IM Boulder

Updates May 3rd:

• WPRO: Added Monica Folts, Dede Griesbauer, and Kirsty Jahn
• MPRO: Added Paul Ambrose, Jonathan Fecik, Brian Folts, Joe Gambles, Tripp Hipple, Colin Laughery, James Lubinski, Chris McDonald, Jonathan Shearon, and Robbie Wade

Male Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
Kevin Collington	USA	3290	1+2 (2000/540)
Jonathan Shearon	USA	3290	3+1 (540/540)
Patrick Mckeon	USA	1315	1+1
Justin Metzler	USA	985	0+2 (0/345)
Trevor Delsaut	FRA	870	1+2 (720/50)
Joe Gambles	AUS	785	0+1
Chris Leiferman	USA	645	0+2 (0/5)
Paul Ambrose	AUS	340	1+1
Tripp Hipple	USA	336	2+2 (20/1)
James Lubinski	USA	270	3+1 (25/15)
Chris McDonald	AUS	235	1+0
Robbie Wade	IRL	200	0+2 (0/65)
Chris Schroeder	USA	195	0+2 (0/55)
Steven Zawaski	USA	130	0+2 (0/30)
Jason Pohl	CAN	85	0+1
Colin Laughery	USA	60	1+0
AJ Baucco	USA	55	0+1
Jonathan Fecik	USA	23	2+0
Brian Folts	USA	5	0+1

Female Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
Lesley Smith	USA	5405	2+2 (1600/400)
Haley Chura	USA	2915	1+2 (705/920)
Kirsty Jahn	CAN	2590	1+1
Dede Griesbauer	USA	1500	1+1
Ashley Paulson	USA	1045	3+1 (305/30)
Darbi Roberts	USA	685	1+0
Anne Basso	FRA	545	1+2 (60/140)
Katy Evans	USA	540	1+0
Erin Green	USA	425	1+2 (170/75)
Maggie Rusch	USA	230	1+0
Lauren Goss	USA	135	0+1
Kimberly Goodell	USA	115	1+2 (90/10)
Sarah Jarvis	GER	85	1+0
Monica Folts	USA	20	0+1
Uli Bromme	USA	0	0+0

Race Conditions

This was only the second time that IM Boulder had Pros racing the course. The first time was in 2014 and apparently the course underwent a lot of changes since then. Even with that, the general conditions are comparable as the race is still held in June and at altitude. The bike course continues to be relatively fast (adjustment of 11:52), but overall the race was quite slow (adjustment of -4:27). This is caused by a very slow run course (adjustment -8:35, almost the same as in 2014) – probably the altitude makes this very hard to run fast and also causing a number of explosions.

As noted above the 2014 course was different from this year, but almost all “course records” were broken this year. Tim O’Donnell had the fastest times in all three legs and overall, he now holds all the male records. On the female side Heather Jackson has the new bike course record while Rachel Joyce took the run and overall records. The only time from 2014 that still stands is Laura Bennett’s swim time.

Male Race Results

There was never a doubt that Tim O’Donnell was out to win the race – he took the lead during the swim and was extending his lead all day with the fastest times in all three legs. What a dominating performance and a good indicator that Tim will be an athlete to reckon with in Kona.

2014 Champion Justin Darr was second across the line but after the race he was DQ’d for course cutting (even if unintentionally and by just a few hundred meters, see Justin’s blog for more details). Matt Chrabot with a good race across the board took second place, and Patrick Mckeon took the last podium spot in his first Pro Ironman race. Jarrod Shoemaker had the best relative performance of the day to finish in fourth.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to exp.	Prize Money	KPR Points
1	Timothy O’Donnell	USA	00:49:20	04:24:25	02:53:55	08:13:30	-14:01	US$ 15,000	2000
2	Matt Chrabot	USA	00:50:25	04:30:33	03:07:42	08:34:36	-09:05	US$ 7,500	1600
3	Patrick Mckeon	USA	00:57:08	04:35:15	03:03:40	08:42:24	n/a	US$ 5,000	1280
4	Jarrod Shoemaker	USA	00:50:18	04:50:25	02:59:21	08:45:38	-27:07	US$ 3,250	960
5	Jozsef Major	HUN	01:03:20	04:31:10	03:10:57	08:51:35	-06:04	US$ 2,750	720
6	Tripp Hipple	USA	00:54:34	04:35:35	03:18:23	08:55:03	01:17	US$ 2,000	540
7	Sam Long	USA	01:01:39	04:32:50	03:17:52	08:57:16	02:04	US$ 1,500	405
8	Colin Laughery	USA	00:58:13	04:40:07	03:13:30	08:58:45	-18:43	US$ 1,250	305
9	Mike Schifferle	SUI	01:03:15	04:45:22	03:12:00	09:09:32	00:55	US$ 1,000	230
DQ	Justin Daerr	USA	00:54:05	04:30:57	02:57:13	DQ
DQ	Leon Griffin	AUS	00:52:14	04:34:43	03:11:56	DQ
	Christopher Bagg	USA	00:56:40	04:39:23		DNF
	Tyler Butterfield	BMU	00:54:04	04:51:17		DNF
	Robert Wade	IRL	00:59:32	04:48:45		DNF
	Kennett Peterson	USA	00:54:37			DNF

Justin Daerr and Leon Griffin were DQ’d after the race for making one of the turns on the run course too early and missing a timing mat. Some more notes on Justin’s blog.

Female Race Results

As expected Kelly Williamson was first out of the water but then fell back on the bike, still finishing in fourth with a good marathon. Rachel Joyce was just a few seconds behind Kelly in T1 and took over the lead for most of the bike. Heather Jackson had the fastest bike ride and able to close the gap to Rachel. By T2 Heather had built a lead of three minutes, but Rachel refused to cede the race to her and slowly started to eat into the lead. When Rachel took the lead in the second half of the marathon she quickly created a gap and eventually won her return to Ironman racing by seven minutes. Heather finished in second place, more than 20 minutes ahead of 2014 winner Danielle Mack in third place.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to exp.	Prize Money	KPR Points
1	Rachel Joyce	GBR	00:54:59	04:56:09	03:16:01	09:13:32	05:00	US$ 15,000	2000
2	Heather Jackson	USA	00:59:51	04:49:06	03:26:09	09:20:42	03:26	US$ 7,500	1600
3	Danielle Mack	USA	01:04:46	05:11:02	03:20:24	09:42:16	-01:22	US$ 5,000	1280
4	Kelly Williamson	USA	00:54:56	05:26:15	03:16:35	09:44:08	05:24	US$ 3,250	960
5	Uli Bromme	USA	01:04:49	05:05:30	03:34:45	09:52:32	-00:32	US$ 2,750	720
6	Kimberly Goodell	USA	01:04:48	05:25:53	03:36:00	10:13:34	n/a	US$ 2,000	540
7	Carla Schubiger	SUI	01:04:43	05:27:29	03:43:29	10:22:59	n/a	US$ 1,500	405
8	Maggie Rusch	USA	01:07:37	05:26:51	03:55:33	10:36:36	19:24	US$ 1,250	305
9	Kate Bruck	USA	01:04:32	05:42:19	03:59:03	10:54:20	21:47	US$ 1,000	230
	Amy Vantassel	USA	01:11:51	05:56:36		DNF

Kona Qualifying Implications

There are not too many changes for Kona Qualifying: Only Heather Jackson and Tim O’Donnell are now safe for a July slot – after their great results in Kona they just needed a validation finish.

Previous Winners

After the initial race of 2014, IM Boulder was no longer a Pro race. The race continued as an agegroup-only race in 2015 and 2016. This year a Pro division is added back again.

Year	Male Winner	Time	Female Winner	Time
2014	Justin Daerr (USA)	08:20:26	Danielle Mack (USA)	09:19:54

TOP 3 from Last Race

Male Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Justin Daerr	USA	00:53:21	04:24:54	02:56:41	08:20:26
2	Richie Cunningham	AUS	00:50:28	04:24:47	03:09:56	08:30:38
3	Scott Defilippis	USA	00:57:27	04:47:48	03:02:48	08:54:19

Female Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Danielle Mack	USA	01:03:53	04:52:56	03:16:42	09:19:54
2	Laura Bennett	USA	00:54:02	04:59:29	03:44:31	09:43:59
3	Christine Hammond	USA	00:55:38	05:09:33	03:41:44	09:53:04

Course Records

Leg	Gender	Record	Athlete	Date
Total	overall	08:20:26	Justin Daerr	2014-08-03
Swim	overall	00:50:28	Richie Cunningham	2014-08-03
Bike	overall	04:24:47	Richie Cunningham	2014-08-03
Run	overall	02:56:41	Justin Daerr	2014-08-03
Total	female	09:19:54	Danielle Mack	2014-08-03
Swim	female	00:54:02	Laura Bennett	2014-08-03
Bike	female	04:52:56	Danielle Mack	2014-08-03
Run	female	03:16:42	Danielle Mack	2014-08-03

Course Rating

The Course Rating for IM Boulder is – 01:54.

Race Adjustments for IM Boulder

Year	Adjustment	Swim Adj.	Bike Adj.	Run Adj.	# of Finishers	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating
2014	-01:54	-00:35	17:17	-08:46	13 of 16	-01:54	-00:35	17:17	-08:46

KPR points and Prize Money

IM Boulder is a P-2000 race. It has a total prize purse of 80.000 US$.

Male Race Participants

The strength of the field is 10% of a typical Kona field.

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. T2	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	2	Timothy O’Donnell	USA	08:20:30	08:23:27	00:48:51	04:21:40	05:15:31	03:04:59	15% +52% -34% (14)	13
2	4	Tyler Butterfield	BMU	08:27:04	08:31:23	00:50:06	04:23:05	05:18:11	03:08:53	37% +32% -30% (14)	35
3	7	Leon Griffin	AUS	08:27:10	08:41:14	00:49:55	04:26:22	05:21:17	03:05:53	5% +56% -39% (8)	75
4	3	Tim Don	GBR	08:29:17	08:32:43	00:49:11	04:29:22	05:23:34	03:05:43	64% +0% -36% (4)	(41)
5	6	Matt Chrabot	USA	08:31:54	08:44:38	00:49:48	04:28:37	05:23:25	03:08:29	8% +34% -58% (5)	(84)
6	1	Justin Daerr	USA	08:36:37	08:42:47	00:53:53	04:31:59	05:30:52	03:05:45	71% +7% -22% (30)	78
7	8	Jozsef Major	HUN	08:48:50	08:53:16	01:01:01	04:34:09	05:40:10	03:08:40	61% +24% -16% (32)	109
8	17	Tripp Hipple	USA	08:53:52	09:05:23	00:55:25	04:35:20	05:35:45	03:18:07	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(158)
9	19	Sam Long	USA	08:55:18	09:06:51	00:57:05	04:30:05	05:32:11	03:23:07	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(161)
10	5	Patrick Evoe	USA	08:58:49	09:00:50	00:57:20	04:34:14	05:36:34	03:22:15	77% +4% -20% (25)	143
11	14	Christopher Bagg	USA	09:02:59	09:28:59	00:55:33	04:39:56	05:40:29	03:22:30	5% +21% -74% (14)	(226)
12	10	Mike Schifferle	SUI	09:05:39	09:04:05	01:02:14	04:39:33	05:46:47	03:18:52	86% +12% -2% (62)	154
13	12	Steven Zawaski	USA	09:05:49	09:42:34	00:59:02	04:44:38	05:48:40	03:17:09	46% +0% -54% (2)	(250)
14	13	Jarrod Shoemaker	USA	09:09:10	09:19:27	00:49:02	04:57:02	05:51:04	03:18:06	45% +55% -0% (2)	(197)
15	18	Colin Laughery	USA	09:13:26	09:18:33	00:58:27	04:43:19	05:46:46	03:26:40	76% +24% -0% (6)	194
16	9	Bryan Rhodes	NZL	09:20:09	09:23:44	00:49:02	04:47:54	05:41:56	03:38:13	12% +3% -85% (29)	203
17	16	Ivan Dominguez	USA	10:15:34	10:28:51	00:56:39	05:00:26	06:02:05	04:13:29	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(293)
18	15	Max Biessmann	USA	10:16:34	10:29:52	00:53:51	04:48:33	05:47:24	04:29:10	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(294)
	11	Robert Wade	IRL	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(n/a)
	20	Patrick Mckeon	USA	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)
	21	Kennett Peterson	USA	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Female Race Participants

The strength of the field is 9% of a typical Kona field.

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. T2	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	28	Rachel Joyce	GBR	09:05:36	09:03:58	00:53:30	04:50:15	05:48:45	03:16:51	68% +32% -0% (17)	(3)
2	27	Heather Jackson	USA	09:12:57	09:12:39	01:00:17	04:49:44	05:55:01	03:17:56	59% +29% -13% (6)	4
3	26	Danielle Mack	USA	09:33:01	09:50:28	01:03:57	05:03:56	06:12:52	03:20:09	40% +15% -45% (9)	61
4	29	Kelly Williamson	USA	09:34:49	09:33:55	00:55:40	05:19:54	06:20:34	03:14:15	87% +7% -6% (14)	34
5	36	Darbi Roberts	USA	09:47:59	09:54:59	00:55:42	05:10:15	06:10:57	03:37:02	50% +0% -50% (8)	68
6	30	Uli Bromme	USA	09:50:42	09:48:11	01:04:55	05:00:46	06:10:41	03:40:01	35% +38% -27% (14)	(55)
7	34	Mackenzie Madison	USA	09:53:59	10:03:03	01:01:38	05:06:53	06:13:30	03:40:29	35% +7% -58% (13)	78
8	37	Maggie Rusch	USA	10:10:24	10:30:30	01:03:15	05:14:26	06:22:41	03:47:43	31% +20% -49% (5)	(132)
9	35	Ashley Paulson	USA	10:12:14	10:20:16	01:14:59	05:23:18	06:43:17	03:28:57	69% +0% -31% (4)	112
10	32	Kate Bruck	USA	10:25:37	10:33:25	01:05:21	05:30:06	06:40:27	03:45:10	60% +0% -40% (4)	138
11	31	Sarah Bay	USA	10:32:41	10:46:21	01:10:07	05:23:11	06:38:18	03:54:23	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(146)
12	39	Amy Vantassel	USA	10:52:58	11:13:43	01:12:39	05:43:45	07:01:24	03:51:34	47% +0% -53% (2)	(151)
	33	Kimberly Goodell	USA	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)
	38	Carla Schubiger	SUI	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

• Timothy O’Donnell: 37% (2-1)
• Tyler Butterfield: 21% (4-1)
• Tim Don: 12% (7-1)
• Leon Griffin: 11% (8-1)
• Justin Daerr: 11% (8-1)
• Matt Chrabot: 6% (16-1)

Female Race Participants

Statistically, Rachel Joyce may be the clear favorite, but this does not take into account that IM Boulder will be her first IM after having baby Archie. (Her last IM before was her second place finish at IM Hawaii 2015.) Even with Rachel’s results in her prep 70.3s, Heather Jackson must be considered the “real” favorite for this race.

• Rachel Joyce: 71% (1-1)
• Heather Jackson: 23% (3-1)
• Danielle Mack: 3% (35-1)
• Kelly Williamson: 2% (44-1)

After a two-year break, IM Boulder is again contested with a Pro field. The race seems to be a popular choice for a lot of local (or at least US-based) athletes as a validation race (Heather Jackson or Tim O’Donnell) or backup race (Tim Don who is on the start list for IM Brasil two weeks before). But it is also a popular choice as an “A Race”, for example Rachel Joyce has chose Boulder as her comeback race on the full distance.

Male Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
Timothy O’Donnell	USA	5525	1+2 (4725/400)
Tyler Butterfield	BMU	4040	1+2 (2890/435)
Tim Don	GBR	2515	0+2 (0/920)
Chris Leiferman	USA	2420	1+2 (1280/500)
Leon Griffin	AUS	2025	1+2 (1335/345)
Patrick Evoe	USA	1828	2+1
Justin Daerr	USA	825	1+2 (720/30)
Jozsef Major	HUN	810	2+0
Matt Chrabot	USA	665	0+2 (0/25)
Mike Schifferle	SUI	525	2+0
Kennett Peterson	USA	255	0+2 (0/115)
Colin Laughery	USA	248	3+0 (3/0)
Sam Long	USA	165	1+2 (30/35)
Tripp Hipple	USA	160	1+2 (60/45)
Jarrod Shoemaker	USA	134	2+2 (5/1)
Patrick Mckeon	USA	65	0+2 (0/15)
Christopher Bagg	USA	35	0+1
Steven Zawaski	USA	20	0+2 (0/10)
Max Biessmann	USA	4	0+2 (0/1)
Robert Wade	IRL	1	0+1

Female Race Participants

Name	Nation	KPR points	KPR races
Heather Jackson	USA	7415	1+2 (6480/435)
Darbi Roberts	USA	2755	3+0 (215/0)
Danielle Mack	USA	2170	2+0
Kelly Williamson	USA	1980	2+2 (305/100)
Rachel Joyce	GBR	1140	0+2 (0/220)
Jessica Jones Meyers	USA	455	0+2 (0/135)
Mackenzie Madison	USA	200	2+0
Uli Bromme	USA	195	0+1
Maggie Rusch	USA	65	0+2 (0/30)
Amy Vantassel	USA	30	0+1
Sarah Bay	USA	8	1+1
Kate Bruck	USA
Carla Schubiger	SUI