Profile

Career Highlights

• Multiple 70.3 Winner (Norway, Dublin)

2015 Season

• 3rd IM Barcelona 9:03:32
• 3rd IM South Africa 9:33:02
• 1st 70.3 Dublin
• 7th 70.3 Championships

I didn’t know too much about Susie when she was one of the first women to secure a 2015 Kona spot. Since then I’ve had the chance to chat with her and write a longer profile on her on TriRating (“Introducing Susie Cheetham“).

Susie has been racing shorter distances (mainly 70.3s) until she decided to race an Ironman at the end of 2014. She had a spectacular first IM: “Going into the race with no preconceptions meant there wasn’t too much that surprised me. Thankfully it didn’t hurt as much as I thought. If anything, the whole race flew by and I hadn’t expected that.” She finished in third place with a quick time of 9:03, one of the fastest debuts by a British woman. She then decided to race IM South Africa for a chance to secure a Kona spot. She came off the bike in sixth place and then had a great run. “When I heard that my friend Lucy Gossage was in second, I was in fourth. I thought ‘Lucy can’t get on the podium and not me.’ And then I was running and she saw that I was gaining on her and then she ran harder. I think we both ran each other onto the podium.” Her third place finish gave her enough points for a safe Kona slot and she was able to focus on October. Even with the training for Kona, Susie continued to race well in 70.3s, winning 70.3 Dublin and finishing second in Staffordshire and Norway. Her personal highlight of the season has been the 70.3 Championships in Zell am See: “I certainly didn’t think a 7th place was possible when I started the year. To also get a decent result after a debatable 5 min penalty for ‘dangerously cutting in’ on someone, has given me confidence in my current form and confidence that I can compete at that top level.”

She feels that she was able to improve in her Kona build: “I’ve had the opportunity to build up to this one as a full time athlete. In my last two Ironman races I’ve been balancing training alongside work demands. This has been a huge advantage, I am definitely fitter and in better shape as a result of focusing 100% on training and recovering.” Physically and mentally she seems to be ready for Kona: “As with any Ironman there are so many limiters, that’s what attracts people to the sport. Kona adds in a few more limiters with the heat, the strongest competition of the year, an (apparently) long swim which challenges even the best and most experienced of athletes. I’ve tried to prepare for those factors as much as possible by training in the heat and mentally preparing different factors.”

With her slower swim, she’s used to be a bit behind on the swim and keep focused on the bike: “Mentally it’s a tough race. I think a lot of people get psyched out in a race where there are 20 girls ahead of them but they’ve spent the rest of the year pushing the pace at the front of the race. You need to be prepared for all eventualities and not convince yourself early in the race that it’s not your day!” Her best leg will definitely be the run and she’d love to continue to improve in order to run sub-3 in Kona. With that kind of run speed, a lot is possible for Susie, maybe even a Top 10. But Susie doesn’t get carried away by any specific place: “There are so many factors on the day that will impact on others performances as well as your own that make the outcome too difficult to predict…especially as a Kona rookie!”

(Photos: Susie in Zell Am See, Credit: Trimax Hebdo; Susie and Lucy Gossage after 70.3 Staffordshire, Credit: Alice Hector)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!

Career Highlights

• Winner IM UK 2010

2015 Season

• 2nd IM Wales 9:07:00
• 19th IM South Africa 9:07:13
• 6th 70.3 Kraichgau
• 2nd IM UK 8:51:06
• 11th 70.3 Dublin
• 7th 70.3 Indonesia

Fraser has had pretty much instant success when he stepped up to the Ironman distance, winning his debut Ironman in 2010. He made it to Kona that year, finishing 29th: “I spent a full month on the island leading into the race, which I feel was too long. I became stale and probably a little drained by the conditions on the island.” The following seasons were not quite what he was hoping for, it wasn’t before this season that he was able to make another serious attempt to race at the Ironman distance and to qualify for Kona. It started well with a second place at IM Wales after a good battle with Matt Trainman. He raced IM South Africa but struggled a bit with a 19th place finish, and a 13th at 70.3 Pays d’Aix didn’t add too many points. He was getting into form for the summer (6th at 70.3 Kraichgau in a strong field) and finished second at his “home” IM in Bolton. “Without doubt my season highlight. It was my goal race for ’15 and given I led the race for quite some time on the marathon it was a fun day. My mate David McNamee had a superb day and if I wasn’t going to win, I was glad he did that day.” Still that left him 125 points behind Luke Bell who received the last July slot.

While he was hoping to avoid having to do another full distance Ironman, he still wanted to make it to Kona: “It was a case of wanting to be back on the island to race rather than spectate as I have done the last 3 trips. The atmosphere is quite simply unlike any other race out there. Also, I genuinely believe it is the only race that truly matters. It is generally what people will ask me about and it is also important from a sponsor perspective, in my opinion.” His first try to add points was 70.3 Dublin, but a flat left him far behind, finishing in 11th place for only adding 85 points. He was very much troubled by the uncertainty, so rather that follow the racing and see others race him out of the slots, he decided to travel to Indonesia and race the P-750 70.3 there. In the end, his 7th place there wasn’t really needed for a Kona slot, so a lot of worries were unnecessary after all.

Rather than repeat the extended Kona trip from 2010, Faser decided “to train in Fuerteventura which I feel has many similar characteristics to Kona but perhaps without the same humidity/heat combo. Hopefully it will have been a useful place to do my final prep and time will tell!” He was part of a group that prepared with Andy Raelert, so it certainly wasn’t a vacation he spent on the Canary island. Similar to a lot of others, his race will be decided on the marathon: “If I am healthy and ready to race to my potential then I believe I can swim and ride towards the front portion / third of the race. Of course there are plenty factors that can limit this – not least the heat, wind and nutrition on the day. Being able to continue to make good progress on the marathon ensures all of that beforehand is worth it. I will aim for a Top 20 result and given my own qualification scenario, I would be more than happy to achieve that.” 

(Photo: Fraser on the bike at 70.3 Kraichgau, Credit: Ingo Kutsche, supplied by Fraser)

There are a lot more profiles like this in my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!

Career Highlights

• Multiple Ironman podium finishes

2015 Season

• 2nd IM Western Australia 9:00:21 
• 11th IM Melbourne 9:24:33
• 7th IM Brasil 9:14:50
• 3rd IM Switzerland 9:35:26

Mareen has been on the Kona qualifying bubble for the last few years. In 2013 she qualified but had a frustrating DNF with technical issues on the bike. In 2014 season she raced 6 Ironman races (in addition to Kona) but needed one slot to roll down – which didn’t happen for the female Pros. The KPR rule changes for 2015 – allowing only up to three scoring IMs instead of five as earlier – also impacted her qualifying strategy.

Collecting points for Kona 2015 started well for her: At IM Western Australia she was in the lead for a long time and finished in second place with a new Ironman PR of just over 9 hours. Melbourne didn’t go quite as well, she wasn’t in top form after being sick and not being able to start IM New Zealand two weeks before. She followed that up with a 7th place in Brasil in May – she struggled on the run when she discovered that the run aid stations didn’t have any gels. She still needed more points to qualify and decided to race her fourth Ironman of the season in Switzerland. After a solid race she finished in 3rd place – exactly what she needed for the remaining points.

Mareen is really looking forwards to Kona: “It is the most important race of the season for me. I’m really looking forward to it! After a week of training in Fuerteventura, I’ll fly to Kona two weeks before the race. I am not worried about acclimatizing – I’m doing well in heat and wind. I don’t look for a specific place, but aim for the best performance I have done so far. The bike and run suit me and I will hopefully end up in the first half of the field. Getting out of the water with the front pack would help a lot, but this won’t happen.” Her race plan is similar to that of a couple of other athletes: Limit the time she looses on the swim, then make up time on the bike and try to hold on during the run. In 2012 she finished 19th with a time of 9:52. This year, she’ll have to be about 20 minutes faster to finish in a similar place.

(Photo: Mareen on the run at IM Brasil. Supplied by Mareen.)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!

Career Highlights

• 6th Ironman Hawaii 2014
• Multiple Ironman Winner (Arizona, South Africa)

2015 Season

• 5th IM Melbourne 8:12:58
• 2nd 70.3 Austria, 1st 70.3 Gdynia
• 1st Challenge Roth 7:51:28
• 22nd 70.3 Championship

It’s interesting to look at the comments Nils has made last year before Kona: “I don’t know what to expect and where I fit into that incredible field of athletes. A good Kona result is one of my main goals for the future. In 2014 I’ll find out my initial situation. Then I can start to chase the better-placed athletes year after year. Hopefully I won’t have so many to chase!“ Not many people knew Nils before last year’s Kona – after his 6th place that’s going to be a bit different this year!

He started his 2015 season by lining up at the Regional Champs in Melbourne. He posted a new bike course record, building an 11 minute lead. But he wasn’t able to hold on to his lead when he started to struggle around 30k into the marathon, eventually running a disappointing 3:04 marathon. But that race secured his Kona slot and he was ready to focus on his summer race Challenge Roth. Last year he took the lead on the bike only to be run down in the end by Timo Bracht. This year Nils never left any doubt that he would win the race. His 7:51 is the third fastest time of the year. “Clearly, my win at Challenge Roth is the highlight of the year so far. The fast time was the icing on the cake.”

His only “sub-par” result this season was 70.3 Champs in Zell am See – he was still in a decent position coming off the bike, but was only able to finish 22nd. “My bad result in Zell am See gives me extra motivation. There was a lot going wrong both before and during the race.”

But for Nils the main race of the season is Kona: “To be honest Roth already feels as if it’s been ages ago – I’m totally pumped for Kona. Of course my season has gone well so far, but I want to deliver another great performance in Kona, ideally my best performance of the year. The attraction of Kona can’t be compared with any other race. Kona is the race where everyone tries to be in top shape. The combination of a one-day event where a lot can happen with the Ironman history – there is nothing better in our sport!”
After last year’s great debut, what’s Nils’ goal for this year? “I’d like to show a performance on the same level as last year and be active in race. If I can do that, a good place will take care of itself.” Has he identified any weaknesses after last year’s race? “I’ve only raced Kona once, and didn’t really show any glaring weaknesses there. But there are a lot of small things that make a difference. I was surprised by the speed at the start of the bike with a number of pace changes. That’s one of the areas I’ve been working on … I know that it takes a while for me to get used to the heat and humidity. That’s why I’ll spend all of September in Texas where the climate is pretty similar to Kona. Last year I’ve done a similar preparation in Florida and it worked pretty well. Once I was in Kona I adjusted much quicker than if I had come straight from Germany.”

Nils may not be as much in the focus as the main German contenders, Sebastian and Frodo. For example there was a lot of press when Frodo showed off the new Canyon Triathlon bike in Frankfurt. It went pretty much unnoticed that Nils was on the same model just one week later (you can see the bike and its distinct aero bottle and speed box in the picture). But it’s clear that he is focused on a good performance in Kona, not only in this year but in the long run.

After finishing in the Top 10 on his debut, his next logical step forward would be a spot on the podium and Nils is definitely one of the contenders. But at 29 years of age, he is still young for an Ironman triathlete and can afford to take a few more learning years before stepping up. I think just repeating his Top 10 from last year will be a good result for him – we have seen a lot of athletes that have finished well and then struggled the next year. He has the strength in all three disciplines to adjust to a changing race – he should be able to swim with the front group, then stay with the first group on the bike or even go with the faster bikers when they ride away. His run in Kona last year has shown that he’s still able to run strong in the last 10k when the final ranking is decided. We may end up with an all German male podium this year!

(Photo: Nils on his new Canyon bike while training in Texas. Credit: Sarah Fladung)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!

Career Highlights

• Multiple IM-distance winner (Barcelona, UK, Wales, Lanzarote)

2015 Season

• 2nd IM South Africa 9:31:20
• 1st 70.3 Staffordshire
• 1st IM UK 9:31:58

Last year Lucy was racing Kona for the first time as a Pro (she had raced before as an agegrouper). It almost seems as if she was a bit intimidated by the race and the field – and she didn’t have a good race, walking for most of the run with an injury she didn’t take the time to properly take care of as she was afraid she’d loose to much time in her Kona prep. Loosing her bike sponsor in the winter had her question the path she’d chosen – she’d decided to try Pro triathlon for a bit before returning to her career as a Medical Doctor.

After being back healthy (and with a new bike sponsor), she qualified for Kona without having to focus on points – a second place in the Regional Champs in South Africa took care of the bulk of points, and winning 70.3 Staffordshire put her in safe territory for Kona. Nonetheless she decided to race IM UK. “Winning on home soil is always special and this was the first time I’d entered a race with the sole goal of winning. I think this was probably the best race of my career to date and the support from the crowds was unrivalled.” After a 3:03 marathon she was leading by more than 30 minutes and could take some extra time to celebrate her win in the finish chute.

Going into Kona, Lucy feels very motivated to do well: “I’ve got unfinished business from last year! If I didn’t go back it would have beaten me – I don’t like getting beaten!” At the same time, she has learned from last year: “I’m definitely going into Kona much more rested. Last year I was digging myself a hole in the run up. This year I’m of the philosophy that it’s better to be fresh so have been far less scared of holding back when I’m tired.”

Lucy decided to do most of her preparation in the UK. “I have tried to stick to the formula that works for me: Keeping it fun and doing some low key races as training. I’ve done some decent time trials recently (100 mile and 50 mile) which have provided me with the confidence that I’m strong on flat fast courses as well as hilly ones.” (One should note that one of the ‘decent time trials’ was a 100 mile time of 3hr 48min – the second fastest 100 on record!) What about the Kona heat? “I’ve done a bit of heat prep this time – watt bike sessions in a hot yoga room. I’ve got a bit longer out in Kona this year before the race to acclimatise fully.”

What will be possible for Lucy this year? Based on the numbers, she should be just outside the Top 10. But as she has never really competed in Kona and usually races harder, slower courses she could actually do much better. Being a minute or two faster on the swim could have a big impact on what group she’ll be able to ride with and anyone who can run around 3:05 in the Kona heat will make up a lot of spots on the run. Maybe we’ll see her in the Top 10 this year? “I want to put together a race that lets me dance down the finish line smiling. If I’m doing that I’ll be proud of my performance. I know I’m fit so I hope I can do myself justice!”

(Photo: Lucy celebrating her win at IM UK. Supplied by Lucy)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!