Analysis

Race Conditions

Race conditions were pretty quick for Australia (12:47 leading to a new course rating of 4:46), mainly on the strength of a fast run (almost 10 minutes quicker). However, the field were pretty small, so a few good runs (Luke, Patrick) may have skewed the numbers.

Male Race Results

It’s hard to believe that this is the first IM win for Luke Bell – he finally managed to follow up a good bike with a very solid 2:53 run.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Actual Time	Expected Time
1	Luke Bell	AUS	00:47:25	04:46:02	02:53:48	08:30:23	08:36:43
2	Patrick Evoe	USA	00:53:20	04:51:16	02:54:58	08:42:58	08:46:16
3	Luke Whitmore	AUS	00:52:49	05:08:23	02:58:37	09:03:30	08:48:22
4	Monty Frankish	AUS	00:51:04	04:59:50	03:13:45	09:08:58	n/a
5	Jon Woods	NZL	00:55:45	05:10:00	03:29:09	09:38:21	09:51:05
6	Timothy Beardall	AUS	00:56:57	05:18:01	04:27:52	10:47:58	09:37:15

Female Race Results

Rebecca Hoschke lead the race for most of the day. Ange Castle was just a few minutes behind, but wasn’t able to close the gap to Rebecca.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Actual Time	Expected Time
1	Rebecca Hoschke	AUS	00:57:05	05:15:01	03:18:46	09:34:55	09:31:57
2	Ange Castle	AUS	01:01:19	05:12:06	03:23:19	09:41:38	10:26:02
3	Nicole Ward	AUS	00:54:24	05:38:08	03:16:38	09:52:31	09:45:57

In other sports – such as golf – the main way of ranking athletes is by the amount of prize money they make. With all the data from the qualifying races, I’ve built one for Ironman Triathlons. It is also a convenient way of putting men and women in the same list.

Note: Since first posting this, I’ve received some feedback (notably from Meredith Kessler – many thanks!) noting that my data still contained some errors. I hope I fixed them in this updated version. I’ve also put some more work into better handling IM Cairns (100k€ and paying 10 deep). (This lead to some more changes, notably for Carrie Lester, David Dellow and Cam Brown.) Please let me know if there are any more issues!

Overall Money List

Here are the 20 athletes – both from the men and women – that have earned the most prize money in “official”, full-distance Ironman races in the Kona 2012 qualifying cycle (September 2011 to August 2012):

Rank	Name	Total Prize Money
1	Caroline Steffen	50.000
2	Mary Beth Ellis	40.000
	Jordan Rapp	40.000
4	Meredith Kessler	37.750
5	Marino Vanhoenacker	35.000
6	David Dellow	29.500
7	Carrie Lester	28.750
8	Cameron Brown	28.500
9	Simone Braendli	26.000
10	Craig Alexander	25.000
11	Matthew Russell	23.000
12	Linsey Corbin	22.500
	Clemente Alonso-McKernan	22.500
	Frederik Van Lierde	22.500
15	Sofie Goos	21.250
16	Eneko Llanos	20.500
17	Victor Zyemtsev	20.000
	Ezequiel Morales	20.000
19	Erika Csomor	17.500
20	Gillian Clayton	16.250

As last year, this does not include money from IM Hawaii, as this would seriously skew the data. Also, IM 70.3 races are not included. In addition, I’ve taken the liberty of classifying Cairns as a 100k$ race instead of the 100k€ race it was. I wanted to avoid dealing with foreign exchange rates. (Caroline Steffen noticed this little “mistake”.)

This list is an updated version of the one I posted in my 2012 Rating Report. Mary-Beth Ellis noticed that I was using the 2011 money scheme. (Thanks for letting me know!) It took a while to dig up the data, but the Championship races (Melbourne, Frankfurt and New York) had a larger purse (125k compared to 100k in 2011) and the races were paying less deep than they used to (e.g. Top 8 in the regional championships instead of Top 10). Also, some North American races paid significantly less in 2012 than they did in 2011 (e.g. St. George, Lake Placid and Canada, dropping from 75k total purse to 25k).

Compared to the first version of this post, I’ve added the money from the “accidental 70.3” race in New Zealand (even though shortened, the race gave out the KPR points and prize money as planned). I also had Coeur d’Alene in the wrong prize bracket (they moved from 25k in 2011 to 75k in 2012). Many thanks to Meredith Kessler for noting these factual errors. This change allowed her (and also Marino) to move up in the rankings and take the spot they earned.

Analysis

Here are some observations:

• Caroline takes the first place (winning the regional championships in Melbourne and Frankfurt) in front of Mary Beth Ellis and Jordan Rapp (also winning two races, but Texas and New York having a smaller prize purse).
• A bit of a surprise may be Simone Braendli, but she had three top 3 results (winning Cozumel, 2nd in South Africa and 3rd in Switzerland).
• The numbers are only slightly higher than last year. Outside of a good Kona payday, it is next to impossible to make a living on Ironman price money.

As described in my recently released 2012 Rating Report (get your copy here), I’ve extended my analysis to come up with ratings for each of the legs in a triathlon. As with the „total“ rating, the individual ratings account for conditions and a slow or fast course in order to compare results from different races and courses. As the data for each of the legs is not always available, I’ve relaxed the requirements for a valid rating a bit: Only two results are necessary for a rating in one of the disciplines. Still, one result in the last twelve months is required.

In this post you can find the best rated swimmers, bikers and runners. I’ve also updated my “TOP 10 Ratings” page (in the menu), which lists all results for these athletes.

TOP Swim-Rated Athletes

A lot of the names in the swim-ratings are not that well known: There are swim-specialists that do not play a major role for the rest of the race. But these athletes have a great potential: For example, Andy Potts has shown that a great swimmer can develop into a great Ironman athlete capable of winning races.

TOP 10 Swim-Rated Male Athletes

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Andy Potts	USA	00:45:16	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	7
2	Luiz Francisco Ferreira	BRA	00:46:24	IM Brasil on 2012-05-27	2
3	Paul Matthews	AUS	00:46:34	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	2
4	Marko Albert	EST	00:46:36	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	4
5	Greg Bennett	USA	00:46:38	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	2
6	Stephane Poulat	FRA	00:46:43	IM Germany on 2012-07-08	2
7	David Dellow	AUS	00:46:48	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	4
8	Kieran Doe	NZL	00:46:48	Challenge Wanaka on 2012-01-21	8
9	Benjamin Sanson	FRA	00:46:58	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08	5
10	Michael Raelert	GER	00:46:58	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	2

TOP 10 Swim-Rated Female Athletes

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Amanda Stevens	USA	00:48:27	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	5
2	Lucie Zelenkova	ZAF	00:49:09	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08	7
3	Dede Griesbauer	USA	00:50:36	IM New York on 2012-08-11	14
4	Meredith Kessler	USA	00:50:56	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	13
5	Rachel Joyce	GBR	00:50:56	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	9
6	Leanda Cave	GBR	00:50:58	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	12
7	Mary Beth Ellis	USA	00:51:10	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	8
8	Simone Braendli	SWI	00:51:13	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	7
9	Tami Ritchie		00:51:27	IM Texas on 2012-05-19	2
10	Anja Beranek	GER	00:51:39	IM Germany on 2012-07-08	2

TOP Bike-Rated Athletes

TOP 10 Bike-Rated Male Athletes

The names in the TOP 10 bike-ratings are much better known than the swimmers. After his fantastic races in Florida (posting a new world record for the bike leg) and Arizona Andy Starykowicz leads the ranking followed by Sebastian Kienle and Konstantin Bachor (who both posted really fast bike times in Roth). Jordan Rapp and Ben Hoffmann prove that the US has some pretty good bike riders, too. But all in all, the Europeans dominate this ranking.

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Andrew Starykowicz	USA	04:26:53	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	2
2	Sebastian Kienle	GER	04:30:13	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	5
3	Konstantin Bachor	GER	04:30:55	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08	4
4	Marino Vanhoenacker	BEL	04:32:08	IM Germany on 2012-07-08	12
5	Maik Twelsiek	GER	04:33:30	IM New York on 2012-08-11	15
6	Faris Al-Sultan	GER	04:33:54	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	13
7	Jordan Rapp	USA	04:35:23	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	10
8	Timo Bracht	GER	04:35:23	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	14
9	Dirk Bockel	LUX	04:35:33	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	8
10	Ben Hoffman	USA	04:36:34	IM Wisconsin on 2012-09-09	8

TOP 10 Bike-Rated Female Athletes

On the women’s side, we have a Swiss domination, even if Caroline Steffen and Natascha Badmann are from two different generations. As on the men’s side, there are some US athletes, but the Europeans dominate this ranking.

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Caroline Steffen	SUI	05:00:32	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	11
2	Natascha Badmann	SWI	05:03:44	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	7
3	Yvonne Van Vlerken	AUT	05:04:05	IM Florida on 2012-11-03	7
4	Amy Marsh	USA	05:06:08	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	7
5	Sophie De Groote	BEL	05:06:56	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	2
6	Diana Riesler	GER	05:07:25	IM South Africa on 2012-04-22	4
7	Tine Deckers	BEL	05:08:10	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	11
8	Mary Beth Ellis	USA	05:08:30	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	8
9	Rachel Joyce	GBR	05:08:33	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	9
10	Anja Beranek	GER	05:09:35	IM Germany on 2012-07-08	2

TOP Run-Rated Athletes

The run is where races are decided, so it is not surprising to see that IM winners dominate this ranking.

TOP 10 Run-Rated Male Athletes

Bart Aernouts from Belgium is the surprise leader in the men’s run rating. He has posted a 2:42 in Melbourne and a 2:47 in Kona – if his swim and bike improve a bit further, he can certainly win a smaller IM race. If it weren’t for his 3h-run in Kona, Crowie would have lead this ranking. He also posted the fastest run-split of 2012 with a 2:38:46 in Melbourne.

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Bart Aernouts	BEL	02:47:49	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	2
2	Craig Alexander	AUS	02:48:51	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	9
3	Clemente Alonso-McKernan	ESP	02:49:44	IM Germany on 2012-07-08	5
4	Eneko Llanos	ESP	02:51:24	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24	14
5	Marino Vanhoenacker	BEL	02:51:48	IM Germany on 2012-07-08	12
6	Paul Matthews	AUS	02:51:53	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	2
7	Timo Bracht	GER	02:52:48	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	14
8	Chris McCormack	AUS	02:53:27	IM Cairns on 2012-06-02	13
9	Hans Nilsson	DEN	02:53:44	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08	2
10	Cameron Brown	NZL	02:53:48	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08	16

TOP 10 Run-Rated Female Athletes

On the women’s side, Rinnie still has the best run in the scene – and by quite a large margin. Cait Snow is another great runner – she’s had the fastest 2012 run with a 2:51:46 in Texas. Similar to Sonja Tajsich, she is usually too far back after the bike to win big races. There are a lot of younger athletes that are still improving, so I expect to see a lot of change in the next years in this ranking.

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Mirinda Carfrae	AUS	03:00:53	IM Florida on 2012-11-03	7
2	Caitlin Snow	USA	03:03:49	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	13
3	Sonja Tajsich	GER	03:06:59	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	12
4	Beth Walsh	USA	03:07:21	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	3
5	Kristin Moeller	GER	03:08:55	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	7
6	Elizabeth Lyles	USA	03:08:56	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	2
7	Yvonne Van Vlerken	AUT	03:09:12	IM Florida on 2012-11-03	7
8	Linsey Corbin	USA	03:10:59	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	14
9	Kelly Williamson	USA	03:11:21	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	7
10	Erika Csomor	HUN	03:12:33	IM Switzerland on 2012-07-15	18

As part of my recently released 2012 Rating Report (get your copy here), I’m analyzing the TOP 10 ratings at the end of 2012. Here’s an excerpt looking at the TOP 10 Overall Ratings with my #1 rated athletes Andreas Raelert and Mirinda Carfrae.

TOP 10 Rated Male Athletes

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Andreas Raelert	GER	08:15:26	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	10
2	Craig Alexander	AUS	08:16:48	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	9
3	Marino Vanhoenacker	BEL	08:17:06	IM Germany on 2012-07-08	13
4	Eneko Llanos	ESP	08:20:19	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24	17
5	Sebastian Kienle	GER	08:20:53	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	5
6	Timo Bracht	GER	08:21:20	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	17
7	Faris Al-Sultan	GER	08:24:12	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	15
8	David Dellow	AUS	08:25:32	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	4
9	Cameron Brown	NZL	08:26:50	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08	19
10	Chris McCormack	AUS	08:27:19	IM Cairns on 2012-06-02	15

Compared to last year, Andreas Raelert held on to his first spot in the rankings, though his lead has gotten much smaller. He just delivers one strong season after another, but this year lacked a big highlight (in 2011 he set a new World Record time in Roth) – and I’m sure he will continue to search for ways to climb to the top spot in Kona. After his great performance in Melbourne Craig Alexander was in first place for most of the season, but after his sub-par Kona race, he fell back again to the #2 spot.

Marino Vanhoenacker and Eneko Llanos probably have mixed feelings about their season. They’ve both had good results (Marino winning in Frankfurt, Eneko having a good result in Melbourne and in his hometown of Vitoria in the ITU long distance), but as in 2011 both had disappointing DNFs in Kona.

Sebastian Kienle and David Dellow are clearly athletes on the rise that had a great 2012 season. Sebastian had an impressive autumn (winning the 70.3 championships and putting his stamp on Kona), David raced strong in Melbourne, won Cairns and had a TOP10 result in Kona.

Timo Bracht and Faris Al-Sultan are two very solid German racers. They continue to win races (Timo in Western Australia, Faris in Austria) and place well in Kona – but are they ever going to contend again for a Kona win? Cameron Brown is another “older” athlete – he’s had a frustrating DNS in Kona, but overall had a good 2012 season with fast times in Melbourne and Roth.

Chris McCormack is back to IM racing after trying to qualify for the Olympics. He just “ticked the box” in finishing Cairns, then wasn’t on form in Kona (seems that his altitude prep didn’t go as planned) – but he’ll be back for 2013 and I’m sure he wants to say goodbye to Kona with a good result.

Last year we also had Dirk Bockel and Rasmus Henning in the TOP10. Dirk had a not-so-good end to the year: His injury-hampered Kona had him finish in a solid 10th place, but trying to score some points in Cozumel ended in a 4:30 run and a steep increase in his rating. He’ll be back for more in 2013 – in contrast to Rasmus who ended his career. He’s had races in Texas and Kona not quite going to plan (each with 3:1x marathons), then said an emotional goodbye in Kona.

TOP 10 Rated Female Athletes

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Last Race	# Races
1	Mirinda Carfrae	AUS	09:12:34	IM Florida on 2012-11-03	7
2	Mary Beth Ellis	USA	09:15:32	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	8
3	Caroline Steffen	SUI	09:16:43	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	13
4	Yvonne Van Vlerken	AUT	09:17:11	IM Florida on 2012-11-03	9
5	Rachel Joyce	GBR	09:19:30	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	11
6	Sonja Tajsich	GER	09:22:42	IM Cozumel on 2012-11-25	13
7	Linsey Corbin	USA	09:23:56	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	14
8	Amy Marsh	USA	09:25:49	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13	8
9	Rebekah Keat	AUS	09:26:14	IM Western Australia on 2012-12-09	19
10	Leanda Cave	GBR	09:26:26	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18	12

In the women’s ranking, we see a bit more change than on the men’s side. This is due to athletes ending their racing careers (Chrissie Wellington, Karin Thürig) or being injured (Julie Dibens, Catriona Morrison).

Mirinda Carfrae “inherited” the #1 spot from Chrissie. She struggled a bit during this year and while placing 3rd did not have the Kona she wanted. She’s also the only athlete in the TOP 10 who did not improve her rating this year. I hope she’s coming back strong for 2013, as her fantastic run makes her races very interesting to follow.

Mary Beth Ellis is still unbeaten in an Ironman outside of Kona. She was not as over-raced as last year, but came up just short in Kona. The same can be said for Caroline Steffen. She had a great 2012 season and improved her rating by leaps and bounds, but will not be satisfied with her 2nd place in Kona.

Yvonne Van Vlerken (now racing for Austria and training in Siri Lindley’s group) had a string of DNFs, but then managed to win IM Florida in November (only to follow up with another DNF in Cozumel). When she’s on form she can beat anyone, but her results are not steady enough.

Rachel Joyce also had a 2012 great season, but was sick again in Kona – barely recovering to finish 11th and already in a good position to qualify. I’m looking forward to when she races healthy in Kona!

I always feel that Sonja Tajsich is a bit under the radar. Her swim is really bad for a PRO (1:10 in Kona, 1:13 in Cozumel), so she isn’t near the front until the end of the run – but she usually has the fastest run split.

Linsey Corbin continues to move up the ranking. With two wins this year (Austria and Arizona) and a solid 8th in Hawaii she is well positioned for big things in 2013. Amy Marsh was not able to win another Ironman this year, but has posted three solid results this year and with a 10th place in Kona shouldn’t have a problem to qualify. Hopefully she can use the time to improve her run!

I’m not really sure how to sum up Rebekah Keat’s season. She has had some good results (2nd places in New York and Western Australia) so you can’t call it a disappointment. However, for an athlete that has posted a world-class sub-8:40 time, you have to think that she has a bigger potential that what she has shown this year.

Leanda Cave had the perfect Kona race, coming from behind to win it on the run. As last year, she doubled up in Arizona and has secured her Kona slot, so she is free to plan her season as she likes. She’s had some slower results in the past so she is not placed as high as her current capabilities indicate.

In my recently released 2012 Rating Report (get your copy here), I’m also discussing the best performances of 2012 IM-distance racing season. My “Adjusted Results” allow a comparison between “slow” and “fast” courses and produce some changes of the order of actual results – even if this year the fastest times by Craig Alexander and Caroline Steffen in Melbourne are also my “Performances of the Year”.

It is interesting to note that both Crowie and Xena didn’t win Kona this year – it seems to be very hard to truly peak for Kona and another race in the same season. Caroline was really close this year: She had three of the best 10 female performances, but was overtaken by Leanda Cave (#7) in the final section of the run in Kona. Rachel Joyce had the 2nd and 3rd best results, but got sick just before Kona.

In 2011, Kona results were dominating the best results – 8 of the best 20 results were from Kona. This year the Kona winners are only 3rd and 7th, and only one other Kona result makes the Top 10. The penalties for the top women were probably a factor, but what happened on the men’s side? Instead of Kona, this year’s overall results are dominated by Melbourne, which managed to assemble a great field for their premiere race. I’m looking forward to the second edition!

TOP 10 Results of 2012

Rank	Name	Adjusted Result	Actual Result	Race
1	Craig Alexander	08:06:44	07:57:44	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24
2	Cameron Brown	08:09:15	08:00:12	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24
3	Pete Jacobs	08:09:49	08:18:37	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13
4	Frederik Van Lierde	08:10:30	08:01:26	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24
5	James Cunnama	08:10:43	07:59:59	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08
6	Eneko Llanos	08:11:28	08:02:23	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24
7	Marino Vanhoenacker	08:12:26	08:03:31	IM Germany on 2012-07-08
8	Nils Frommhold	08:12:46	08:03:13	IM Arizona on 2012-11-18
9	David Dellow	08:13:26	08:04:19	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24
10	Timo Bracht	08:14:16	08:03:28	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08

TOP 10 Female Results of 2012

Rank	Name	Adjusted Result	Actual Result	Race
1	Caroline Steffen	08:44:33	08:34:51	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24
2	Rachel Joyce	08:56:04	08:46:09	IM Melbourne on 2012-03-24
3	Rachel Joyce	08:56:48	08:45:04	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08
4	Sonja Tajsich	09:01:37	08:49:47	Challenge Roth on 2012-07-08
5	Caroline Steffen	09:02:23	08:52:33	IM Germany on 2012-07-08
6	Mary Beth Ellis	09:03:26	08:54:58	IM Texas on 2012-05-19
7	Leanda Cave	09:06:06	09:15:54	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13
8	Caroline Steffen	09:07:08	09:16:58	IM Hawaii on 2012-10-13
9	Caitlin Snow	09:10:06	09:01:32	IM Texas on 2012-05-19
10	Mary Beth Ellis	09:10:08	09:02:48	IM New York on 2012-08-11