2015

I have just released my 2014 TriRating Report, an “end-of-year” report looking back at the 2014 Ironman-distance races and my analysis of the results.

The Report has more than 50 pages, including:

• Top 10 Ratings (overall and individually for swim, bike and run)
• Top 10 Performances (by “clock time” and by my normalized times)
• 2014 Money List
• a first look forward to Kona 2015

and a ton of race results and all rated athletes!

A lot of people have asked how they can pay me back in some way for the information I’ve been putting out. In order to enable that, I’m releasing this report through Gumroad. The report continues to be free (you can just enter “0” as the amount), but if you like the report and want to show me your appreciation for my work, you can donate an amount of your choice. Regardless of whether you donate or not, feel free to share with others and enjoy!

2014 Ironman Season Trivia

Here are some Trivia questions on the 2014 season:

1. Who had the fastest IM-distance debuts?
   a.Male
   b.Female
2. Who had the fastest Ironman-distance times of 2014?
   a.Men
   b.Women
3. In 2014 we’ve seen 5 sub-8h finishes (for the men) and 23 sub-9h finishes (for the women). Which race had the most of these?
4. Who posted the fastest marathon times in an Ironman in 2014?
   a. Men
   b. Women
5. Which races in 2014 had the closest and widest margin between the male and female winners (Pros only)?
   a. Closest Race (race, margin, male and female winners)
   b. Race with the widest margin (race, margin, male and female winners)
6. Which country had the most Pro IM wins in 2014?
7. Which IM-distance races in 2014 had the closest margin between the winner and runner-up (Pros only)?
   a. Closest Men’s Race (race, margin, name of 1st and 2nd finisher)
   b. Closest Women’s Race (race, margin, name of 1st and 2nd finisher)
8. Who had the slowest swim when winning an IM in 2014?
   a. Male
   b. Female
9. Who overcame the biggest deficit after the bike to win an IM in 2014?
   a. Male
   b. Female
10. Who were the top US finishers in the last three years in Kona (2012/13/14)?
    a. Male
    b. Female
11. Which athletes won two Ironman races in 2014?
12. Which of the Kona Pros had the most Professional IM-distance career finishes before Kona?
    a. Male
    b. Female

All answers can be found in the Rating Report!

Here’s a quick look at the TriRating.com traffic in 2014 (based on my Google Analytics data):

Similar to the last years, I was able to increase my traffic significantly, with typical spike in October for Kona. Here are the most popular TriRating posts from 2014:

1. Kona Live Predictions
   „Live Predictions“ is a fun project I repeated for Kona 2014: Updating my predictions as the race unfolds by using athlete’s projected capabilities in conjunction with their current splits. Again, I received ongoing technical support from Russell Cox, and some welcome financial support by VeloDynamics.
2. Course Ratings
   This ongoing page shows how courses compare to each other – which are fast and slow, and how to convert times from one course to another.
3. Kona Odds
   Based on athlete’s prior results, I calculate statistical odds for Kona. I let this slide for a bit in 2014, but the interest shows that I should be more diligent in 2015.
4. Top 10 Ratings
   My top ranked Ironman-distance athletes, based on the statistical analysis of their race results. Again, another page I should probably update more frequently than I did in 2014.
5. Changing the gap between the Pro Women and Age Group Men in Kona
   This post created my biggest traffic-spike outside of Kona. I analyzed the impact of different gaps in the Kona start times and produced a lot of chatter on Twitter.
6. 2013 Money List
   A look at the money earnings of even the top athletes is always sobering and leads to a discussion of the state of Pro racing. A 2014 version is already in the works for my upcoming 2014 Rating Report.
7. „Always Up-to-date“ Kona Startlist
   Most Kona start lists are just a one-time post. My version is updated as athletes accept/decline their spots and when athletes announce that they won’t be able to start.
8. August Qualifier
   There was a lot of movement in the men’s August slots that I covered in this post.
9. Silent Updates to the 2015 KPR
   There was a large number of posts as WTC announced changes in the KPR – I uncovered a few more changes that were not announced in a press release.
10. Women’s Field as Deep as Men’s?
    Another post focused on „women’s issues“ that generated a lot of interest on Twitter. This time I looked for data supporting the claim that the women’s field is less deep than the men’s – but couldn’t find it.

My „bread-and-butter posts“ of race predictions and results analysis get quite some traffic as well, but they have a shorter „life span“ and therefore don’t get as many views as the standard pages or analysis posts in the Top 10 list above. (Not surprisingly, the most popular race post was on Kona, followed by predictions for Roth, Los Cabos and Florida.)