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Ironman Cairns 2016 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

Cairns in July has always had relatively cold conditions and even a chance for some rain. It’s been a relatively slow course (course rating of 3:26), and this year it’s been a bit slower than that (adjustment of 0:20). Some swells on the swim made it a bit tricky for those that are not used to it, but on average not slower than what is typical for Cairns. Rain on the bike slowed things down a bit – it probably also contributed to a number of flats that slowed down some of the racers. The colder temperatures allowed a quicker run than normal.

Jodie Swallow was not slowed down at all by the conditions, she posted a new swim record of 49:06 (improving on Liz Blatchford’s 49:54 from last year), a new bike course record (4:50:40, the only female sub-5 bike split in Cairns) and new overall course record of 9:06:18 (bettering Liz’s old record of 9:11:49). Linsey Corbin set a new run record, her 3:02:01 takes another record from Liz Blatchford. Tim Berkel also set a new men’s course record, his 8:15:03 improves the old record by David Dellow from 2012 by one second!

Male Race Results

Luke McKenzie showed that he wanted to defend his title, he was first out of the water and was also leading on the bike. But two flats cost him some time and he didn’t have the run legs to make up the time he lost. His 6th place finish was enough to score the KPR points he still needed to secure a slot. After T2 leader Clayton Fettell struggled with cramps, Tim Berkel took the lead on the run and his race best 2:46 marathon gave him a four minute cushion at the finish. For some time on the run, David Dellow was within two minutes of Tim, and even though he couldn’t quite close the gap he finished a strong second. Third place went to Pete Jacobs who had his first “competitive” Ironman in a long time.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to expected Prize Money
1 Tim Van Berkel AUS 00:47:26 04:36:58 02:46:31 08:15:03 -16:14 US$ 30000
2 David Dellow AUS 00:46:34 04:37:59 02:50:13 08:19:13 -06:56 US$ 15000
3 Pete Jacobs AUS 00:46:32 04:35:11 03:02:14 08:28:28 -25:10 US$ 8000
4 Brad Kahlefeldt AUS 00:46:38 04:42:27 02:56:31 08:31:06 09:14 US$ 6500
5 Jens Petersen-Bach DEN 00:51:24 04:45:43 02:50:03 08:31:41 -05:42 US$ 5000
6 Luke McKenzie AUS 00:46:28 04:34:08 03:08:41 08:33:50 00:03 US$ 3500
7 Jordan Rapp USA 00:55:48 04:46:28 02:50:38 08:38:49 11:04 US$ 2500
8 Romain Guillaume FRA 00:50:59 04:42:55 03:02:31 08:41:35 -02:39 US$ 2000
9 Michael Ruenz GER 00:57:48 04:52:17 02:53:18 08:49:01 02:01 US$ 1500
10 Jarmo Hast FIN 00:51:21 04:51:14 03:09:53 08:58:24 02:59 US$ 1000
11 Matthew Pellow AUS 00:47:09 04:51:09 03:31:48 09:14:51 n/a
12 Leigh Stabryla AUS 00:52:24 05:18:14 03:02:14 09:18:11 n/a
13 Adam Gordon AUS 00:58:01 04:57:28 03:21:30 09:22:45 24:27
14 Cameron Wurf AUS 00:51:23 04:23:59 04:03:38 09:24:12 n/a
15 Ryan Palazzi AUS 00:51:18 04:56:29 03:38:50 09:32:44 n/a
16 Tim Green AUS 00:48:01 05:32:31 03:35:21 10:02:40 n/a
17 Samuel Murphy AUS 01:00:08 05:18:24 03:53:56 10:17:59 1:05:25
18 Luke Bell AUS 00:46:58 04:37:27 05:05:10 10:34:12 1:45:57
19 Dan McGuigan AUS 01:09:14 05:20:30 04:18:14 11:06:13 1:11:50
Clayton Fettell AUS 00:46:30 04:23:53 DNF
Cameron Brown NZL 00:51:30 04:46:20 DNF
Matt Hanson USA 00:55:13 04:52:03 DNF
Casey Munro AUS 00:46:36 DNF
Todd Skipworth AUS 00:46:37 DNF
Matt Burton AUS 00:58:00 DNF
Johan Borg AUS 00:59:07 DNF

Winner Tim Berkel receives an Automatic Qualifier slot, as does Pete Jacobs who validated his Kona Champion slot. David Dellow and Luke McKenzie added enough points to be safe for a July slot.

Jens Petersen-Bach is “on the bubble” with 3.610 points while Brad Kahlefeldt (2.695), Romaine Guillaume (2.535) and Jordan Rapp (2.510) are still well short of the projected cutoff of 3.500 points.

Female Race Results

As was to be expected, Jodie Swallow took control of the race on the swim, posted the fastest bike and was then able to hold on to her lead on the run. She won by more than six minutes even as Linsey Corbin had a 3:02 marathon and ran almost 20 minutes into Jodie. Linsey had already lost a lot of time on the bike due to a crash and a penalty, she’ll be happy with her second place (and Kona slot) after her injury-plagued 2015 season. Sarah Crowley was sold all day and took third place in front of Michelle Bremer who finished her third Ironman within three months. Veteran racer Bek Keat was well placed after the swim and first half of the bike, but she re-injured her calf and wasn’t able to run well enough to contend for the podium,  but she still fought on to finish.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to expected Prize Money
1 Jodie Swallow GBR 00:49:06 04:50:40 03:21:28 09:06:18 -07:47 US$ 30000
2 Linsey Corbin USA 00:57:26 05:08:26 03:02:01 09:12:50 -07:31 US$ 15000
3 Sarah Crowley AUS 00:57:28 05:03:50 03:14:02 09:19:56 -20:29 US$ 8000
4 Michelle Bremer NZL 00:57:24 05:03:51 03:19:37 09:25:44 -09:38 US$ 6500
5 Rebekah Keat AUS 00:52:13 05:09:52 03:36:06 09:43:56 19:04 US$ 5000
6 Kym Coogan AUS 00:57:25 05:26:04 03:49:52 10:18:39 25:48 US$ 3500
7 Tracy Morrison AUS 01:03:18 05:40:32 03:32:40 10:22:01 -05:01 US$ 2500
8 Tamsyn Hayes NZL 01:06:37 05:20:29 04:10:01 10:44:22 33:07 US$ 2000
9 Kristy Hallett AUS 01:03:21 05:35:31 04:02:47 10:50:12 22:18 US$ 1500
Alison Fitch AUS 00:59:30 DNF

Similar to last year, Jodie Swallow wins a Regional Championship and receives an Automatic Qualifier slot. Linsey Corbin, Sarah Crowley and Michelle Bremer have scored enough points to be safe for a July slot.

Challenge Denmark 2016 (June 12th) – Predictions

Billund herningPrevious Winners

Year Male Winner Time Female Winner Time
2015 Chris Fischer (DEN) 08:23:29 Beate Goertz (GER) 09:22:28

Last Year’s TOP 3

Male Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time
1 Chris Fischer DEN 08:23:29
2 Dirk Wijnalda NED 08:31:08
3 Anders Christensen DEN 08:37:04

Female Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time
1 Beate Goertz GER 09:22:28
2 Carolin Lehrieder GER 09:23:29
3 Jessie Donavan USA 09:33:28

Course Records

Leg Gender Record Athlete Date
Total overall 08:23:29 Chris Fischer 2015-06-13
Total female 09:22:28 Beate Goertz 2015-06-13

Course Rating

The Course Rating for Challenge Denmark is 15:35.

Race Adjustments for Challenge Denmark

Year Adjustment Swim Adj. Bike Adj. Run Adj. # of Finishers Rating Swim Rating Bike Rating Run Rating
2015 15:35 n/a n/a n/a 21 15:35 n/a n/a n/a

Prize Money

Challenge Denmark has a total prize purse of 38.000 EUR.

Male Race Participants

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Time Rating Exp. Swim Exp. Bike Exp. Run Consistency Overall
1 1 Chris Fischer DEN 08:26:04 08:54:31 00:51:02 04:37:54 02:52:08 36% +24% -41% (5) 96
2 3 Anders Christensen DEN 08:39:13 09:13:35 unrated unrated unrated 48% +0% -52% (2) (178)
3 8 David Naesvik SWE 08:42:55 09:07:38 00:53:43 04:38:08 03:06:03 72% +0% -28% (12) 153
4 6 Peter Seidel GER 08:47:39 09:32:46 00:50:44 04:29:15 03:22:39 30% +0% -70% (3) 227
5 10 Graeme Stewart GBR 08:48:00 09:13:36 00:53:39 04:44:56 03:04:25 35% +12% -52% (11) 178
6 9 Thijs Koelen NED 08:50:07 09:08:51 00:52:48 04:44:34 03:07:44 79% +21% -0% (4) 162
7 7 Matthias Knossalla GER 08:59:10 09:26:21 01:02:41 04:46:23 03:05:06 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (208)
8 4 Stefan Eichheimer GER 09:11:07 09:38:55 00:56:53 04:52:49 03:16:26 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (245)
2 Frantz Andersen DEN n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)

Female Race Participants

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Time Rating Exp. Swim Exp. Bike Exp. Run Consistency Overall
1 33 Mirjam Weerd NED 09:24:35 09:41:41 00:52:50 05:02:47 03:23:58 74% +9% -17% (11) (48)
2 34 Anne Jensen DEN 10:01:16 10:28:26 01:03:58 05:15:56 03:36:22 77% +0% -23% (4) 155
31 Frankie Sanjana GBR n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

  • Chris Fischer: 55% (1-1)
  • Anders Christensen: 17% (5-1)
  • David Naesvik: 13% (6-1)
  • Peter Seidel: 6% (17-1)
  • Thijs Koelen: 5% (20-1)
  • Graeme Stewart: 4% (27-1)

Female Race Participants

  • Mirjam Weerd: 71% (1-1)
  • Anne Jensen: 16% (5-1)
  • Frankie Sanjana: 7% (13-1)

Rebekah Keat Optimistic for IM Cairns

With Rebekah “Bek” Keat, the 2011 Cairns champion returns to the 2016 race. With her 8:39:24 from Roth 2009 Bek is the fourth-fastest woman over the Ironman distance. After a triathlon career spanning 20 years with a number of great results and at 38 years of age, she is clearly in the second half of her career. She was kind enough to answer a few questions about her years in the sport and the upcoming race.

Racing after Melbourne 2014

Bek’s last Ironman finish was Melbourne 2014 where she finished fourth. After that she didn’t chase Kona qualifying (even though she was probably thinking about it!) and focused on racing 70.3s.

“I have been in the sport since 1996 so 20 years, it’s a long time! I had been pretty lucky with no injuries, until a few years ago when I started racing longer races and doing more of the Iron distances. When I was coached by Brett Sutton I was racing five Ironmans or long distance races in short periods of three or four months. The years have caught up with me, and my body wasn’t holding up like it use to. I wanted to give my body a break, I wasn’t able to get huge run miles in without getting injured. The break has helped me to get back to being injury free and healthy, apart form the usual stiffness and soreness – I’m no spring chicken anymore!

“The goal this season is to execute a great race and be able to celebrate all my hard work with a race that I know I am capable of. I have not raced to my potential in an Ironman since my second place at IM Mt Tremblant in 2013! All I want to do is have a strong swim, bike and run and have fun doing it!!”

Comparing the 2009 Bek to Today’s

For a long time Bek was part of the “Sutto squad”, today she trains under Siri Lindley in Boulder. In addition to a coach-athlete relationship (by now going both ways!), Bek and Siri are also married. I’ve asked Bek how being married to your coach works and how she has changed as an athlete and as a person. 

Wedding“The Bek who did 8:39 had a perfect day, today’s Bek is actually faster, stronger and fitter. I know I have much more to give – that’s what motivates me! As I am training better than ever, I know I can go faster than that 8:39, but unfortunately the body hasn’t always been able to produce the results that I know I am capable of!

“As a person I have grown a lot, both emotionally and spiritually. I am very lucky to have met Siri, the love of my life. I am not just content but I am the happiest I have ever been in my life – Siri completes me. I told her when I married her that if me being a triathlete was going to affect our relationship I would quit immediately! That’s how much I am committed and how in love I am with her! Triathlon was the pure love and focus of my life but now Siri is. Even after a bad day I know I can come home to someone that loves me for who I am!”

Photo: Bek and Siri getting married.

Winning Shepparton“Siri and I have had to negotiate in the past, it wasn’t easy adapting as her partner to having to agree with every single session she gave me! Before I won 2015 Shepparton for the fifth time in a world class field, I had promised Siri I would do exactly as she said – no questions, no negotiating! I had the ‘ ideal race’ apart from tearing my calf at 10 k to go. Siri screamed at me don’t you stop – so I didn’t! I really don’t know how I held off Radka and Yvonne, but I won the race in record time and it felt amazing!

“Since then I am very diligent with trying to do exactly what she says, though at times I want to scream at her or flip her the bird! I certainly had to bite my tongue a lot in front of our team mates when i get angry at a session she has given us – like a “surprise 2km time trial” in the middle of a 5km swim set!

“We have a great balance now. I am writing her run program and she has to do exactly what I write! She is not as good at doing the program as she thinks, she often runs further than I have given her. Obviously she’s not then runner she was when she was wining world cups with 33 min for 10k, but she is going great. She still makes me very proud!”

Photo: Bek winning her fifth Challenge Shepparton with a new course record.

Racing at Texas and Going Into Cairns

Before Texas

Bek lined up at IM Texas and things were going well: She had a strong bike leg and came into T2 in third place, then even moved into second on the run. However she collapsed at the half marathon mark and DNF’d. Just four weeks later she’s backing up by racing IM Cairns.

“It was scary – it’s not the first time this has happened. The last time it was heat exhaustion, this time we think it was a combination of heat exhaustion and lack of calories. The “real” temperature was 110 and 80% humidity, coming from Boulder I was not acclimatized. I got excited when I moved into top 3 only a few minutes behind first and threw my food to Siri to take off in the run. At around the 22km mark I collapsed, my legs went and I couldn’t get back up. I made silly mistakes with not fueling enough and certainly learned my lesson!

Photo: Bek ready to race IM Texas.

“In Australia I am staying with my twin sister Simone and helping her with her amazing twin girls. I am so chuffed and over the moon to be an auntie, it’s amazing and so surreal! We are very very proud! Although Boulder right now is almost as warm, it’s been great to get in some warmer weather training.”

Two Twins

Photo: Bek with her twin sister Simone (left), holding Simone’s new born twins Makayla Blue (left) and Charli Grace (right). 

I’ve asked Siri about Bek’s chances in Cairns:

“I am fired up for Bek. I know she is excited to race in her home country, and has so much to inspire and motivate her throughout the race. We had our sights set on IM Texas. Unfortunately, in Texas Bek had miscalculated her hydration/nutrition requirements considering the 100% humidity. She will never make that same mistake again.

“Bek was in winning form and still carries that same form into Cairns.  She absolutely has everything she needs to race to the top of the podium in Cairns. The work has been done. She just plans to go out there and celebrate all the hard work she has done. Our goal is for her to get out and race to the best of her ability every step of the way. If she is able to do this, I’m certain she will have a tremendous day. She is in fantastic form and just needs to nail her plan to get the very most out of herself on the day!”

(All Photos Supplied by Rebekah)

Ironman France 2016 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

The main features of the IM France course are a salty swim, a hard, mountainous bike course and a fast, flat run course. Conditions were typical, this year’s race adjustment of 1:45 is in line with the course rating of 3:36.

Even though the bike was slower than normal (-7:56 adjustment vs. bike rating of -2:44), Tine Deckers stormed to a new bike course record – her 5:03:03 improved Christel Robin’s bike leg from 2009 by 19 seconds.

Male Race Results

Even with the harder conditions on the bike course, all of the Top5 finishers ran sub-2:50. Victor Del Corral had the best run and won the race by 35 seconds – he ran down overtaking James Cunnama who was leading for a good part of the marathon. Stefan Schmid bounced back quickly from his DNF in Brasil a week ago to claim third place. Frederik Van Lierde had a slower than normal swim and bike after breaking his collar-bone a mere six weeks ago, but he still ran a 2:48 marathon to finish fourth.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to expected Prize Money
1 Victor Del Corral ESP 00:54:16 04:48:04 02:42:28 08:30:00 -03:39 US$ 14000
2 James Cunnama ZAF 00:50:10 04:47:13 02:47:54 08:30:35 -01:57 US$ 7000
3 Stefan Schmid GER 00:51:01 04:49:53 02:45:51 08:33:18 -02:22 US$ 4500
4 Frederik Van Lierde BEL 00:50:06 04:51:43 02:48:09 08:35:36 14:48 US$ 3000
5 Andrej Vistica CRO 00:54:13 04:55:17 02:44:07 08:39:19 00:16 US$ 2500
6 Miquel Blanchart Tinto ESP 00:50:02 04:53:23 02:50:56 08:39:41 03:53 US$ 2000
7 Gwenael Ouilleres FRA 00:50:08 04:50:28 02:54:45 08:40:51 -08:10 US$ 1500
8 Christian Brader GER 00:52:57 05:02:41 02:49:48 08:51:15 -01:08 US$ 1250
9 Cedric Lassonde FRA 00:52:57 04:56:20 02:56:55 08:52:41 -11:29 US$ 1000
10 Wouter Monchy BEL 00:50:13 05:00:40 02:58:35 08:55:56 -29:28 US$ 750
11 Olivier Marceau SUI 00:52:58 05:00:13 03:03:46 09:02:39 01:03
12 Seppe Odeyn BEL 01:04:48 05:04:24 02:49:51 09:05:28 n/a
13 Felix Haupt GER 00:53:03 05:02:54 03:02:49 09:05:44 n/a
14 Rafael Wyss SUI 00:59:15 05:02:46 03:00:10 09:08:34 00:42
15 Pierre-Yves Facomprez FRA 01:01:04 05:08:24 02:58:40 09:15:28 -27:31
16 Ivan Jezko SVK 00:59:33 05:08:50 03:01:24 09:17:29 -22:54
17 Jerome Joussemet FRA 00:53:58 05:26:02 02:55:23 09:21:50 n/a
18 Antony Costes FRA 00:50:04 04:53:38 03:41:10 09:30:49 39:09
19 Matt Shanks USA 00:57:44 05:22:39 03:23:42 09:50:49 18:03
20 Simon Billeau FRA 00:54:50 04:56:18 04:02:13 09:59:28 1:05:25
21 Martin Charles FRA 00:52:15 05:24:44 03:39:43 10:03:30 n/a
22 Ludovic Le Guellec FRA 01:03:32 05:41:05 03:12:09 10:05:29 00:28
23 Santiago Abad de Agueda ESP 01:02:13 05:31:51 03:48:04 10:28:52 n/a
24 Alain Djouad-Guibert MOR 01:04:08 05:35:58 04:03:22 10:55:55 n/a
25 Marek Nemcik SVK 01:14:50 06:29:02 04:15:31 12:14:08 21:01
26 Yu Shinozaki JPN 00:54:45 05:30:02 06:35:28 13:07:17 1:16:02
Bertrand Billard FRA 00:50:09 04:44:53 DNF
Robin Pasteur FRA 00:47:41 04:55:40 DNF
Herve Banti MCO 00:50:10 04:53:26 DNF
Kevin Rundstadler FRA 00:47:45 05:10:31 DNF
Remmert Wielinga NED 01:06:44 04:51:47 DNF
Julien Marcq FRA 00:54:10 05:16:10 DNF
Guillaume Jeannin FRA 00:51:41 DNF
Jeremy Morel FRA 00:54:47 DNF

Female Race Results

Leanda Cave was leading the race after the swim, but Tine Deckers quickly took the lead on the bike, set a new bike course record and managed to run a solid 3:13 marathon to win her fifth IM France title. Second place went to Iron-rookie Emma Balham who had a solid overall race with the second fastest bike (even though she was 16 minutes slower than Tine!) and the second fastest marathon. Leanda Cave had a flat on the bike and lost time, she still finished third. Towards the end she was almost caught by Leslie DiMichele Miller who had the fastest run split of the day.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to expected Prize Money
1 Tine Deckers BEL 00:57:36 05:05:03 03:13:29 09:22:04 -05:20 US$ 14000
2 Emma Bilham SUI 00:53:17 05:21:30 03:07:19 09:28:55 n/a US$ 7000
3 Leanda Cave GBR 00:51:53 05:32:51 03:13:48 09:45:06 25:40 US$ 4500
4 Leslie DiMichele Miller USA 00:57:38 05:35:17 03:05:42 09:45:38 -11:27 US$ 3000
5 Stephanie Reymond FRA 01:05:12 05:26:57 03:09:19 09:49:53 -15:54 US$ 2500
6 Kate Comber GBR 00:51:55 05:33:14 03:20:26 09:52:29 00:22 US$ 2000
7 Karen Thibodeau CAN 00:53:18 05:41:24 03:12:22 09:54:05 04:06 US$ 1500
8 Corina Hengartner SUI 01:01:39 05:23:07 03:28:42 10:00:05 -07:08 US$ 1250
9 Petra Krejcova CZE 01:01:23 05:45:45 03:09:43 10:04:33 n/a US$ 1000
10 Tineke Van den Berg NED 01:03:07 05:26:20 03:35:15 10:12:27 11:40 US$ 750
Caroline Livesey GBR 01:00:50 05:25:26 DNF
Natascha Badmann SUI 01:06:02 05:28:27 DNF
Maggie Rusch USA 01:05:00 05:46:13 DNF

Challenge Venice 2016 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

This was the first edition of Challenge Venice. The results appear very fast (adjustment of 30:28), especially on the bike (adjustment of 27:45), so maybe the course was a bit short.

Male Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to expected Prize Money
1 Dirk Wijnalda NED 00:57:24 04:23:22 02:48:28 08:09:14 -20:12 EUR 6000
2 Sergio Marques POR 00:57:09 04:25:29 02:56:50 08:19:28 -07:35 EUR 3900
3 Malte Bruns GER 00:54:23 04:26:54 02:59:01 08:20:18 n/a EUR 2750
4 Sebastian Bleisteiner GER 00:54:12 04:27:22 03:03:41 08:25:15 -06:11 EUR 1900
5 Teemu Lemmettylae FIN 00:58:23 04:31:51 02:59:48 08:30:02 -00:58 EUR 1500
6 Zoltan Petsuk HUN 00:54:06 04:37:35 03:06:35 08:38:16 n/a EUR 1200
7 Steven Osborne GBR 00:59:52 04:55:33 02:54:26 08:49:51 -02:32 EUR 1000
8 Petr Vabrousek CZE 00:58:28 04:35:34 03:22:43 08:56:45 25:19 EUR 750
9 Alex Diaconu ROM 00:56:58 05:14:48 03:09:40 09:21:26 n/a
10 Tomas Racek CZE 01:04:36 05:06:30 04:12:50 10:23:56 -1:15:30
Michael Patrick Alonso Mckernan ESP 00:58:11 04:26:50 DNF
Francesco Cauz ITA 00:52:17 04:35:47 DNF
Massimo Cigana ITA 00:59:46 DNF

Female Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to expected Prize Money
1 Erika Csomor HUN 01:04:21 04:51:06 03:08:33 09:04:00 01:03 EUR 6000
2 Martina Dogana ITA 00:59:49 04:56:00 03:08:53 09:04:42 -10:02 EUR 3900
3 Carla Van Rooijen NED 01:15:39 04:59:47 03:17:37 09:33:03 -07:57 EUR 2750
4 Yvette Grice GBR 01:01:52 05:15:53 03:26:11 09:43:56 10:05 EUR 1900
5 Vanessa Pereira POR 01:05:31 05:09:56 03:28:48 09:44:15 -14:29 EUR 1500
6 Deborah Van Gossum BEL 00:57:18 05:13:40 04:12:12 10:23:10 -37:37 EUR 1200
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