourt broke through for her first career trip to the World Cup podium, securing the bronze.

The day began with a 2-lap 1.5km swim in the warm waters in Santa Cruz Bay.  After the opening 1km lap, American swimming powerhouse Sarah Haskins led the women as they ran back into water for the second 500m lap.  But uncharacteristically, Haskins fell off the pace slightly and was 12th into the first transition.

Instead it was Bermuda’s Flory Duffy that led the women into T2.  Not far behind were Claudia Rivas (MEX), Ide, Ainhoa Murua (ESP) and Aileen Morrison (IRL) as the women headed onto the tough 40km bike course.

With the challenging hill re-inserted back into the course this year, the women had their work cut out for them as they tackled the hill eight times.

A lead group of 14 women emerged and they worked well together to build their lead and extend it with every lap.  Taking turns at the front of the lead pack were strong riders like Line Jensen (DEN), Duffy, Haskins, Morrison and Mateja Simic (SLO).

As if climbing the grueling hill eight times wasn’t tough enough, the scorching heat and rising temperature were sapping the athletes of much-needed energy.

As they came off the bike, the chase group was down by more than two minutes.  Mazzetti was first out of T2, followed by Duffy, Damlaimcourt, Simic and Morrison.  Ide exited T2 in 10th place but it didn’t take long for the Japanese star to surge to the front.

She made her move on the second lap and opened up lead of 23 seconds on Mazzetti and Damlaimcourt while Morrison, Duffy, Haskins and Simic all began to fall off the pace.

By the bell lap, Ide appeared to have the win locked up with a sizeable 39-second lead in hand, leaving Mazzetti and Damlaimcourt to battle for silver.

Finishing strong, Ide broke the tape to claim her second career World Cup title, sweet redemption after a difficult season in which she has battled a lower leg injury since last year.

Mazzetti ran clear of Damlaimcourt in the final lap to comfortably take silver.

Morrison finished up in fourth place while ITU Development athletes Simic and Duffy finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Six Irish Triathletes pulled out sub ten hour finishes in Hawaii.  In particular Matt Molloy’s time of 09:13:56 was a huge step up.  His time was only a few minutes slower on the tough Ironman Kona course (non-wetsuit swim, windy bike and hot run) when compared with his result from the fast Ironman Austria earlier this year.  Most people are up to 30mins slower on the Kona course.

Another interesting results was the 4th place finish by Rachel Joyce, who was the 2nd woman at last month’s Ironman 70.3 Galway.

Ironman World Champs results by Irish Triathletes

Name	Country	Swim	Bike	Run	Finish	Div. Rank	Overall Rank
Molloy, Matt	IRL / IRL	00:55:40	04:52:28	03:19:12	09:13:56	9	87
Condon, David	USA / IRL	01:05:41	05:01:03	03:17:53	09:34:18	51	206
Martin, Owen	IRL / IRL	01:16:13	05:08:35	03:03:55	09:35:43	50	217
Muldoon, Martin	IRL / IRL	01:06:52	05:13:41	03:10:22	09:38:15	54	238
O Gorman, Ivan	IRL / IRL	01:22:25	05:08:56	03:07:46	09:44:43	69	299
Wormald, Robert	IRL / IRL	01:13:16	05:11:34	03:22:04	09:54:03	101	393
Meneely, Hilton	GER / IRL	01:14:05	05:19:10	03:47:02	10:27:56	79	724

Official race report from Ironman.com

Alexander Takes His Third Title, Wellington Gets Her Fourth

Kevin Mackinnon recaps an incredible day of racing at the Ford Ironman World Championship

Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington put on an incredible show here at the Ford Ironman World Championship today. Alexander set a new course record, while Wellington claimed her fourth title despite a number of injuries she sustained in a bike crash less than two weeks ago. (Photos by Larry Rosa.)

For the first time in her Ironman career Wellington found herself coming off the bike behind other women after what was, for her, a relatively slow swim and then a screaming fast bike split by Julie Dibens. Dibens would lead off the bike here today, enjoying a lead of over 11 minutes on Caroline Steffen, over 16 minutes on Leanda Cave and Rachel Joyce, over 20 minutes on super-biker Karin Thuerig. Dibens ended up setting a new bike course record (4:44), a few seconds faster than Thuerig. All that left Wellington over 21 minutes behind. Last year’s defending champion, Mirinda Carfrae, found herself over 25 minutes behind the race lead as she started the run.

It didn’t take Wellington long, though, to work her way through the field. Dibens would eventually pull out at mile eight of the marathon, which left Steffen leading the way with the fast-running Wellington and Carfrae rapidly gaining time.

Wellington would move into the lead just at the turn into the famed Energy Lab – at that point, though, she found herself only four minutes ahead of Carfrae. The gap remained the same for the next few miles, but over the closing miles of the run Carfrae started to chip into the three-time champs lead.

Wellington remained strong, though, and held off Carfrae for her fourth win and the second-fastest women’s time ever here in Kona with her 8:55:08. Carfrae came across the line 2:49 later, making her the only woman to finish that close to Wellington in her Ironman career.

Cave hung tough for third, while Rachel Joyce also passed Steffen to take fourth.

Both Wellington and Carfrae were emotional at the finish – no-doubt a tribute to the intensity of the day’s race. Wellington, who had been in a bike accident just two weeks ago, managed to overcome the injuries that obviously hampered both her preparation for this year’s race and her performance today to claim yet another Ironman world championship, while Carfrae managed to do what no other woman has ever done – push Wellington to the finish line at an Ironman race.

Top 15 pro women:  

(Beate Goertz actually finished 15

^th

 overall today)

1 08:55:08 102 Wellington, Chrissie       Feltwell     NOR GBR   1:01:03 4:56:53 2:52:41

2 08:57:57 101 Carfrae, Mirinda           Boulder      CO USA     57:17 5:04:17 2:52:09

3 09:03:29 107 Cave, Leanda               Tucson       AZ USA     53:54 4:58:41 3:06:36

4 09:06:57 112 Joyce, Rachel              London       GRE GBR     53:56 4:58:57 3:09:55

5 09:07:32 103 Steffen, Caroline          Spiez        BE SWI     57:15 4:50:26 3:15:17

6 09:15:00 105 Thuerig, Karin             Retschwil    LUC SWI   1:12:19 4:44:20 3:13:31

7 09:15:17 113 Tajsich, Sonja             Sinzing          GER   1:06:57 4:58:55 3:04:47

8 09:17:56 116 Wurtele, Heather           Kelowna      BC CAN     58:43 4:59:10 3:15:29

9 09:18:11 123 Snow, Caitlin              Brockton     MA USA     58:47 5:20:57 2:53:51

10 09:19:52 117 Berasategui, Virginia      Bilbao       BIZ ESP     58:44 5:03:31 3:12:50

11 09:22:07 114 Morrison, Catriona         Broxburn     WES GBR   1:01:02 5:01:45 3:13:18

12 09:28:21 118 Deckers, Tine              Kessel-Lo    VLA BEL   1:04:53 5:00:04 3:19:09

13 09:29:08 110 Williamson, Kelly          Austin       TX USA     55:49 5:24:29 3:03:33

14 09:31:21 133 Badmann, Natascha          Oftringen    AAR SWI   1:07:04 5:00:29 3:16:44

15 09:34:06 128 Ellis, Mary Beth           Superior     CO USA     55:54 5:19:15 3:13:48

A Course Record

For Alexander, today’s race was a terrific vindication to the tactics that saw him lose his title here in Kona last year. After seeing a group pull away on the bike in 2010, Alexander appeared more determined than ever to win the championship back today. While Andy Potts led out of the water, pretty much all of the contenders in today’s race managed to stay within contact and join the lead group out on the bike course by the time the race got a few miles down the famed Queen K.

It wasn’t until the descent down from Hawi that things started to split up and Chris Lieto was finally able to pull away from the group. His acceleration split up the chasers behind him, but even a near-record bike split (he was eight-seconds off Normann Stadler’s 2006 time) only got him off the bike just over five minutes ahead of Luke McKenzie, Dirk Bockel, Marino Vanhoenacker and Alexander. Another few minutes back were Andi Boecherer, Maik Twelsiek and Andreas Raelert.

Through the early stages of the run it became very clear that Alexander was destined to take the lead in a hurry. He made the pass and took the lead along Alii Drive and never looked back.

That doesn’t mean his win today was easy. Behind him Raelert blew through the field and quickly moved into second place. There was an even faster pursuer behind the German –  Australian Pete Jacobs was flying through the run course. Jacobs would eventually run his way into second spot, but then he faltered and suddenly found himself running stride for stride with Raelert over the closing miles of the marathon.

That wasn’t the only drama in the race – with a little over a mile and a half to run, Alexander suddenly stopped dead on the road, the victim of some fierce cramps. He managed to get himself running, though, and got to the line in time to set a new course record by 12 seconds.

Jacobs got clear of Raelert to make it one-two for Australia. Raelert now continues his impressive string here in Kona – in three appearances he’s finished third, second and third.

Alexander, though, has an even more impressive record. He finished second in his first Ironman here in Kona in 2007. Then he won the race two years in a row, finished fourth last year and, today, joined some prestigious company by becoming the fourth man to win three titles – he joins a prestigious list that includes Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Peter Reid.

4 08:12:58   33 Bockel, Dirk               Bereldange   LUX LUX     51:44 4:24:17 2:53:04

5 08:20:12    9 Bracht, Timo               Eberbach     BAW GER     53:37 4:35:07 2:47:26

6 08:21:07   44 Aigroz, Mike               Chateau d oe VD SWI     52:31 4:30:44 2:54:08

7 08:22:15    2 Tissink, Raynard           Port Elizabe EC RSA     52:08 4:28:40 2:56:37

8 08:23:19   31 Boecherer, Andi            Freiburg     YES GER     51:49 4:25:46 3:01:44

14 08:35:53   27 Henning, Rasmus            Tuineje      ISL ESP     51:48 4:31:12 3:08:49

15 08:37:00   40 Viennot, Cyril             BEAUVAIS     PIC FRA     55:58 4:44:51 2:51:56 

You can recap our entire day’s coverage at kona.ironmanlive.com

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