Thorsten

Race Conditions

The field for IM Australia was pretty small – not much of a surprise with all the attention (and points and money) that IM Melbourne was getting. We had only 9 pro athletes finishing the race. The adjustment was at 9:26 – a quicker race than in the past, but still in line with the last years (new course rating of 4:41, mainly as a result of slower results in the earlier years).

Male Results

Paul Ambrose won the race leading from start to finish, but he faced a strong run by Tim Berkel who managed to make the race a bit more interesting towards the end:

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Actual Time	Expected Time
1	Paul Ambrose	GBR	00:46:18	04:31:25	02:57:12	08:17:38	08:45:00
2	Tim Berkel	AUS	00:48:49	04:42:04	02:47:20	08:21:11	08:41:58
3	Jason Shortis	AUS	00:50:28	04:53:51	02:51:57	08:40:02	08:47:26
4	Leon Griffin	AUS	00:48:53	04:48:26	03:15:26	08:55:54	08:53:12
5	Chris Dmitrieff	AUS	00:51:46	05:10:03	03:18:59	09:24:21	09:08:08
6	Dan Brown	PHI	00:56:46	05:42:34	06:44:37	13:29:04	08:48:41

Female Results

The three women came off the bike very close together, and Aussie Michelle Mitchell put in a soli 3:08 marathon to win the race:

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Actual Time	Expected Time
1	Michelle Mitchell	AUS	00:51:48	05:29:57	03:08:38	09:34:57	09:32:06
2	Nicole Ward	AUS	00:51:50	05:28:57	03:20:47	09:44:40	09:54:22
3	Hillary Biscay	USA	00:50:40	05:29:13	03:34:04	09:58:19	10:03:55

Race Conditions

The conditions on race were so hard that they resulted in very slow finishing times. In fact they were so slow that my “normal” calculation methods didn’t work. (Usually I only look at athletes within half an hour of their expected finish times to calculate the race adjustment. This time there were only two athletes which would have resulted in an inappropriate adjustment.) After some fiddling around, I ended up with an adjustment of –36:48, meaning that the finishing times were more than half an hour slower compared to a “neutral” course (such as IM Hawaii). This is the lowest number I have ever seen – and it will probably stay that way for quite some time. But as this is the last time that St. George was run as a full Ironman, we will not be able to see if this year’s results were a fluke or typical of the conditions in Utah.

Male Results

On the men’s side, Ben Hoffman won the race on the run:

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Actual Time	Expected Time
1	Ben Hoffman	USA	00:52:44	05:10:01	03:01:24	09:07:04	09:25:07
2	Maik Twelsiek	GER	00:52:42	05:10:35	03:18:23	09:25:58	09:17:45
3	Axel Zeebroek	BEL	00:51:22	05:26:52	03:12:53	09:35:33	09:28:58
4	Thomas Gerlach		00:59:19	05:33:54	03:12:14	09:49:00	10:43:39
5	Matthew Sheeks	USA	01:04:09	05:48:41	02:55:37	09:52:03	10:00:58
6	Ernst Moser	AUT	01:04:52	06:45:00	03:16:58	10:04:07	09:43:34
7	Adam O’Meara	CAN	00:58:47	05:51:26	03:13:44	10:08:10	10:15:40
8	Jesse Vondracek	USA	00:58:47	06:06:57	03:20:21	10:29:36	10:10:32
9	Mike Schifferle	SWI	01:04:31	06:30:15	03:13:28	10:54:44	09:47:38
10	Heath Thurston	USA	00:51:18	06:24:25	03:45:13	11:07:34	10:46:54

Maik Twelsiek finished the bike together with Ben Hoffman, but then had to let him go on the run, Chris MacDonald even had to “pull the pin” on the run and DNF’d, leaving the last place on the podium for Axel Zeebroek.

Female Results

On the female side, “MBK” lead the race from wire to wire in a very convincing fashion, almost posting the fastest times on each of the segments:

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Actual Time	Expected Time
1	Meredith Kessler	USA	00:52:42	05:57:14	03:18:23	10:12:59	10:16:41
2	Jessie Donavan	USA	01:18:51	05:55:24	03:18:58	10:37:30	10:18:28
3	Uli Bromme	USA	01:09:10	06:10:21	03:29:40	10:53:20	10:43:21
4	Gillian Clayton		01:34:00	06:20:12	03:15:13	11:15:38	n/a
5	Erin Spitler		01:19:37	06:07:22	03:45:30	11:16:42	11:05:07
6	Erin Young		01:09:11	06:56:04	03:40:01	11:52:35	n/a

As always, you can find additional information on the participants in the detail post.

Previous Results

St. George has been run twice as an Ironman (2010 and 2011), and it has just been announced that it will become a 70.3. after this year. So this is the last year for athletes to post a course record. Currently these stand at 8:32:03 (posted by last year’s winner Mathias Hecht) and 9:30:33 (also from last year by Heather Wurtele). One chance to go down in history!

St. George is a slow course (lots of hills, especially on the run) with a course rating of –2:33. It is a 2.000 points race (and in North America), so the field is a bit larger and deeper than IM Australia.

Male Participants

Last year’s second, Maik Twelsiek is back and will aim to win another Ironman.

Rank	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Rank
1	Maik Twelsiek	GER	08:44:37	08:42:09	42
2	Chris McDonald	AUS	08:50:29	08:48:00	74
3	Ben Hoffman	USA	08:51:33	08:49:03	84
4	Axel Zeebroek	BEL	08:55:10	08:52:39	97
5	Kevin Taddonio	USA	09:01:31	08:58:58	127
6	Ernst Moser	AUT	09:08:52	09:06:17	173
7	Matthew Russell	USA	09:09:47	09:07:12	175
8	Mike Schifferle	SWI	09:12:42	09:10:06	195
9	Matthew Sheeks	USA	09:25:15	09:22:36	299
10	Brendan Halpin	USA	09:32:06	09:29:25	346
11	Billy Edwards	USA	09:32:11	09:29:30	350
12	Jesse Vondracek	USA	09:34:16	09:31:34	372
13	Adam O’Meara	CAN	09:39:05	09:36:22	395
14	Logan Franks	USA	09:58:06	09:55:17	524
15	Thomas Gerlach		10:05:25	10:02:34	570
16	Heath Thurston	USA	10:08:28	10:05:37	592
17	Dantley Young	USA	10:08:44	10:05:52	594
18	Richard Wygand	BRA	10:52:21	10:49:17	770
19	Kirk Nelson	USA	12:25:14	12:21:44	858
20	Monte Still		n/a	unrated	n/a

Here are the winning odds:

• Maik Twelsiek: 47%
• Ben Hoffman: 22%
• Chris McDonald: 15%
• Axel Zeebroek: 10%

“Maiki” is a very solid competitor who rarely has a day off, lets hope he overcame his DNF in Abu Dhabi (apparently, he had problems with his bike position there). But I’m sure that Ben and Chris will make his life as hard as possible.

Female Participants

Here are the entries in the women’s race:

Rank	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Rank
1	Mackenzie Madison	USA	09:39:36	09:36:53	30
2	Meredith Kessler	USA	09:40:02	09:37:19	31
3	Jessie Donavan	USA	09:41:43	09:38:59	36
4	Jessica Smith	USA	09:51:54	09:49:07	57
5	Uli Bromme	USA	10:05:07	10:02:17	89
6	Jackie Arendt	USA	10:07:55	10:05:04	100
7	Erin Spitler	USA	10:25:36	10:22:40	170
8	Trish Deim	USA	n/a	unrated	n/a
9	Gillian Clayton	CAN	n/a	unrated	n/a
10	Erin Young	USA	n/a	unrated	n/a

Even if their rankings are quite close, “MBK” has a better chance of winning:

• Meredith Kessler: 43%
• Mackenzie Madison: 37%
• Jessie Donavan: 11%

As always, you can find additional information on the participants in the detail post.

Previous Results

Ironman Australia does not draw a big field – no surprise for a 1.000-points race. It has a course rating of 3:53, but has seen adjustments around 8 minutes in the last years, so the course can be quick. The course records are held by Chris McCormack (8:20:41 in 2006) and Chrissie Wellington (8:57:10 in 2009).

Last year, we had two “big names” win the race: Pete Jacobs in 8:29:28 and Caroline Steffen in 9:29:54. After all, Australia is a nice location and well placed in the year to prepare for Kona once qualifying is out of the way.

Male Participants

Rank	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Rank
1	Tim Berkel	AUS	08:47:24	08:51:13	91
2	Paul Ambrose	GBR	08:50:30	08:54:20	106
3	Jason Shortis	AUS	08:52:57	08:56:48	115
4	Dan Brown	PHI	08:54:13	08:58:05	124
5	Leon Griffin	AUS	08:58:46	09:02:40	150
6	Chris Dmitrieff	AUS	09:13:52	09:17:52	259
7	Scott Defilippis	USA	09:19:49	09:23:52	306

Looking at the winning odds, it ‘s going to be a three way race:

• Paul Ambrose: 36%
• Tim Berkel: 36%
• Jason Shortis: 16%

Female Participants

The field on the women’s side is even smaller:

Rank	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Rank
1	Michelle Mitchell	AUS	09:38:05	09:42:16	42
2	Kat Baker	AUS	09:58:22	10:02:42	91
3	Nicole Ward	AUS	10:00:34	10:04:55	99
4	Hillary Biscay	USA	10:10:14	10:14:39	140

All athletes have a chance to win, but Michelle Mitchell is the clear favorite:

• Michelle Mitchell: 57%
• Nicole Ward: 17%
• Hillary Biscay: 16%
• Kat Baker: 10%