Profile

Career Highlights

• Multiple IM Winner (Brasil, Cairns)
• 2nd Kona 2013

2015 Season

• 4th 70.3 Pucon, 70.3 Subic Bay
• 1st IM Cairns 8:18:01
• 2nd 70.3 Sunshine Coast

After his second place in Kona 2013 Luke struggled in the next season, still finishing fifteenth in Kona. A dominating win in Cairns shows that he has rediscovered his old form: “Winning Ironman Cairns was the highlight this year as a validation of consistent hard work.” Though at times the life of the “McGerdes Family” (Luke, his fiancee Beth Gerdes and their young daughter Wynne) seems a total whirlwind, they have managed to build an environment around preparing and racing triathlons: “The run work that I’ve been putting in with Beth consistently throughout this year is really starting to pay off. We love to see each other out on the course and it’s always a little lift to see the other one passing by. Beth actually stopped her race and shouted at me as I crested the final hill in Sunshine Coast 70.3 with Terenzo and it gave me the little push I needed to close in that final kilometer.”

Going into the year he identified his swim as one of the areas he needed to improve: “I’ve been working hard on it and have consistently swum better this year than last year. Moving to Australia allowed me to train with a local elite swim squad which I feel is invaluable. I feel really good about the swim heading into Kona.” A better swim will also allow him a slightly easier first two hours on the bike: “My main limiter in Kona are the tactics that go on at the beginning of the bike. I’m hoping for a race where I can race my own race.”

If his swim goes well he then be able to ride with Frodo from the start or with Sebi when the bike group breaks up. If he can follow that up with another sub-3h marathon he’ll be in a great position to fight for a podium finish. That seems to be what Luke has in mind as well: “I’d love to be back on the podium, the ultimate dream is obviously to win it. I think anything is possible.”

(Photo: Luke, Beth and Wynne after 70.3 Sunshine Coast. Supplied by Beth Gerdes)

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

Career Highlights

• Ironman Winner (Switzerland)

2015 Season

• 5th IM Malaysia 10:15:19
• 4th IM Western Australia 9:04:38
• 5th IM Melbourne 9:05:08
• DNF IM Cairns
• 1st IM Switzerland 9:21:05
• 2nd 70.3 Philippines
• 6th 70.3 Sunshine Coast

The last few years have been a total whirlwind for Beth: Starting a new relationship with an Australian Pro triathlete training in California who “happened” to live next door, wondering why she was vomiting at IM Wisconsin 2013, supporting her new boyfriend who finished 2nd in Kona, finding out she was pregnant, having her baby daughter Wynne at the end of May ’14 and getting back into Ironman racing in September. And that was just the start of her crazy busy 2015 racing season!

Roughly four months after giving birth to Wynne, Beth raced IM Malaysia, finishing 5th. In December she raced IM Western Australia, finishing fourth with a sub-3h marathon. In March she finished 5th at IM Melbourne, posting her first sub-5h IM bike leg. Even with a few more points from 70.3 racing, she didn’t have enough points to qualify. She lined up with Luke at IM Cairns only to DNF early on the bike when her bike kit didn’t include a valve extender and she couldn’t put air in her tires after fixing a flat. (She couldn’t be too mad at her bike mechanic – Luke had a great day and won the men’s race.) It was mid-June, Beth still need more points to qualify and time was running out. After a bit of back and forth, she settled on racing IM Switzerland, probably needing a second place finish for a Kona slot. She came off the bike in third place, quickly overtook Mareen Hufe (who “only” needed third to qualify) but was still more than ten minutes behind Mary Beth Ellis at the half-marathon mark. That quickly changed when MBE struggled and Beth ran a phenomenal 3:01 marathon (within a minute of the run course record). Beth took the lead at 36k and went on for her first Ironman win – and finally a safe position for a Kona slot. Of course this was the highlight of her season so far: “Winning Ironman Switzerland was my first Ironman win, so of course it was special. It was also unexpected, which made it even more of a personal highlight.”

Still, she didn’t take things easy to focus on Kona: In addition to racing two more 70.3s she and Luke bought a house in Noosa to use as a training base. “I am still in the groove and excited for Kona. I keep seeing progress with my training and racing, so that keeps me motivated. But I am absolutely ready for a break after Hawaii. I think Kona will be my last Ironman for the year, but I guess you never know.” Ask any question about Kona and you can tell how much she is looking forward to the race: “I’m excited to race the Top 40 women in the world in Ironman. Kona is the only time you can do that and truly see where you rank in the world-wide scheme of things. I think the pro race experience will be completely different from the age group race. Sitting on the sidelines the past two years, I have a good idea about how the race can unfold, and I’m excited to be a part of it. So even though much of the race and course is known to me, it will feel completely new and I’m not sure how it will unfold on the day.”

For a good Kona result, Beth needs to limit the time she looses to the rest of the field on the swim. “I need to get into a solid swim pack that swims around 1 hour. If I come out of the water with this group of girls, I can set myself up for a really good day. I love non-wetsuit swims without surf/beach entry, so Kona is a great course for me and I believe I can make it happen. I’m swimming 25-30k of long course meters per week with an elite squad which is giving me some uncharted swim fitness. I also thrive on the Kona atmosphere. Whether I’m racing or not, the Big Island during Ironman week is my happiest place on earth.” With her run strength she’ll be able to plow through most of the Kona field. If she manages to come off the bike not much more than 20 minutes behind the leaders, I’m sure we’ll see her run into the Top 10.

(Photo: Beth getting some extra motivation by daughter Wynne on the run at 70.3 Sunshine Coast. Supplied by Beth.)

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 Winner (Chattanogga, Texas)

2015 Season

• 5th IM Wisconsin 8:50:16
• 1st IM Chattanooga 8:12:32
• 1st IM Texas 8:07:03
• 7th 70.3 Racine

Matt was the “surprise” winner of IM Texas this year. He jokes that “some people are convinced that I didn’t win IMTX, but everyone else lost it”. But as with all “overnight successes”, this result has been a long time in the making and certainly no fluke: Matt has raced Kona before as an agregrouper (with a 2:53 marathon!) and had already won IM Chattanooga before. After his win in Texas he decided to focus on being a professional triathlete – in the summer he did not renew his contract as an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science and Athletic Training at Buena Vista University in Iowa.

Matt has prepared a long time for Texas: “I spent 8 months focused on winning that race so taking the tape was an amazing way to show how the hard work paid off.” But his long term focus has always been on Kona: “Kona is where all of my major goals in the sport revolve around. Everything else is just preparing to put myself in a position to enter that race well rested and in good form. Volume is a bit higher over the summer than it has been in previous years, but this has always been part of the plan regardless of what happened in Texas. The biggest thing I am doing now is paying more attention to recovery.”

Even though Matt has raced Kona before, this will be his first time as a Pro. It’s hard to predict if he can make the first bike group with his slower swim, but maybe he’s even better off if he can ride his own race and not be forced to react to the pace changes in the front group. That way he can save his legs for the run and he may end up having the fastest run split. He may not be the top US finisher this year but if his development continues in the same methodical fashion he may turn out to be the next US Kona winner.

(Photo: Matt on his bike at IM Texas, supplied by Matt)

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 Winner (Canada, St. George, Coeur d’Alene, New Zealand, Arizona)
• More than 50 AG and Pro IM finishes

2015 Season

• 1st IM Arizona 8:50:41
• 1st IM New Zealand 9:05:45
• 1st 70.3 Auckland, Raleigh, Mont Tremblant, Vineman
• DNF 70.3 Champs

Meredith is one of the most prolific and consistent Ironman athletes – with the exception of Kona. In her four Pro starts, she finished 7th (2013), 26th (2010) and DNF’d twice (2012 & 14). Last year’s DNF was caused by vomiting on the bike – she eventually had to be pulled off the run course.

She quickly bounced back, managed to finally win IM Arizona in November (after being 2nd both previous years before) and also IM New Zealand in March – for the fourth time in a row. This more or less secured her Kona slot, so she and coach Matt Dixon dialed back her IM schedule. She was still successfully racing a lot of 70.3s: “The highlight of our season was likely the four victory stretch from Ironman Raleigh 70.3 in early June through Vineman in the middle of July. It is rewarding to be able to stay consistent through four closely spaced races in this day and age of better competition in the women’s triathlon field.”

But Meredith’s focus was clearly on Kona and racing well: “While everyone is racing the best athletes in the world in Kona, I know for me personally, the main limiter is the conditions and the elements. If I were a Rinny or Sebastian (or many others of course!), my goals would be quite different. They KNOW they can conquer the conditions, they thrive in them and have prevailed in victory in Kona. It is a much different scenario for me since I have yet to perform in Kona and am still searching for the right pieces to the Kona puzzle. Athletes do want to be properly prepared for this beast – and that may mean coming out to the island much earlier than you would for a normal season A-race IM.”

In any race other than Kona, Meredith would be a podium candidate: Her strong swim and bike allow her to go with anyone, probably even with a Daniela Ryf. If she has any weakness against a top-class field, it’s her run: Her best marathon run was this year’s 3:07 from New Zealand – while she has been steadily getting faster, she will need a run close to three hours for a spot on the podium. She hasn’t shown that she’ll be able to do that this year, and her Kona struggles in the past years don’t increase the likelihood. But Meredith is trying a more focused approach this year, and I look forward to see the results on race day.

(Photo: Meredith during a track session. Supplied by Meredith)

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