Ironman World Championship - WTC TM
Well, they’ve done it again. Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington returned to the Big Island to successfully defend their crowns amidst fantastically fierce competition. The men and women had some serious talent in the house this year including several striking debuts from bright young stars and other athletes transitioning from shorter distances. The top three men were Craig Alexander (Aus) with 8:20:21, Chris Lieto (USA) with 8:22:56, and Andreas Realert (Ger) with 8:24:32. Chrissie Wellington (UK) with 8:54:02, Mirinda Carfrae (Aus) with 9:13:59, and Virginia Berasategui (USA) with 9:15:28, rounded out the top three women on Saturday.
The zeitgeist was electric in the week leading up to race day, and the media speculation was unbridled; many exciting developments in the season up until the World Championships provided much to chew on. Several pros on the men’s side made splashes and became media darlings; reigning Ironman 70.3 champion Torenzo Bozzone made his first Kona appearance, showing an impressive 11th place, Andy Potts raced into a cool 7th place, and former champ Chris “Macca” McCormack pounded on the podium door but ultimately snagged 4th. Andy Potts showed us that he is a serious IM contender now coming from a successful ITU career.
Saturday was déjà vu for Chris Lieto, America’s best hope for the prize, after he again smashed the bike split only to be caught and passed by Alexander in the late stages of the marathon. This comes despite Lieto’s training binge with 2:06 marathoner Ryan Hall at altitude in Mammoth Lakes, CA, in the months leading up to his Kona taper. Say what you want about his run - this guy is still a beast and his 2nd place showing is impressive.
The women’s race was absolutely dominated by Chrissie Wellington. Is anybody else not surprised? She beat the next woman invited to the finish line by nearly 20 minutes. This comes on the coattails of her 2008 tour de force, when after a 10 minute flat tire hiatus that left her by the side of the road, she still managed to come back for a dominating victory. She is in danger of both creating an unstoppable dynasty and simultaneously making the women’s race uninteresting. If Wellington enters a race, she wins; but watching any sport without drama is really just watching other people sweat. I was hoping for more from the other women to give Wellington a run for her money, as it were, but her supremacy is still something to behold. Carfrae vs. Berasategui was a gripping race for the second place title and less than two minutes decided their battle. Carfrae showed us her speed on the run as she picked off male pros left and right and Berasategui showed us her tremendous heart and competitive spirit.
Sadly, one of my podium favorites, Yvonne Van Vlerken, drew bad cards with a mechanical DNF caused by faulty gears. She never made it out of T2. But she'll be back to end the year with another Ironman before the end of 2009 so she can end this season on a good note. Just three days from the big event in Kona she is back to training.
And let’s not forget those amazing Age Groupers – of the 1,779 athletes who lined up for the start, only one didn’t finish the swim. Four dropped in the first transition. In total 1,653 athletes officially finished, making this a high finish rate at 92.9%. Christian Mueller of Germany had the fastest non-pro finish at 9:01:32 and American Kathleen Calkins held it down for the age group women at 9:46:26.
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