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After the first round of Kona qualifying has been completed, I have updated the pages on the Top 10 Rankings (overall and in each of the legs), the Course Ratings and the Kona Odds.

The main change on the female side is that Miranda Carfrae and Jodie Swallow are now back in my rankings – they had more than one full year without an Ironman finish before finishing in Austria and Cairns. Rinny takes the #2 spot in the overall rankings and is still the best runner in the sport, while Jodie is the best swimmer and #5 overall.

The changes on the men’s side have been small, Frodo is still the #1 rated athlete, but even with his great race in Roth the distance to Sebi and Brent has gotten a bit smaller.

I’ve been busy working on my free TriRating Report 2015, more than 60 pages filled with results, data, and analysis about the 2015 season. This year I’ll be designating female and male “Athletes of the Year”, “Rookie of the Year” and “Comeback of the Year”. Of course the report also contains my Top 10 Ratings (overall and individually for swim, bike and run), the fastest 2015 times and best performances, 2015 Money Lists and a look forward to the 2016 Racing Season and to Kona 2016.

To test your knowledge about the 2015 season, here are a few trivia questions that will be answered in the report:

1. Who had the fastest Ironman-distance times of 2015?
   1. Men
   2. Women
2. Who posted the fastest marathon times in an Ironman in 2015?
   1. Men
   2. Women
3. Who are the three Canadian athletes that won a Pro Ironman in 2015?
4. Who had the slowest swim when winning an IM in 2015?
   1. Men
   2. Women
5. Who overcame the biggest deficit after the bike to win an IM in 2015?
   1. Male
   2. Women
6. Which athletes won two or more Ironman-distance races in 2015?
7. Who are the last Pro podium finishers in Kona from the US?
   1. Men
   2. Women
8. Which athletes won a 2015 race on a race on another continent than they are from?
   1. Three North American athletes that won a race in Europe?
   2. Three European athletes that won a race in North America (excluding Kona)?
9. Which four athletes won a 2015 Ironman-distance race with the best times in all three legs?
10. Which IM-distance races in 2015 had the closest margin between the winner and runner-up (Pros only)?
    1. Closest Men’s Race (race, margin, name of 1st and 2nd finisher)
    2. Closest Women’s Race (race, margin, name of 1st and 2nd finisher)

I’m sure that you’ll like what I’ve put together, so order today to re-live the 2015 season and get fired up for the upcoming 2016 races! The report is available for free, but if you want to you can show your support of my work by donating an amount of your choice. As always, thank you for your feedback and support!

The Kona Pro Ranking (or KPR for short) is the system used to determine which Professional triathletes qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona.

My 2016 KPR Observer makes understanding and following the KPR rankings easy. It consists of an Initial Information Package about the KPR and ongoing updates via EMail during the season.

The Initial Information Package (delivered right after the release planned for November 20th) contains:

• a description of how the KPR works in qualifying Pros for Kona
• base predictions of the men’s and women’s cutoff
• graphs and descriptions of the current KPR standings

During the season, there will be at least six EMail Updates (and probably ten) about the KPR Standings, who is already in, who is close to qualifying, how many slots are still open and updated estimates of where the cutoffs will occur.

Fraser Cartmell, Kona Pro qualifier in 2015, subscribed to last year’s KPR Observer:

Thanks for the support along the way on my Kona ’15 journey and your help discussing the KPR – it was appreciated!

If you want to qualify as a Pro, coach a Pro athlete, write about professional Ironman racing or are otherwise interested in the KPR, this is must-read information!

Here’s what Matthew Rose of Dynamo Multisport, coach to Kona 2015 Pro qualifier Haley Chura, says about my work:

I view your work as ‘Enterprise type’ quality research, it’s the best in the triathlon business. I wish I could actually pay you on par with the value you provide!

The time you’ll save with the KPR Observer is easily worth the price of 39$ for the full season.

Order today at https://gum.co/2016KPR or click on the button below:

Get 2016 KPR Observer

Here is a list of resources for Kona 2015:

• Kona Rating Report (150+ pages with tons of information about the Pro field, order using this link or click ‘Get Kona Report’ in the sidebar)
  
• my „always up-to-date“ Kona 2015 Pro Startlist
• Heatmaps showing the strengths of each of the Kona Pros, my predictions and odds for winning and podium finishers (male and female).
• Kona 2015 Profiles on Mirinda Carfrae, Sebastian Kienle, Julia Gajer, Tim Van Berkel, Meredith Kessler, Matt Hanson, Beth Gerdes, Luke McKenzie, Frederik Van Lierde, Tine Deckers, Cait Snow, David McNamee, Lucy Gossage, Nils Frommhold, Mareen Hufe, Fraser Cartmell, Susie Cheetham, Jan Frodeno and Daniela Ryf.
• The Kona preview I have written for Triathlete Magazine (October 2015) is now available on the web (Women, Men)

If you think you know who is going to do well in Kona, submit your picks on IM Predictions for a chance to win a BIG prize!

Here are some more posts from my friends and Triathlon Media:

• On Witsup.com Stef Hanson posts a number of videos on key Kona women Pros with the tag “Wahine Warriors” (“Wahine” is Hawaiian for woman). So far there are videos on Angela Naeth, Heather Wurtele, Meredith Kessler, Michelle Vesterby, Lucy Gossage, Beth Gerdes, Leanda Cave, Cait Snow, Liz Blatchford, Mary Beth Ellis, Sarah Piampiano, Caroline Steffen, Jodie Swallow, Rachel Joyce, Daniela Ryf and Mirinda Carfrae.
  You can also read about “The Missing 15” – the women ranked #36 to #50 in the KPR that are not given the chance by Ironman to race in Kona (post written by Sara Gross and Jordan Blanco).
• first off the bike’s Phil Wrochna has released a number of posts about the race: “Kona Contenders” (Women’s Edition and Men’s Edition), “Kona Threats” (Women’s Edition and Men’s Edition) and “Dark Horses” (Women’s Edition and Men’s Edition). They also have “The 2015 Kona Book” with their opinion of the chances for each of the Pros.
• Tim Heming has posted his Kona predictions for 220 Triathlon (Men’s Top 10 and Women’s Top 10).
• Linsey Corbin (who unfortunately can’t race Kona this year) has posted an ongoing series of videos on Kona tips.
• Tim Berkel has a series of videos “Who is Tim Van Berkel?” about him and his training for Kona.
• Breakfast with Bob, a series of interviews hosted by legend Bob Babbit, will start on Monday, October 5th (you can see the interviews on the Babbitville YouTube Channel).
• Slowtwitch has been posting Tim Carlson’s Kona Previews for years – here’s this year’s look at the Women and Men.
• Ironman has published two “Kona Crystal Ball” articles by Matt Lieto (for the men) and Michael Lovato (for the women).
• For the German language fans, there are a good number of video interviews done by tri2b and Tri-Mag.

I’ll add to this list as soon as my friends and I release more information closer to the race!