Race Conditions
Compared to last year’s Challenge version (8:29), IM Cairns was a little bit slower (5:23), but it was still a medium-fast race.
Male Results
David Dellow posted the fastest run to win his first IM:
Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Actual Time Expected Time 1 David Dellow AUS 00:47:56 04:33:45 02:48:26 08:15:04 08:23:51 2 Cameron Brown NZL 00:50:46 04:30:48 02:56:06 08:22:21 08:23:39 3 Jimmy Johnsen DNK 00:50:37 04:41:29 02:52:32 08:29:36 08:48:14 4 Matty White AUS 00:50:44 04:31:03 03:04:48 08:31:19 08:50:16 5 Petr Vabrousek CZE 00:54:52 04:36:10 03:02:52 08:40:00 08:52:28 6 Leon Griffin AUS 00:50:43 04:31:01 03:13:55 08:40:41 08:58:32 7 Jason Shortis AUS 00:54:10 04:46:45 03:06:58 08:53:25 08:50:52 8 Simon Cochrane NZL 00:54:26 05:01:06 03:01:23 09:02:01 09:12:51 9 Chris McCormack AUS 00:50:05 04:58:10 03:11:10 09:05:12 08:13:46 10 Mitchell Anderson AUS 00:54:45 04:35:09 03:34:39 09:10:18 08:41:49 11 Luke Bell AUS 00:47:52 04:33:54 03:44:11 09:10:18 08:40:05 12 Finnbar Crennan AUS 00:59:27 04:50:52 03:37:05 09:33:16 09:18:16 13 Justin Granger AUS 00:54:55 05:05:46 03:41:25 09:47:42 09:11:27 14 Aaron Farlow AUS 00:50:42 04:41:11 04:39:42 10:17:00 08:38:03
Cameron Brown had another solid race (again improving his rating), even if his result was not quite as spectacular as in Melbourne. He’s got another big race coming up (he’s on the start list for Challenge Roth) – not sure what that will mean for his chances in Kona.
Chris McCormack “just finished” to validate his Kona spot as a recent winner, but he did it in a smart way. He took the bike relatively easy (for him), and then ran a steady marathon, overtaking all the athletes that were “blowing up”. His result in Cairns is not indicative of his true potential for Kona – but a lot of people will try to derive some meaning from his Cairns result for October.
Female Results
Carrie Lester is also a first time winner, she had to work for it on the run when Belinda Harper refused to give up the fight for the win:
Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Actual Time Expected Time 1 Carrie Lester AUS 00:56:31 05:05:20 03:13:52 09:21:00 09:33:43 2 Belinda Harper NZL 00:53:00 05:00:37 03:23:02 09:22:42 10:04:51 3 Candice Hammond NZL 01:00:53 05:07:22 03:10:26 09:24:45 09:47:01 4 Belinda Granger AUS 00:56:51 05:04:41 03:25:20 09:32:16 09:37:34 5 Rebecca Hoschke 01:02:05 05:10:29 03:21:17 09:39:53 n/a 6 Ange Castle 01:13:46 05:41:47 03:33:04 10:36:16 n/a 7 Emi Sakai JPN 01:06:43 05:11:58 04:17:53 10:43:04 10:15:06 8 Amanda McKenzie USA 01:07:03 05:42:05 04:26:47 11:24:12 10:53:42
The other big story in the women’s race was Bek Keat having to drop early in the run. Apparently, she tore her calf (soleus muscle) and still tried to continue. This does not sound like it was caused by a too quick bike – but she was racing with Macca and that might have been a bit too much. I hope she gets better soon and manages more satisfying results.