Race

Abu Dhabi is one of the better known long triathlons that don’t use the “standard” Ironman distance of 3.8k/2.4mi swim, 180k/112mi bike and a marathon (42.2k or 26.2 mi). I want to post a bit more on non-IM long distance races, but I will just post the start list and my Ironman-distance based ranking and ratings. However, with the different lengths I won’t include the results in athlete’s or course’s ratings, I can’t calculate odds and I also won’t be able to predict finishing times. (So instead of „predictions“ I’ll call these posts just „start lists“.)

The Abu Dhabi Long Distance race is held over distances of 3k swim, 200k bike and 20k run – basically the swim is almost the same as an Ironman, the bike a bit longer, and the run significantly shorter. This allows for a much shorter recovery than an IM, and as it’s pretty early in the Northern Hemisphere season, it can be used as a great early race or fitness test. It also offers good prize money: 40.000 US$ for each of the winners and 125k total purse. In addition, the organizers probably help with travel costs and accommodation, and as a consequence the race usually attracts a very good field.

Previous Year’s TOP 3

Male Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Frederik Van Lierde	BEL	00:35:21	04:48:13	01:12:47	06:41:02
2	Eneko Llanos	ESP	00:35:27	04:48:21	01:16:14	06:45:02
3	Tyler Butterfield	BMU	00:36:58	04:48:16	01:17:47	06:47:49

Female Race Results

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Melissa Hauschildt	AUS	00:41:17	05:17:45	01:16:42	07:20:29
2	Caroline Steffen	SUI	00:38:20	05:19:07	01:21:00	07:23:53
3	Michelle Vesterby	DEN	00:38:19	05:21:06	01:22:27	07:27:52

Male Race Participants

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating	Rank
1	Eneko Llanos	ESP	08:21:43	00:47:42	04:36:52	02:52:01	1
2	Frederik Van Lierde	BEL	08:24:36	00:47:46	04:35:41	02:55:42	5
3	Tyler Butterfield	BMU	08:32:54	00:49:37	04:43:29	02:56:37	18
4	James Cunnama	ZAF	08:34:01	00:50:03	04:42:00	02:58:07	23
5	Bas Diederen	NED	08:37:49	00:47:55	04:47:59	02:55:31	35
6	Bert Jammaer	BEL	08:46:26	00:49:09	04:46:10	03:05:32	60
7	Per Bittner	GER	08:51:07	00:49:58	04:52:41	03:02:03	84
8	Bart Colpaert	BEL	08:51:28	00:46:55	04:46:42	03:05:39	(85)
9	Henrik Hyldelund	DEN	09:09:49	00:47:32	04:47:42	03:19:20	(165)
10	Edo Van der Meer	NED	09:18:39	00:47:33	04:48:48	03:36:21	(194)
11	Andi Fuchs	AUT	09:19:40	00:57:16	04:50:54	03:13:09	(196)
	Sylvain Sudrie	FRA	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	(n/a)

Female Race Participants

Rank	Name	Nation	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating	Rank
1	Caroline Steffen	SUI	09:12:28	00:51:46	04:59:39	03:14:44	2
2	Yvonne Van Vlerken	NED	09:14:27	00:57:43	05:01:34	03:08:46	4
3	Jodie Swallow	GBR	09:25:03	00:48:41	05:02:52	03:27:21	9
4	Michelle Vesterby	DEN	09:27:58	00:52:05	05:09:20	03:21:19	13
5	Svetlana Blazevic	SCG	10:14:15	00:52:20	05:31:28	03:43:04	105
6	Gurutze Frades Larralde	ESP	10:14:43	01:02:57	05:28:28	03:24:24	(109)
7	Maria Lemeseva	RUS	10:26:18	01:06:57	05:33:04	03:31:49	(128)
	Alena Stevens	SVK	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	(n/a)
	Melissa Hauschildt	AUS	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	(n/a)

01:12:47

Race Conditions

Conditions in New Zealand were pretty typical – the adjustment of 4:56 was very close to the course rating of 4:59. If anything, the bike was a little bit slower and the run a little bit faster.

Male Race Results

Before the race, almost all prediction had a New Zealand victory. However, it was Marko Albert who took the win.

Marko was leading after the swim, and then pulled away from the big lead group, posting the fastest bike by four minutes. Marko had a six minute lead after the bike and posted the second fastest marathon to win his first Ironman. Cameron Brown posted the fastest run, managed to eat a bit into Marko’s lead and pull away from all the other contenders. The podium was rounded out by Terenzo Bozzone, who had a solid Ironman day.

Bevan Docherty had another frustrating DNF with stomach problems, it’ll be interesting to see how he and Romain Guillaume are going to adjust their Kona qualifying plans.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected
1	Marko Albert	EST	00:46:10	04:36:42	02:50:05	08:17:33	-18:15
2	Cameron Brown	NZL	00:48:25	04:40:39	02:47:45	08:21:55	-02:29
3	Terenzo Bozzone	NZL	00:46:16	04:43:12	02:54:55	08:28:56	-01:44
4	Tim Van Berkel	AUS	00:48:00	04:41:28	02:55:44	08:29:53	-05:37
5	Tom Lowe	GBR	00:54:52	04:41:08	02:50:20	08:31:56	02:20
6	Daniel Halksworth	GBR	00:46:17	04:43:33	03:06:29	08:41:49	-03:55
7	Guy Crawford	NZL	00:47:57	04:41:34	03:09:43	08:44:03	-16:30
8	Philip Graves	GBR	00:46:20	04:42:36	03:18:26	08:52:34	07:54
9	Petr Vabrousek	CZE	00:54:50	04:59:13	03:01:06	09:01:20	09:26
10	Simon Cochrane	NZL	00:51:50	05:04:03	03:03:42	09:05:15	-05:20
11	Johan Borg	AUS	00:54:37	05:01:11	03:04:50	09:06:25	-13:10
12	Daiki Masuda	JPN	00:54:38	05:01:39	03:08:58	09:10:32	-33:40
13	Shanon Stallard	NZL	00:54:45	05:05:40	03:05:16	09:11:51	-27:01
14	Brodie Madgwick	NZL	00:51:53	05:04:05	03:15:15	09:17:15	n/a
15	Jon Woods	NZL	00:54:47	05:06:18	03:21:07	09:27:39	-20:04
16	Chris Sanson	NZL	00:54:46	05:19:14	03:18:02	09:40:04	25:13
17	Harry Wiltshire	GBR	00:46:16	04:43:30	04:12:12	09:46:34	18:30
18	Damien Decas	FRA	00:50:04	05:10:02	03:56:04	10:03:24	n/a
19	Romain Guillaume	FRA	00:46:27	04:42:29		DNF
20	Bryan Rhodes	NZL	00:47:50			DNF
21	Balazs Csoke	HUN	00:46:22			DNF
22	Bevan Docherty	NZL	00:46:16	04:43:19		DNF

Female Race Results

Meredith Kessler was the defending champion, and she also won the 2014 title in impressive, course-record setting fashion.

MBK almost posted a new swim record (unaided by male swimmers, the women started a minute after the men) and then had the fastest bike leg even with two minutes lost to some mechanical problems. Meredith also had the fastest marathon – interestingly in exactly the same time as second place Gina Crawford. Gina pretty much sealed her Kona spot, and if she manages to progress as she did in the few weeks after Challenge Wanaka, watch out for her in Kona! Third place went to Wanaka winner Candice Hammond.

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected
1	Meredith Kessler	USA	00:46:47	05:08:30	03:08:06	09:08:46	-13:55
2	Gina Crawford	NZL	00:51:20	05:10:05	03:08:06	09:15:53	-05:33
3	Candice Hammond	NZL	00:59:25	05:15:01	03:10:44	09:30:04	-03:22
4	Bree Wee	USA	00:53:46	05:23:46	03:14:34	09:39:15	-05:18
5	Michelle Bremer	NZL	00:59:12	05:21:58	03:18:27	09:45:34	06:42
6	Kate Bevilaqua	AUS	00:54:10	05:23:53	03:23:27	09:47:18	-11:17
7	Larisa Marsh	NZL	00:59:16	05:22:23	03:22:55	09:49:49	n/a
8	Melanie Burke	NZL	01:06:43	05:25:45	03:13:29	09:51:41	-05:58
9	Mareen Hufe	GER	00:59:28	05:16:51	03:32:32	09:55:30	22:44
10	Keiko Tanaka	JAP	00:53:51	05:32:58	03:27:07	09:59:45	01:02
11	Erin Furness	NZL	00:59:25	05:33:18	03:24:38	10:02:51	-07:58
12	Celia Kuch	GER	01:03:39	05:32:38	03:36:59	10:19:40	11:41
13	Meghan Newcomer	USA	00:56:32	05:43:32	03:37:16	10:22:36	02:22
14	Jodie Scott	AUS	00:57:23			DNF
15	Emi Sakai	JPN	01:09:18	05:45:15		DNF
16	Julia Grant	NZL	00:57:26	05:50:37		DNF
17	Megumi Shigaki	JPN	00:59:23	05:44:46		DNF
18	Janine Sax	NZL	00:59:23			DNF
19	Anna Cleaver	NZL	00:46:57	05:39:27		DNF

Photo Credit: Delly Carry (via Ironman.com)

With IM New Zealand, we have the first WTC Ironman race for 2014. The race has its 30th anniversary, offering some extra prize money, and as far as I know also some extra agegroup Kona slots.

Update: Thanks to Mareen Hufe for a slightly updated start list, showing that Shiau-Yu Li is no longer starting and allowing me to update my slight error in the bib numbers.

Previous Year’s TOP 3

Male Race Results

The 2013 race saw Bevan Docherty ending Cam Brown’s streak of winning full-distance races in New Zealand:

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Bevan Docherty	NZL	00:45:44	04:35:06	02:49:46	08:15:35
2	Marko Albert	EST	00:45:34	04:38:34	02:56:56	08:25:30
3	Cameron Brown	NZL	00:50:09	04:41:52	02:57:16	08:34:28

Female Race Results

After she won the 2012 shortened race in New Zealand, Meredith Kessler also won the 2013 full-distance race:

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time
1	Meredith Kessler	USA	00:47:37	05:04:44	03:19:24	09:17:10
2	Gina Crawford	NZL	00:51:44	05:08:17	03:14:54	09:20:54
3	Candice Hammond	NZL	01:02:37	05:15:00	03:13:20	09:35:52

Course Records

Leg	Gender	Record	Athlete	Date
Total	overall	08:15:35	Bevan Docherty	2013-03-02
Swim	overall	00:45:02	Kieran Doe	2008-03-01
Bike	overall	04:35:06	Bevan Docherty	2013-03-02
Run	overall	02:43:10	Cameron Brown	2009-03-07
Total	female	09:14:35	Joanna Lawn	2010-03-06
Swim	female	00:46:30	Monica Byrn	2005-05-03
Bike	female	05:01:17	Emi Shiono	2008-03-01
Run	female	03:01:06	Mirinda Carfrae	2011-03-05

Course Rating

The Course Rating for IM New Zealand is 04:59.

Race Adjustments for IM New Zealand

Year	Adjustment	Swim Adj.	Bike Adj.	Run Adj.	# of Athletes	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating
2005	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2007	06:10	01:03	00:56	05:23	18	06:10	01:03	00:56	05:23
2008	10:28	01:34	03:15	04:32	31	08:19	01:18	02:05	04:57
2009	07:19	00:01	04:20	02:53	27	07:59	00:52	02:50	04:16
2010	06:02	01:02	03:45	03:40	17	07:30	00:55	03:04	04:07
2011	-02:06	00:29	00:36	-01:04	20	05:34	00:50	02:34	03:05
2013	02:04	00:43	03:56	01:29	17	04:59	00:49	02:48	02:49

KPR points and Prize Money

IM New Zealand has 2000 KPR points for the winner. It has a total prize purse of 75k$.

Male Race Participants

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating	Rank
1	3	Cameron Brown	NZL	08:24:17	08:28:59	00:49:23	04:41:26	02:54:03	13
2	1	Bevan Docherty	NZL	08:27:48	08:32:32	00:46:48	04:41:33	02:52:49	17
3	10	Tom Lowe	GBR	08:29:31	08:34:16	00:54:38	04:37:48	02:54:25	25
4	4	Terenzo Bozzone	NZL	08:30:33	08:35:19	00:47:33	04:45:26	02:58:56	28
5	5	Tim Van Berkel	AUS	08:35:21	08:40:09	00:50:29	04:44:21	02:59:45	40
6	2	Marko Albert	EST	08:35:32	08:40:20	00:46:50	04:49:18	03:00:39	42
7	27	Philip Graves	GBR	08:44:37	08:49:31	00:47:48	04:43:09	03:13:18	73
8	9	Daniel Halksworth	GBR	08:45:36	08:50:30	00:47:34	04:48:11	03:07:23	78
9	7	Romain Guillaume	FRA	08:49:44	08:54:40	00:49:01	04:43:27	03:16:49	99
10	8	Petr Vabrousek	CZE	08:51:52	08:56:50	00:54:48	04:52:36	03:02:59	106
11	31	Carl Read	NZL	08:52:58	08:57:56	00:53:11	04:59:24	03:02:06	116
12	6	Balazs Csoke	HUN	08:57:44	09:02:45	00:48:06	04:51:48	03:18:26	138
13	24	Guy Crawford	NZL	09:00:18	09:05:20	00:48:45	04:46:13	03:29:40	146
14	23	Simon Cochrane	NZL	09:10:25	09:15:33	00:53:35	05:05:59	03:09:53	185
15	32	Bryan Rhodes	NZL	09:12:07	09:17:16	00:48:22	04:59:29	03:25:05	188
16	22	Matt Burgess	NZL	09:14:31	09:19:41	00:49:56	04:49:27	03:24:39	195
17	33	Chris Sanson	NZL	09:14:58	09:20:08	00:54:50	05:02:26	03:10:28	196
18	21	Johan Borg	AUS	09:19:21	09:24:34	00:54:15	04:54:47	03:30:57	207
19	35	Harry Wiltshire	GBR	09:28:07	09:33:25	00:47:51	04:56:18	03:35:08	237
20	34	Shanon Stallard	NZL	09:38:30	09:43:54	00:55:46	05:12:00	03:23:14	275
21	30	Daiki Masuda	JPN	09:43:46	09:49:13	unrated	unrated	unrated	294
22	36	Jon Woods	NZL	09:47:25	09:52:54	00:56:39	05:05:14	03:39:11	309
	25	Damien Decas	FRA	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a
	29	Brodie Madgwick	NZL	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a
	26	Vincent Depuiset	FRA	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a

Female Race Participants

Rank	Bib	Name	Nation	Expected Time	Rating	Swim Rating	Bike Rating	Run Rating	Rank
1	12	Gina Crawford	NZL	09:21:16	09:26:30	00:51:53	05:14:22	03:13:21	10
2	11	Meredith Kessler	USA	09:22:26	09:27:41	00:50:26	05:10:23	03:20:27	12
3	16	Mareen Hufe	GER	09:32:52	09:38:12	01:00:37	05:06:58	03:25:01	29
4	13	Candice Hammond	NZL	09:33:17	09:38:38	01:01:01	05:14:39	03:16:33	30
5	18	Michelle Bremer	NZL	09:38:48	09:44:12	00:58:07	05:15:46	03:27:49	45
6	15	Bree Wee	USA	09:44:23	09:49:50	00:54:00	05:18:02	03:30:12	57
7	20	Melanie Burke	NZL	09:57:29	10:03:03	01:07:46	05:20:08	03:27:17	88
8	14	Kate Bevilaqua	AUS	09:58:21	10:03:56	00:56:51	05:24:27	03:37:07	90
9	17	Keiko Tanaka	JAP	09:58:36	10:04:11	00:54:20	05:27:14	03:22:26	91
10	38	Julia Grant	NZL	10:05:35	10:11:14	00:58:20	05:31:46	03:28:46	98
11	39	Celia Kuch	GER	10:07:58	10:13:38	01:03:09	05:24:08	03:37:20	102
12	43	Emi Sakai	JPN	10:09:50	10:15:31	01:04:54	05:19:54	03:38:34	110
13	37	Erin Furness	NZL	10:10:37	10:16:19	01:01:40	05:29:28	03:28:08	112
14	44	Janine Sax	NZL	10:12:07	10:17:49	01:01:22	05:26:47	03:36:29	114
15	42	Meghan Newcomer	USA	10:20:08	10:25:55	00:56:24	05:39:26	03:31:41	126
16	40	Shiao-yu Li	TWN	10:25:29	10:31:19	01:08:57	05:34:33	03:26:18	128
17	45	Jodie Scott	AUS	10:29:05	10:34:57	00:56:10	05:36:37	03:55:32	131
18	46	Megumi Shigaki	JPN	10:53:41	10:59:47	00:59:01	05:40:06	04:12:50	141
	19	Anna Cleaver	NZL	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a
	41	Larisa Marsh	NZL	n/a	unrated	unrated	unrated	unrated	n/a

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

The top three from last year are back for the 2014 race. Even though Bevan Docherty has finished only one Ironman race, his performance last year was so impressive that I have him as the race favorite. A few months I would have written off Cam Brown, but his preparation seems to be going well and I think that he’ll try to challenge for the win one more time. His chances are slightly lower than Bevan’s but his last really good Ironman race was his 2nd place in Melbourne 2012. Besides these three, there are also Tim Van Berkel (great runner who had the best 2013 run), Tom Lowe (who has raced two good Challenge races at the end of 2013), and Terenzo Bozzone (who’s on fire in 70.3s and is still looking for his break-through IM race).

Last year’s second place

• Bevan Docherty: 27% (3-1)
• Cameron Brown: 22% (4-1)
• Tim Van Berkel: 18% (5-1)
• Marko Albert: 14% (6-1)
• Tom Lowe: 11% (8-1)
• Terenzo Bozzone: 7% (14-1)

Female Race Participants

On the women’s side, the race is again going to be between last year’s winner Meredith Kessler (my clear favorite) and last year’s 2nd Gina Crawford. „MBK“ has taken a long IM break (at least for her: her last IM was Arizona in November) while Gina has switched coaches and is now more focused on being in top shape for Kona. Behind these two, there are Candice Hammond (recent winner of Challenge Wanaka, beating Gina) and Mareen Hufe (recently 2nd in Western Australia) who will fight for the final podium spot, but would also love to upset the two favorites:

• Meredith Kessler: 52% (1-1)
• Gina Crawford: 31% (2-1)
• Candice Hammond: 9% (10-1)
• Mareen Hufe: 5% (20-1)

Photo Credits: Eric Willis, Jay Prasuhn

Race Conditions

Even though they were not too many Pro finishers this year, conditions seemed to be pretty normal for Wanaka: A cold swim (probably the cause for a lot of the DNFs), followed by a scenic bike ride (also pretty slow) and an average run. There were hardly any changes in the course rating, now at -2:39 (making Wanaka one of the slower races on the calendar).

Male Race Results

Dylan McNeice successfully defended his title, again posting a very strong result. My pre-race favorite, Richard Ussher, was never really challenging him. Richard ran a sub-3h marathon, but was still bettered by Dylan’s 2:56. The last podium spot went to Iron-rookie Dougal Allan, who overcame his slow 1:03 swim with the fastest bike (4:45):

 

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected
1	Dylan McNeice	NZL	00:46:25	04:51:26	02:56:58	08:38:48	-23:08
2	Richard Ussher	NZL	00:53:16	04:53:18	02:58:57	08:49:49	12:04
3	Dougal Allan	NZL	01:03:42	04:45:22	03:01:03	08:54:37	n/a
4	Carl Read	NZL	00:53:17	05:06:07	03:02:49	09:06:08	00:31
5	Matt Burgess	NZL	00:50:56	04:52:23	03:24:02	09:12:10	n/a
6	Jaroslav Kovacic	SLO	00:51:03	05:07:55	03:19:25	09:24:45	n/a
7	Courtney Ogden	AUS	00:53:35			DNF
8	Scott Defilippis	USA	01:00:20			DNF
9	Simon Cochrane	NZL	00:55:59			DNF
10	Keegan Williams	NZL	00:53:21			DNF
11	Bryan Rhodes	NZL	00:50:52	05:18:59		DNF
12	Matty White	AUS	00:53:18			DNF
13	Ben Logan	NZL	00:50:52			DNF

Female Race Results

As for the men, my pre-race favorite (Gina Crawford) struggled a bit, finished „only“ in second place, and was beaten by an athlete having a great day. Candice Hammond took out the win, while Simone Maier and Tamsyn Hayes were the remaining female finishers.

(Female finishers in order, starting with winner Candice Hammond on the left.)

Rank	Name	Nation	Swim	Bike	Run	Time	Diff to expected
1	Candice Hammond	NZL	01:03:50	05:09:56	03:15:38	09:33:54	-14:14
2	Gina Crawford	NZL	00:53:20	05:20:18	03:21:51	09:41:08	08:34
3	Simone Maier	GER	01:05:43	05:21:40	03:15:32	09:48:50	-17:14
4	Tamsyn Hayes	NZL	01:00:43	05:23:59	03:41:52	10:11:56	-08:22
5	Carrie Lester	AUS	00:57:16			DNF

Photo Credit: Challenge Wanaka