On Sunday March 17, 2013 the WTC unveiled the latest edition to it's family of full-distance Ironman races in stunning Los Cabos on the Southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.
There were no less than six past male pro Ironman Champions in the field and from the start it promised to be a very competitive affair.
Matthew Russel, Timo Bracht, Paul Amey, MaikTwelsiek, and Ronnie Schildknecht were just a few of the male pros with legitimate chances to make it to the podium.
The race for top spot among the pro women was equally as challenging with the likes of Hillary Biscay, Sofie Goos, Michelle Vesterby, and Erika Csomor in the field.
For the pro men it was Luke McKenzie leading the way out of the water, but by the end of the 112-mile bike course it was Maik Twelsiek, Timo Bracht, Axel Zeebroek, and Paul Amey fighting it out for the top four positions with just six minutes separating them.
Maik Twelsiek and Timo Bracht were virtually together as they began their run. They had a four minute lead over third place Zeebroek.
Eventually Timo Bracht took over the lead and began to create a gap between himself and the rest of the field and went on to become the winner of the 2013 inaugural Ironman Los Cabos in a time of 8:26:48.
The race for top spot among the pro women was also quite close. Mareen Hufe, Michelle Vesterby, Sofie Goos, and April Lea Gellatly were all within striking distance of each other with nine minutes separating them.
Hufe left the bike/run transition with a four minute lead over Vesterby.
It's unfortunate, but Erika Csomor was without a timing chip all day, so nobody really knew where she was on the course.
She was finally identified moving into third place on the marathon course at about the 18km mark.
At last report Michelle Vesterby had taken over the lead from Mareen Hufe at the 24km mark of the 42km marathon.
The race is still in progress.
For a look at how the race for the pro women unfolded and the finish times of all the top pros, visit IronStruck.com.
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