Race

Previous Winners

Year	Male Winner	Time	Female Winner	Time
2005	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:20:15	Joanna Lawn (NZL)	09:30:14
2007	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:26:33	Joanna Lawn (NZL)	09:20:02
2008	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:24:49	Joanna Lawn (NZL)	09:16:00
2009	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:18:05	Gina Crawford (NZL)	09:18:26
2010	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:21:52	Joanna Lawn (NZL)	09:14:35
2011	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:31:07	Samantha Warriner (NZL)	09:28:24
2012	Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL)	03:55:03	Meredith Kessler (USA)	04:22:46
2013	Bevan Docherty (NZL)	08:15:35	Meredith Kessler (USA)	09:17:10
2014	Marko Albert (EST)	08:17:33	Meredith Kessler (USA)	09:08:46
2015	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:22:13	Meredith Kessler (USA)	09:05:45
2016	Cameron Brown (NZL)	08:07:58	Meredith Kessler (USA)	08:56:08

Last Year’s TOP 3

Male Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Cameron Brown	NZL	00:48:37	04:29:13	02:44:54	08:07:58
2	Joe Skipper	GBR	00:53:11	04:25:11	02:45:51	08:09:37
3	Callum Millward	NZL	00:46:49	04:31:13	02:48:01	08:10:57

Female Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Meredith Kessler	USA	00:47:49	04:56:40	03:06:03	08:56:08
2	Lucy Gossage	GBR	00:55:45	04:51:39	03:12:10	09:05:08
3	Carrie Lester	AUS	00:52:14	05:01:22	03:08:13	09:07:19

Course Records

Leg	Gender	Record	Athlete	Date
Total	overall	08:07:58	Cameron Brown	2016-03-05
Swim	overall	00:44:26	Dylan McNeice	2015-03-07
Bike	overall	04:22:13	Dougal Allan	2016-03-05
Run	overall	02:41:20	Matt Hanson	2016-03-05
Total	female	08:56:08	Meredith Kessler	2016-03-05
Swim	female	00:46:30	Monica Byrn	2005-05-03
Bike	female	04:51:39	Lucy Gossage	2016-03-05
Run	female	02:59:10	Jess Draskau-Petersson	2004-03-06

Course Rating

The Course Rating for IM New Zealand is 05:55.

Race Adjustments for IM New Zealand

Year	Adjustment	Swim Adj.	Bike Adj.	Run Adj.	# of Finishers	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating
2007	08:39	00:56	-00:21	06:30	24	08:39	00:56	-00:21	06:30
2008	09:27	01:37	02:46	04:33	36	09:03	01:16	01:13	05:31
2009	08:06	-00:01	03:19	03:03	38	08:44	00:51	01:55	04:42
2010	06:18	01:04	04:33	03:28	22	08:07	00:54	02:34	04:23
2011	-02:24	00:31	00:28	-00:58	24	06:01	00:49	02:09	03:19
2013	01:37	00:43	04:14	01:08	24	05:17	00:48	02:30	02:57
2014	04:18	01:05	00:08	02:35	31 of 41	05:09	00:51	02:09	02:54
2015	07:50	01:13	03:03	05:36	22 of 27	05:29	00:53	02:16	03:14
2016	09:28	01:56	09:17	03:28	37 of 49	05:55	01:00	03:03	03:16

KPR points and Prize Money

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

Male Race Participants

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	4	Marino Vanhoenacker	BEL	08:14:06	08:18:37	00:49:11	04:28:30	02:51:25	62% +11% -27% (25)	4
2	1	Cameron Brown	NZL	08:18:16	08:29:10	00:49:24	04:36:36	02:47:16	60% +1% -39% (33)	25
3	3	Terenzo Bozzone	NZL	08:18:26	08:26:06	00:46:41	04:32:44	02:54:01	40% +27% -33% (12)	18
4	2	Marko Albert	EST	08:21:52	08:33:04	00:45:46	04:34:30	02:56:36	94% +4% -2% (16)	33
5	5	Cyril Viennot	FRA	08:26:09	08:32:02	00:49:54	04:34:08	02:57:07	75% +16% -9% (17)	28
6	10	Mark Bowstead	NZL	08:35:27	08:54:17	00:47:19	04:36:54	03:06:14	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(107)
7	9	Per Bittner	GER	08:37:22	08:41:55	00:48:51	04:42:28	03:01:02	57% +11% -32% (20)	71
8	19	Philipp Koutny	SUI	08:39:42	08:56:02	00:50:35	04:41:19	03:02:48	36% +0% -64% (3)	(114)
9	7	Clayton Fettell	AUS	08:40:37	08:50:08	00:46:07	04:38:26	03:11:04	7% +18% -74% (9)	93
10	16	Simon Cochrane	NZL	08:42:29	09:09:00	00:49:29	04:44:56	03:03:04	56% +24% -19% (17)	163
11	6	Braden Currie	NZL	08:43:57	09:00:25	00:49:55	04:52:27	02:56:35	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(134)
12	25	Diego Van Looy	BEL	08:48:27	08:59:40	01:04:51	04:47:14	02:51:21	100% +0% -0% (2)	(131)
13	24	Carl Read	NZL	08:50:35	09:06:05	00:51:42	04:54:25	02:59:28	67% +10% -23% (10)	155
14	17	Scott Defilippis	USA	08:50:57	09:17:40	00:54:56	04:55:05	02:55:56	26% +23% -51% (23)	187
15	11	Guy Crawford	NZL	08:51:19	09:15:58	00:47:50	04:38:05	03:20:25	42% +29% -28% (13)	182
16	8	Bryan Rhodes	NZL	08:56:50	09:17:39	00:46:49	04:45:39	03:19:22	22% +0% -78% (27)	(187)
17	13	Todd Skipworth	AUS	08:59:25	09:34:08	00:44:54	04:53:34	03:15:56	18% +0% -82% (7)	(228)
18	20	Cedric Lassonde	FRA	09:00:59	09:08:30	00:54:12	04:52:42	03:09:05	85% +0% -15% (8)	160
19	18	Guillaume Jeannin	FRA	09:07:00	09:30:02	00:52:04	04:54:00	03:15:56	13% +22% -65% (6)	(222)
20	15	Sam Clark	NZL	09:12:08	09:20:31	00:55:49	04:56:48	03:14:32	24% +42% -33% (3)	194
21	22	Young Hwan Oh	KOR	09:18:40	09:33:35	01:01:13	05:04:10	03:08:18	37% +38% -25% (6)	227
22	21	Samuel Murphy	AUS	09:20:09	09:55:44	00:55:44	05:10:57	03:08:28	49% +0% -51% (2)	(268)
23	12	Graham O’Grady	NZL	09:25:34	09:49:25	00:45:01	04:47:47	03:47:46	56% +0% -44% (3)	(258)
24	14	Allister Caird	AUS	09:27:28	09:53:56	00:55:20	04:56:23	03:30:44	21% +0% -79% (4)	(265)
	23	Cameron Paul	NZL	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Female Race Participants

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	31	Meredith Kessler	USA	09:04:46	09:20:24	00:48:24	05:01:59	03:09:22	60% +10% -30% (26)	11
2	32	Carrie Lester	AUS	09:12:17	09:25:23	00:53:05	05:05:03	03:09:09	57% +31% -12% (20)	18
3	33	Yvonne Van Vlerken	NED	09:14:20	09:16:20	00:57:09	05:00:26	03:11:45	77% +0% -23% (28)	6
4	36	Laura Siddall	GBR	09:18:16	09:37:36	00:56:32	05:01:15	03:15:29	46% +44% -10% (8)	40
5	34	Annabel Luxford	AUS	09:25:23	09:32:02	00:51:28	05:01:16	03:27:39	65% +0% -35% (4)	29
6	37	Emma Bilham	SUI	09:26:34	09:44:46	00:53:29	05:12:43	03:15:23	64% +0% -36% (3)	(52)
7	45	Jocelyn McCauley	USA	09:27:22	09:47:29	00:55:53	05:17:18	03:09:11	28% +30% -42% (5)	57
8	39	Michelle Gailey	AUS	09:41:15	09:52:26	00:53:33	05:24:56	03:17:45	70% +0% -30% (10)	(66)
9	35	Kate Bevilaqua	AUS	09:44:10	10:11:07	00:54:47	05:19:03	03:25:20	22% +6% -72% (28)	(99)
10	43	Mackenzie Madison	USA	09:45:17	09:54:57	00:58:05	05:17:51	03:24:21	53% +0% -47% (12)	68
11	48	Vanessa Murray	NZL	09:48:53	10:02:44	00:53:26	05:24:23	03:26:04	100% +0% -0% (3)	83
12	40	Alyssa Godesky	USA	10:00:39	10:15:06	00:59:33	05:31:10	03:24:56	52% +36% -13% (14)	105
13	41	Yvette Grice	GBR	10:02:27	10:08:08	00:55:59	05:36:03	03:25:25	71% +20% -9% (24)	94
14	44	Wendy McAlpine	AUS	10:07:07	10:20:31	00:56:39	05:25:09	03:40:19	28% +0% -72% (2)	(116)
15	38	Erin Furness	NZL	10:08:10	10:24:40	01:00:36	05:31:31	03:31:02	61% +11% -28% (6)	(120)
16	42	Tamsyn Hayes	NZL	10:09:57	10:23:26	01:00:15	05:23:47	03:40:56	52% +7% -41% (12)	119
17	47	Tracy Morrison	AUS	10:21:47	10:30:40	01:00:25	05:45:19	03:31:03	100% +0% -0% (3)	132
18	46	Jessica Mitchell	AUS	10:37:45	10:57:47	01:01:03	05:38:04	03:53:38	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(146)
	49	Fawn Whiting	CAN	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

After he had to cancel last year’s start at IM New Zealand just before boarding the plane, Marino Vanhoenacker will try to take the win, completing his collection of Ironman wins on all continents. He is my pre-race favorite, but he faces strong competition by twelve-time winner Cameron Brown and Terenzo Bozzone who seems to have unlocked the secret to fast Ironman racing after his 7:51 at Western Australia. 2014 winner Marco Albert and Cyril Viennot won’t be too far off the front either:

• Marino Vanhoenacker: 35% (2-1)
• Cameron Brown: 24% (3-1)
• Terenzo Bozzone: 24% (3-1)
• Marko Albert: 10% (9-1)
• Cyril Viennot: 7% (14-1)

Female Race Participants

Meredith Kessler is again the pre-race favorite, she’s going for a “six-peat” after having won from 2012 to 2016. A win would also secure a Kona slot for her, allowing her to plan the year with a clear Kona focus. After finishing tenth in Kona a decent result (probably podium or better) would allow Carrie Lester to also plan her season without worrying about scoring more points. But Yvonne Van Vlerken and Laura Siddall (both backing up after Challenge Wanaka) will work hard to make things interesting with a strong bike. Jocelyn McCauley has won an IM before (IM Mallorca 2016), while some other strong racers (Emma Bilham, two time second place finisher in European IMs last year or Annabel Luxford who is still looking for her breakthrough IM performance) don’t even show up in the statistical odds but could easily finish at least on the podium:

• Meredith Kessler: 51% (1-1)
• Carrie Lester: 26% (3-1)
• Yvonne Van Vlerken: 10% (9-1)
• Laura Siddall: 7% (14-1)
• Jocelyn McCauley: 5% (18-1)

Wanaka – New Zealand Double

Last year there were nine athletes doing the Wanaka – New Zealand double at 14 days apart, five of them successful:

• Gina Crawford DNF & 09:32:51
• Laura Siddall 09:30:19 & 09:09:08
• Dougal Allan 08:31:53 & 08:24:27
• Dylan McNeice 09:10:29 & DNF
• Matt Randall DNF & 09:49:37
• Matthew Russell 08:42:53 & 08:15:25
• Chris Sanson 09:16:59 & 08:53:38
• Joe Skipper DNF & 08:09:37
• Brad Williams 09:50:44 & 09:32:59

This year there are ten athletes attempting the double, eight of them have finished Wanaka:

• Emma Bilham 09:30:39
• Alyssa Godesky 09:58:58
• Yvette Grice 10:45:01
• Tamsyn Hayes 10:08:36
• Laura Siddall 09:16:11
• Yvonne Van Vlerken 09:15:44
• Per Bittner DNF
• Allister Caird 08:46:43
• Simon Cochrane 08:48:45
• Bryan Rhodes DNF

Previous Winners

Year	Male Winner	Time	Female Winner	Time
2007	Luke Dragstra (CAN)	08:54:17	Belinda Granger (AUS)	09:38:26
2008	Marc Pschebizin (GER)	08:47:49	Gina Crawford (NZL)	09:33:46
2009	Chris McDonald (AUS)	08:37:41	Gina Crawford (NZL)	09:28:27
2010	Richard Ussher (NZL)	08:34:41	Gina Crawford (NZL)	09:28:57
2011	Jamie Whyte (NZL)	09:03:53	Belinda Granger (AUS)	10:26:17
2012	Aaron Farlow (AUS)	08:41:53	Gina Crawford (NZL)	09:44:06
2013	Dylan McNeice (NZL)	08:51:18	Gina Crawford (NZL)	09:24:31
2014	Dylan McNeice (NZL)	08:38:48	Candice Hammond (NZL)	09:33:54
2015	Dylan McNeice (NZL)	08:37:14	Gina Crawford (NZL)	09:31:51
2016	Dougal Allan (NZL)	08:31:53	Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED)	09:26:50

Last Year’s TOP 3

Male Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Dougal Allan	NZL	00:54:39	04:36:06	02:57:23	08:31:53
2	Maik Twelsiek	GER	00:48:44	04:37:57	03:09:55	08:40:48
3	Matthew Russell	USA	00:54:30	04:48:55	02:54:29	08:42:53

Female Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Yvonne Van Vlerken	NED	00:54:32	05:15:53	03:12:01	09:26:50
2	Laura Siddall	GBR	00:54:31	05:12:29	03:19:05	09:30:19
3	Julia Grant	NZL	00:58:39	06:03:13	03:32:45	10:39:42

Meredith Hill was third across the line with a time of 10:34, but racing as an Amateur.

Course Records

Leg	Gender	Record	Athlete	Date
Total	overall	08:31:53	Dougal Allan	2016-02-20
Swim	overall	00:45:32	Dylan McNeice	2015-02-22
Bike	overall	04:30:51	Dougal Allan	2015-02-22
Run	overall	02:48:04	Marc Pschebizin	2008-01-19
Total	female	09:24:31	Gina Crawford	2013-01-19
Swim	female	00:50:01	Gina Crawford	2008-01-19
Bike	female	05:08:30	Gina Crawford	2013-01-19
Run	female	03:08:59	Rebekah Keat	2010-01-16

Dylan has posted a faster swim time in 2016 (43:30), but the swim course was a bit shortened due to the wind moving the buoys.

Course Rating

The Course Rating for Challenge Wanaka is – 05:53.

Race Adjustments for Challenge Wanaka

Year	Adjustment	Swim Adj.	Bike Adj.	Run Adj.	# of Finishers	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating
2007	03:50	00:42	-06:30	04:29	7	03:50	00:42	-06:30	04:29
2008	00:37	01:11	-09:42	01:33	16 of 17	02:13	00:56	-08:06	03:01
2009	04:38	-03:36	-01:31	03:57	12 of 13	03:02	-00:35	-05:55	03:20
2010	00:17	-01:47	-01:12	02:41	15	02:20	-00:53	-04:44	03:10
2011	-26:34	-02:44	-22:30	-03:42	15	-03:26	-01:15	-08:17	01:48
2012	-08:53	-01:11	-07:26	-03:22	19	-04:21	-01:14	-08:09	00:56
2013	-05:24	-05:42	-09:01	01:27	15	-04:30	-01:52	-08:16	01:00
2014	-03:40	-01:02	-03:28	00:36	10 of 18	-04:24	-01:46	-07:40	00:57
2015	-11:45	00:23	-04:29	-07:23	23 of 27	-05:13	-01:32	-07:19	00:02
2016	-11:56	01:43	-12:36	-01:21	15 of 23	-05:53	-01:12	-07:51	-00:06

Prize Money

Challenge Wanaka has a total prize purse of 70.000 NZD.

Male Race Participants

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	1	Dougal Allan	NZL	08:32:22	08:36:44	00:59:24	04:31:45	02:56:13	76% +11% -13% (7)	50
2	3	Luke McKenzie	AUS	08:38:01	08:36:05	00:49:01	04:36:59	03:07:01	66% +21% -13% (27)	45
3	5	Courtney Ogden	AUS	08:47:20	08:43:42	00:51:34	04:51:52	02:58:53	67% +1% -31% (21)	74
4	2	Per Bittner	GER	08:49:27	08:41:55	00:50:27	04:49:56	03:04:03	57% +11% -32% (20)	71
5	4	Luke Bell	AUS	08:52:40	08:55:25	00:48:22	04:50:38	03:08:40	16% +3% -80% (32)	110
6	10	Simon Cochrane	NZL	08:57:52	09:09:00	00:51:10	04:56:30	03:05:12	56% +24% -19% (17)	163
7	11	Bryan Rhodes	NZL	09:07:36	09:17:39	00:48:08	04:54:53	03:19:35	22% +0% -78% (27)	(187)
8	9	Allister Caird	AUS	09:29:19	09:53:56	00:57:10	05:06:39	03:20:30	21% +0% -79% (4)	(265)
	6	Mike Phillips	NZL	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)
	12	Nathan Miller	AUS	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Female Race Participants

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Exp. Swim	Exp. Bike	Exp. Run	Consistency	Overall
1	50	Yvonne Van Vlerken	NED	09:23:37	09:16:20	00:58:23	05:08:08	03:12:06	77% +0% -23% (28)	6
2	51	Laura Siddall	GBR	09:28:31	09:37:36	00:57:49	05:08:43	03:16:59	46% +44% -10% (8)	40
3	62	Emma Bilham	SUI	09:39:06	09:44:46	00:55:12	05:21:39	03:17:14	64% +0% -36% (3)	(52)
4	61	Julia Viellehner	GER	09:53:15	09:58:39	01:02:25	05:36:41	03:09:10	n/a (1 IM Pro race)	(76)
5	54	Simone Maier	GER	09:55:02	10:01:31	01:06:09	05:25:48	03:18:05	65% +0% -35% (8)	(81)
6	59	Michelle Gailey	AUS	09:56:44	09:52:26	00:55:37	05:35:55	03:20:12	70% +0% -30% (10)	(66)
7	55	Alyssa Godesky	USA	10:10:54	10:15:06	01:01:09	05:38:54	03:25:50	52% +36% -13% (14)	105
8	56	Yvette Grice	GBR	10:15:46	10:08:08	00:57:47	05:45:38	03:27:21	71% +20% -9% (24)	94
9	57	Tamsyn Hayes	NZL	10:16:55	10:23:26	01:01:24	05:29:17	03:41:14	52% +7% -41% (12)	119
10	53	Julia Grant	NZL	10:23:41	10:19:07	01:00:36	05:48:20	03:29:45	29% +0% -71% (6)	112
11	60	Jennifer Lentzke	CAN	10:59:54	10:56:55	01:14:23	05:52:36	03:47:55	72% +0% -28% (4)	(146)
	52	Meredith Hill	AUS	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)
	58	Bonnie Van Wilgenburg	GBR	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a (no IM Pro race)	(n/a)

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

Last years’s winner (and course record holder) Douglas Allan is the statistical favorite for this year’s male race. After a disappointing result in Kona, Luke McKenzie will want to show his return to good form at Wanaka as a start to a better 2017 racing season. The field may be small, but on a a good day a lot of athletes could contend for the win.

• Dougal Allan: 56% (1-1)
• Luke McKenzie: 24% (3-1)
• Per Bittner: 7% (13-1)
• Courtney Ogden: 7% (14-1)
• Simon Cochrane: 4% (27-1)
• Luke Bell: 2% (40-1)

Female Race Participants

Yvonne Van Vlerken is the defending champion from 2016, she’s the clear front runner for this year as well. But last year she had to work hard to beat Laura Siddall who has been getting better and better since last year. Emma Bilham could be an interesting addition, she was second twice last summer at IM France and IM Switzerland but will need an excellent bike leg on the tough Wanaka course to be in contention:

• Yvonne Van Vlerken: 66% (1-1)
• Laura Siddall: 22% (4-1)
• Emma Bilham: 8% (12-1)

Race Conditions & Course Records

As always, IM Western Australia has been a fast course. Last year there was some wind that lead to a slower swim and a “less fast” bike, this year’s conditions were quick even for WA (adjustment of 17:32 leading to a new course rating of 13:57). Not surprisingly, we’ve seen a large number of fast results.

First of all, Terenzo Bozzone had a fantastic race and posted a new overall course record with a balanced race. He improved on Luke McKenzie’s time from last year, which was also the fastest Ironman on Australian soil. In addition, Terenzo improved on the Australian continental record (meaning Australia and New Zealand) – until today it was held by Chris McCormack (7:54 from Challenge Roth 2007). Andy Potts’ 7:55:12 finish was a new US fastest time, he improved 10 seconds on Andy Starykowicz’s 7:55:22 from IM Florida 2013.

The female side saw some fast times as well. After IM Arizona this was another race where the Top 3 women finished under 9 hours – for Melissa, Mareen and Sarah it was the first time they finished that quick. Melissa also improved Britta Martin’s 2014 overall course record, and Mareen’s bike time was faster than her own bike course record by almost three minutes.

Male Race Results

So far Terenzo’s Ironman results haven’t been quite up to his stellar 70.3 racing, but there can be no doubt that he absolutely nailed Ironman Western Australia. It wasn’t a surprise to see him come out of the water close to the lead, but then he posted a massive new personal bike best: His 4:10 was more 20 minutes faster than ever before and gave him a solid lead in T2. In addition he almost posted a marathon PR (his 2:50 was just a minute off his best time from his first race at IM New Zealand 2009) to win his first Ironman race.

After a somewhat disappointing 11th place in Kona, Andy Potts showed that you shouldn’t write him off for a Kona podium just yet: He biked and ran faster than ever before, improving on his IM PR (dating back to IM Cozumel 2010) by 20 minutes. Even with Terenzo’s fantastic performance, he was able to keep the race interesting with a 2:44 marathon, slowly eating into the lead and closing the gap to less than four minutes at the end.

Nick Kastelein showed that training with Jan Frodeno (and as far as I know Terenzo as well) helped him developed into a good Ironman athlete. In only his second IM-distance race he finished on the podium in front of a number of Kona caliber athletes. Jens Petersen-Bach finished 4th after his DNF in Kona, while 2014 winner Denis Chevrot took 5th place.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected	Prize Money
1	Terenzo Bozzone	NZL	00:46:23	04:10:49	02:50:38	07:51:26	-26:28	US$ 10000
2	Andy Potts	USA	00:46:21	04:20:05	02:44:41	07:55:12	-11:54	US$ 5000
3	Nick Kastelein	AUS	00:46:10	04:22:12	02:53:01	08:05:24	-01:39	US$ 3250
4	Jens Petersen-Bach	DEN	00:49:54	04:28:34	02:48:45	08:11:20	-09:29	US$ 2500
5	Denis Chevrot	FRA	00:46:22	04:28:39	02:56:03	08:15:23	-03:56	US$ 1750
6	Esben Hovgaard	DEN	00:50:02	04:25:31	02:58:21	08:18:00	-16:27	US$ 1250
7	Michael Fox	AUS	00:46:17	04:29:58	02:57:55	08:18:07	-04:21	US$ 750
8	Konstantin Bachor	GER	00:49:59	04:18:17	03:07:02	08:19:51	-05:12	US$ 500
9	Courtney Ogden	AUS	00:50:03	04:31:00	03:01:45	08:27:46	00:42
10	Levi Maxwell	AUS	00:53:08	04:38:11	02:52:59	08:28:28	-19:35
11	Giles Clayton	AUS	00:47:40	04:33:04	03:02:40	08:28:40	n/a
12	Luke Martin	AUS	00:50:11	04:30:52	03:06:44	08:32:10	-08:55
13	Jonathan Shearon	USA	00:53:29	04:27:23	03:07:02	08:32:37	-00:11
14	Till Schramm	GER	00:53:35	04:40:56	03:01:36	08:40:59	-20:45
15	Derek Cross	AUS	00:49:56	04:37:18	03:10:34	08:42:51	n/a
16	Carl Read	NZL	00:53:48	04:41:29	03:05:38	08:46:42	03:53
17	Petr Vabrousek	CZE	00:56:58	04:47:29	03:18:08	09:07:50	21:28
18	Bryce McMaster	NZL	00:49:59	05:31:33	03:34:12	10:03:21	n/a
19	Patrick Evoe	USA	00:53:33	04:31:16	05:01:15	10:30:32	1:54:17
	Matt Burton	AUS	00:50:08	04:27:11		DNF
	Matthew Pellow	AUS	00:46:23	04:45:08		DNF
	Vincent Depuiset	FRA	01:09:47	06:02:57		DNF
	Clayton Fettell	AUS	00:46:10			DNF
	Jeff Symonds	CAN	00:50:03			DNF
	Leigh Stabryla	AUS	00:53:14			DNF
	Allister Caird	AUS	00:56:55			DNF
	Michael Louys	BEL	01:04:15			DNF

With his win (and points from 70.3 Champs) Terenzo is safe for a July slot. Andy Potts can also start to plan his 2017 season with a clear Kona focus. Nick Kastelein needs about another 500 points – a win in a P-500 70.3 is probably enough to qualify, but racing another Ironman race is likely a benefit if he want to go to Kona 2017.

Female Race Results

Just a minute behind after the swim Melissa Hauschildt quickly took the lead on the bike. Mareen Hufe exited the swim with an improved Sarah Piampiano and they rode together for some time before Mareen put down the hammer, gapped Sarah, closed the distance to Melissa and finally took the lead with a new bike course record time. But Melissa proved to be the better runner, re-taking the lead by the half marathon mark and winning in course record time – also improving her IM winning record to 4 wins and 1 DNF. Mareen kept the pressure up on the run, and she was less than three minutes behind in second place.

Even though she “only” finished third, Sarah is probably happy with her race: A good swim and the fastest run split gave her the first sub-9 finish of her career. At the end of the season Asa Lundstroem had another solid race, but she probably wasn’t fresh enough to finish higher up than in fourth place in the strong WA field. “Lisi” Gruber lost too much time on the bike to contend for more than fifth place.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected	Prize Money
1	Melissa Hauschildt	AUS	00:54:29	04:48:46	03:06:39	08:54:39	-05:53	US$ 10000
2	Mareen Hufe	GER	00:59:12	04:41:32	03:12:25	08:57:36	-19:47	US$ 5000
3	Sarah Piampiano	USA	00:59:11	04:49:29	03:05:13	08:58:51	-13:15	US$ 3250
4	Asa Lundstroem	SWE	01:00:55	04:47:23	03:13:20	09:06:08	-05:36	US$ 2500
5	Elisabeth Gruber	AUT	01:00:50	05:04:40	03:05:17	09:15:59	02:59	US$ 1750
6	Kym Coogan	AUS	00:57:53	05:09:21	03:23:50	09:36:36	-06:13	US$ 1250
7	Vanessa Murray	NZL	00:53:33	05:10:12	03:38:28	09:48:05	16:42	US$ 750
8	Tracy Morrison	AUS	01:00:02	05:26:08	03:32:47	10:04:10	-01:02	US$ 500
9	Emi Sakai	JPN	01:09:02	05:10:53	03:39:34	10:06:12	01:07
10	Georgia Stott	AUS	00:53:27	05:22:59	03:49:06	10:12:16	n/a
11	Rahel Bellinga	NED	01:06:58	05:00:28	04:02:04	10:16:11	10:55
	Lauren Parker	AUS	00:52:31			DNF

With regards to Kona slots, Mel, Sarah and Asa should be safe for a July slot (being able to use Kona or 70.3 Champs points), while Mareen still needs another podium result in an IM.

Race Conditions

This year IM Cozumel had the fastest conditions ever for that course, mainly on the bike (maybe not too much wind?). Winner Frederik Van Lierde posted a new course record and got pretty close to breaking 8 hours, while female swim leader (and eventual second place finisher) Lauren Brandon posted a new swim course record, improving on Bree Wee’s 2009 time.

Male Race Results

Frederik Van Lierde was among the first in T1, then posted a strong bike to be within seconds of the lead in T2. He then went on to win the race by posting the strongest run of the bike leaders, winning with a new course record time. Matt Russell ran through the field by posting the second fastest marathon of the day and as last year finished in second place. After winning his first Ironman at Mont Tremblant, Chris Leiferman had another solid race and claimed the last spot on the podium.

Frederik Van Lierde validated his AQ Kona slot and is the first athlete to be a secure Kona 2017 Pro participant. In addition to him Matt Russell has enough points to be safe for a Kona slot.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected	Prize Money
1	Frederik Van Lierde	BEL	00:43:46	04:22:37	02:52:42	08:03:09	-09:54	US$ 20000
2	Matthew Russell	USA	00:48:20	04:21:28	02:51:18	08:04:24	-28:37	US$ 10000
3	Chris Leiferman	USA	00:48:28	04:21:09	02:55:58	08:09:11	02:40	US$ 6500
4	Michael Weiss	AUT	00:48:26	04:17:45	02:59:55	08:10:44	-07:51	US$ 4000
5	Chris McDonald	AUS	00:48:44	04:21:08	03:02:35	08:15:59	-20:08	US$ 3000
6	Guilherme Manocchio	BRA	00:47:18	04:26:14	03:01:23	08:19:26	-13:37	US$ 2000
7	Jozsef Major	HUN	00:57:13	04:32:31	02:46:50	08:21:33	-22:34	US$ 1500
8	Karl-Johan Danielsson	SWE	00:47:14	04:22:33	03:08:44	08:23:01	-24:44	US$ 1250
9	Miquel Blanchart Tinto	ESP	00:44:09	04:39:53	02:57:03	08:24:44	-00:53	US$ 1000
10	Philipp Koutny	SUI	00:48:16	04:32:43	03:04:22	08:29:16	n/a	US$ 750
11	Barrett Brandon	USA	00:43:37	04:41:02	03:10:14	08:39:39	07:02
12	Andrey Lyatskiy	RUS	00:46:39	04:42:43	03:07:21	08:41:21	-07:50
13	Kevin Collington	USA	00:43:46	04:40:48	03:17:46	08:45:52	28:11
14	Anton Blokhin	UKR	00:46:36	04:42:53	03:14:42	08:48:22	12:30
15	Alan Carrillo	MEX	00:51:32	04:48:09	03:10:22	08:54:46	n/a
16	Frederic Garcia	FRA	00:57:05	04:51:53	03:03:51	08:58:05	-14:18
17	Scott Bradley	USA	00:58:16	04:37:11	03:18:44	08:59:52	-17:49
18	Josep Vinolas	ESP	00:51:24	04:45:11	03:19:44	09:00:20	08:29
19	Oliver Gonzalez	MEX	00:46:32	05:05:38	03:10:55	09:08:07	-12:01
20	Jarrod Shoemaker	USA	00:43:44	05:12:26	03:08:57	09:09:10	n/a
21	Jorge Vazquez	MEX	00:48:21	04:57:52	03:34:21	09:26:48	-20:13
22	Gilian Oriet	SUI	00:54:41	05:09:11	03:28:52	09:39:58	-10:24
23	Igor Amorelli	BRA	00:43:41	04:23:09	04:31:06	09:41:32	1:13:49
24	Bruno Matheus	BRA	00:47:11	05:13:42	03:35:16	09:41:32	n/a
25	Sergio Quezada	MEX	00:48:18	05:08:53	03:41:42	09:44:17	-13:46
26	Eduardo Chong	MEX	00:57:00	05:08:12	03:39:28	09:49:29	-04:13
27	Stephen Bayliss	GBR	00:43:41	05:20:57	03:47:03	09:55:49	1:17:33
28	Derek Yorek	USA	01:03:14	05:06:26	04:02:12	10:21:46	n/a
29	Rod De Kanel	FRA	00:46:34	05:02:11	04:50:39	10:44:58	35:34
30	Scott Defilippis	USA	00:51:54	04:56:29	05:08:10	11:02:05	1:10:02
	Mark Oude Bennink	NED	00:43:48			DNF
	Alessandro Degasperi	ITA	00:48:21			DNF
	Trevor Delsaut	FRA	00:48:25			DNF
	Christopher Bagg	USA	00:48:27			DNF

Female Race Results

Lauren Brandon was leading after the swim by almost five minutes, posting a new swim course record. She reached T2 together with the “Danish Duo” of Michelle Vesterby and Camilla Pedersen. Camilla was leading the race for most of the run, but eventually faded at the end and finished in third place. In her first IM finish in Texas Lauren was also leading into T1 and T2 but the struggled on the run (3:56). In Cozumel she ran a steady 3:23 and was able to finish in second place. The win went to Michelle Vesterby who had the best run of the leaders into T2, ending her 2016 racing year with her third Ironman win. Last year’s winner Corinne Abraham finished fourth after a long injury break – she posted the best marathon of the day and without a double flat towards the end of the bike she could have finished on the podium. Rachel McBride had a solid day to finish fifth in her first full Ironman race.

After her 6th place in Kona Michelle Vesterby has enough points to be safe for a Kona slot. Camilla Pedersen is close but needs a few more points, she should be fine with two good 70.3 results.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected	Prize Money
1	Michelle Vesterby	DEN	00:50:30	04:54:14	03:19:18	09:08:06	-01:57	US$ 20000
2	Lauren Brandon	USA	00:45:43	04:58:52	03:23:53	09:12:43	n/a	US$ 10000
3	Camilla Pedersen	DEN	00:50:26	04:54:16	03:25:34	09:14:11	06:40	US$ 6500
4	Corinne Abraham	GBR	00:56:48	05:10:41	03:07:44	09:19:14	09:52	US$ 4000
5	Rachel McBride	CAN	00:53:06	04:59:14	03:32:42	09:29:33	n/a	US$ 3000
6	Celine Schaerer	SUI	00:50:35	05:18:02	03:23:50	09:37:20	16:25	US$ 2000
7	Kelly Fillnow	USA	01:02:41	05:12:58	03:18:13	09:38:23	-08:15	US$ 1500
8	Nicole Valentine	USA	01:00:58	05:20:26	03:17:22	09:43:26	-32:59	US$ 1250
9	Annett Finger	GER	00:56:52	05:16:22	03:28:40	09:46:15	-12:09	US$ 1000
10	Lauren Capone	USA	00:56:52	05:36:32	03:10:40	09:50:21	13:16	US$ 750
11	April Gellatly	USA	00:53:10	05:12:11	03:43:07	09:53:46	-09:47
12	Palmira Alvarez	MEX	01:02:54	05:18:54	03:32:07	09:58:13	-48:06
13	Amanda Wendorff	USA	00:56:51	05:13:36	03:44:11	09:59:18	14:54
14	Neilia Bliss	USA	01:02:49	05:22:16	03:49:48	10:20:35	09:29
15	Amelia McCracken	USA	01:10:23	05:37:21	03:47:23	10:41:01	n/a
	Molly Roohi	USA	00:59:29	05:20:53		DNF
	Caroline St-Pierre	CAN	00:56:55	05:55:01		DNF
	Amy Vantassel	USA	01:02:47	05:53:04		DNF
	Amber Ferreira	USA	00:50:34			DNF

Race Conditions

This year’s edition of IM Arizona has been another extremely fast race: Calm and relatively cool conditions lead to an adjustment of 24:21, the fastest ever on the Arizona course – no surprise when we’ve seen a number of crazy fast times.

Lionel Sanders posted a new course record of 7:44:29 which is also the fastest time ever in an Ironman®-branded race. (There’s been a bit of uproar when Ironman started calling the time a world-record – completely ignoring Jan Frodeno’s 7:35 from Roth this year. I completely understand that they don’t want to call attention to Roth, but completely ignoring it seems more like a sign of weakness to me.) Lionel had a great race, he posted new “personal bests” in each of the legs. He had the fastest bike leg of the day (4:04:38, the fastest bike leg of the year but still short of the course record 4:03 by Andy Starykowicz) and the second fastest run leg. If his race produced a world-record, it his “on-land-time”: His bike and run took a combined 6:47:09 (excluding transitions), the previously fastest time was by Jan at Roth 2016 (combined 6:47:25). Rafael Goncalves posted a new swim record (45:31, improving on Kieran Doe’s time from 2008); and Brent McMahon had the fastest run of the day, his 2:40:17 is also new course record.

Even if Meredith’s 8:48 was a few minutes short of her own course record, there were fast times on the female side as well: Yvonne Van Vlerken posted a new bike course record, her 4:40:40 improved on Meredith’s 4:42 from last year. Angela Naeth was even faster, but she had to end her race shortly after T2.

Male Race Results

Rafael Goncalves was leading after the swim before Cameron Wurf quickly went to the front, apparently chasing the bike course record. He was first into T2, but Lionel Sanders took the lead shortly after. Lionel was racing smart and had enough in the tank to secure a new course record with very solid last few miles. Brent McMahon was faster than ever before in all his legs, but the best possible finish for him was second place. TJ Tollakson had a solid day, repeating his third place from last year, also posting a new personal best.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected	Prize Money
1	Lionel Sanders	CAN	00:53:45	04:04:38	02:42:31	07:44:29	-27:37	US$ 20000
2	Brent McMahon	CAN	00:48:21	04:18:20	02:40:17	07:50:15	-07:08	US$ 10000
3	TJ Tollakson	USA	00:49:40	04:11:59	02:56:43	08:02:30	-12:04	US$ 6500
4	David Plese	SLO	00:53:57	04:20:46	02:45:17	08:04:29	-13:23	US$ 4000
5	Giulio Molinari	ITA	00:49:35	04:15:07	02:58:25	08:06:47	n/a	US$ 3000
6	Pedro Gomes	POR	00:53:46	04:21:02	02:52:54	08:11:15	-06:17	US$ 2000
7	Joe Gambles	AUS	00:49:50	04:21:58	02:57:12	08:12:36	-00:19	US$ 1500
8	Matic Modic	SLO	00:56:48	04:22:54	02:54:31	08:17:57	-12:20	US$ 1250
9	Per Bittner	GER	00:49:45	04:26:23	02:58:24	08:18:23	-01:12	US$ 1000
10	Jens Frommhold	GER	00:55:37	04:21:55	03:00:32	08:21:48	-44:38	US$ 750
11	Jose Estrangeiro	POR	00:49:51	04:32:18	03:00:31	08:26:38	n/a
12	Jesse Vondracek	USA	00:54:03	04:28:08	03:01:26	08:27:23	-29:56
13	Tripp Hipple	USA	00:53:53	04:28:26	03:01:39	08:27:45	n/a
14	Cameron Wurf	AUS	00:49:52	04:05:45	03:28:21	08:27:53	-33:46
15	Sam Long	USA	00:55:37	04:23:49	03:06:36	08:29:07	n/a
16	Adam O’Meara	CAN	00:49:50	04:32:16	03:10:50	08:37:24	-30:45
17	Josh Terwoord	USA	01:02:38	04:41:27	02:48:45	08:37:52	n/a
18	Pete Jacobs	AUS	00:49:42	04:42:32	03:03:36	08:40:34	15:31
19	Chad Holderbaum	USA	00:53:57	04:30:28	03:12:03	08:40:43	-01:59
20	Philip Graves	GBR	00:49:37	04:15:12	03:32:21	08:41:48	15:01
21	Jordan Bryden	CAN	00:49:51	04:32:08	03:16:09	08:42:54	-22:06
22	Hendrik-Jan Verhaegen	BEL	00:54:09	04:38:36	03:08:54	08:46:35	-17:07
23	Dylan Gleeson	CAN	00:54:00	04:27:32	03:22:05	08:47:25	-07:08
24	Douglas MacLean	USA	00:57:59	04:43:13	03:02:50	08:48:53	-06:18
25	Yu Hsiao	TWN	00:56:58	04:38:02	03:09:35	08:49:00	n/a
26	James Lubinski	USA	01:03:00	04:39:57	03:06:29	08:54:27	-04:15
27	Patrick Bless	GER	00:55:44	04:52:36	03:02:36	08:55:16	-05:41
28	Patrick Brady	USA	01:04:51	04:37:37	03:07:04	08:55:17	n/a
29	Colin Laughery	USA	01:02:14	04:36:46	03:10:50	08:55:19	01:07
30	Benson Hall	USA	00:55:41	04:30:18	03:25:33	08:56:05	n/a
31	Matt Shanks	USA	01:00:01	04:47:15	03:06:09	08:57:42	-23:37
32	Anthony Toth	CAN	00:56:20	04:43:22	03:17:52	09:02:06	-03:13
33	Dirk Baelus	BEL	00:58:04	04:47:37	03:19:12	09:09:23	18:03
34	Nathan Champness	CAN	00:54:07	04:34:16	03:37:36	09:11:53	00:42
35	Vinicio Ibarra	MEX	00:49:43	04:46:25	03:31:33	09:12:59	n/a
36	Dantley Young	USA	01:07:03	04:53:58	03:08:08	09:16:34	-12:16
37	Elmar Heger	GER	00:57:02	04:41:41	03:34:13	09:18:28	-13:25
38	Rafael Goncalves	BRA	00:45:31	04:49:13	03:47:34	09:27:06	n/a
39	Adam O’Connor	USA	00:50:19	05:11:35	04:37:07	10:45:37	n/a
	Thomas Gerlach	USA	00:53:49	04:23:35		DNF
	Raymond Botelho	USA	00:55:36	04:32:54		DNF
	Robbie Wade	IRL	00:54:01	04:41:39		DNF
	Andrew Fast	USA	00:57:55	04:43:28		DNF
	Matt Chrabot	USA	00:46:39			DNF
	Lewis Elliot	USA	00:54:13			DNF

Female Race Results

Meredith Kessler won the female race, leading from wire to wire. She’s the IM Arizona champion for the third time in a row – the last time she did not win an Ironman outside of Kona was IM Arizona 2013 when she was second to Julia Gajer by less than three minutes. After the swim Yvonne Van Vlerken was more than eight minutes behind, but she was able to close the gap on the bike and early on the run, keeping up the pressure on Meredith. But Meredith held on to her lead, with Yvonne finishing second. IM rookie Malindi Elmore finished third after a solid day with the second fastest marathon. The fastest run was by Ruth Brennan Morrey in fourth place, reaching her goal of a sub-3 run.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected	Prize Money
1	Meredith Kessler	USA	00:49:31	04:44:24	03:09:40	08:48:23	-09:26	US$ 20000
2	Yvonne Van Vlerken	NED	00:58:04	04:40:40	03:08:43	08:51:27	-01:01	US$ 10000
3	Malindi Elmore	CAN	01:01:01	04:51:06	03:00:52	08:57:22	n/a	US$ 6500
4	Ruth Brennan Morrey	USA	01:05:35	04:53:13	02:57:45	09:02:28	-16:37	US$ 4000
5	Leanda Cave	GBR	00:53:14	04:58:51	03:13:30	09:10:41	05:17	US$ 3000
6	Darbi Roberts	USA	00:54:34	05:00:40	03:14:10	09:13:42	-09:16	US$ 2000
7	Jen Annett	CAN	01:03:53	04:43:57	03:25:34	09:17:34	-18:57	US$ 1500
8	Kelly Williamson	USA	00:53:58	05:16:22	03:07:03	09:22:00	16:30	US$ 1250
9	Emily Cocks	USA	00:53:07	05:08:32	03:18:38	09:25:10	n/a	US$ 1000
10	Danielle Mack	USA	01:00:21	05:20:27	03:01:49	09:26:17	13:11	US$ 750
11	Skye Moench	USA	01:00:15	04:58:01	03:24:06	09:27:07	n/a
12	Ashley Paulson	USA	01:09:54	05:12:26	03:09:39	09:36:48	-09:50
13	Rachel Jastrebsky	USA	01:00:42	05:07:00	03:25:07	09:37:34	-19:11
14	Jessica Smith	USA	00:55:35	05:07:56	03:30:41	09:38:23	-12:53
15	Mackenzie Madison	USA	01:00:48	04:57:29	03:38:37	09:42:08	24:41
16	Marina Jurjevic	AUS	01:06:56	05:04:16	03:29:38	09:46:42	-09:36
17	Kristin Lie	NOR	01:12:19	05:06:11	03:30:40	09:54:06	09:52
18	Nicole Luse	USA	01:08:55	05:21:30	03:18:37	09:54:16	-26:38
19	Amy Javens	USA	01:08:02	04:58:39	03:47:43	10:00:25	10:08
20	Sarah Bay	USA	01:07:51	05:13:36	03:33:54	10:01:45	n/a
21	Liz Baugher	USA	00:58:52	05:24:04	03:44:59	10:13:19	n/a
22	Caroline Martineau	CAN	01:04:34	05:18:31	04:09:19	10:39:42	25:32
23	Carrie Mccoy	USA	01:13:51	05:22:30	03:55:58	10:39:42	n/a
24	Amanda Stevens	USA	00:54:31	05:21:02	04:20:49	10:41:28	1:35:39
	Angela Naeth	CAN	01:00:17	04:36:45		DNF