My focus of the first big weekend of Triathlon racing was on IM New Zealand, even if it happened in the middle of the night for me. (The other races in Abu Dhabi and ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ sounded great as well, but I’m mainly interested in IM-distance racing.)
Conditions on race day were typical for New Zealand, the adjustment of 3:30 was in line with the newest course rating of 4:07.
Male Race Results
The big question for the men’s race was if Cameron Brown could hold on to his 10-time winning streak of full Ironman races in New Zealand. (The only times he was beaten was when the race had to be shortened.) He delivered a solid performance, even if he was more than ten minutes slower than his predicted time. The title stayed in New Zealand – with Ironman rookie Bevan Docherty winning with a course-record performance. (Not only did he better Cam’s overall record but also Torbjorn Sindballe’s bike record.) He’s joining the ranks of recent IM-rookie-winners – Andy Starykowicz in Florida, Nils Frommhold in Arizona and Ivan Rana in Cozumel. Seems that the top IM rankings will change a bit this year!
Second place was captured by Marko Albert with a smart race that allowed him to post an even better run split than Cam Brown. (I almost feel that Cam was holding a bit back for Melbourne when it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to improve on his third place. Something for a more detailed analysis!)
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Actual Time | Expected Time |
| 1 | Bevan Docherty | NZL | 00:45:44 | 04:35:06 | 02:49:46 | 08:15:35 | n/a |
| 2 | Marko Albert | EST | 00:45:34 | 04:38:34 | 02:56:56 | 08:25:30 | 08:40:06 |
| 3 | Cameron Brown | NZL | 00:50:09 | 04:41:52 | 02:57:16 | 08:34:28 | 08:22:57 |
| 4 | Courtney Ogden | AUS | 00:50:15 | 04:44:14 | 02:58:24 | 08:38:53 | 08:40:39 |
| 5 | Balazs Csoke | HUN | 00:47:40 | 04:48:51 | 03:03:55 | 08:46:05 | 09:01:36 |
| 6 | Carl Read | NZL | 00:53:14 | 04:53:14 | 02:56:50 | 08:48:16 | 08:59:14 |
| 7 | Keegan Williams | NZL | 00:51:46 | 04:48:40 | 03:04:50 | 08:50:22 | 08:54:22 |
| 8 | Ben Cotter | CAN | 00:54:16 | 04:48:49 | 03:13:40 | 09:02:47 | 09:12:34 |
| 9 | Chris Sanson | NZL | 00:54:08 | 04:58:27 | 03:08:59 | 09:07:01 | n/a |
| 10 | Simon Cochrane | NZL | 00:51:35 | 05:01:02 | 03:18:54 | 09:17:12 | 09:07:11 |
| 11 | Scott Defilippis | USA | 00:51:53 | 04:58:56 | 03:20:25 | 09:18:34 | 09:04:13 |
| 12 | Ernst Moser | AUT | 00:54:45 | 05:00:47 | 03:20:21 | 09:20:22 | 09:04:52 |
| 13 | Jacson Kluts | NZL | 00:58:14 | 05:04:07 | 03:20:28 | 09:29:04 | n/a |
| 14 | Kodo Hiramatsu | JPN | 00:51:56 | 05:20:59 | 03:20:23 | 09:39:11 | 10:05:34 |
| 15 | Shanon Stallard | NZL | 00:54:12 | 05:18:06 | 03:39:31 | 09:58:21 | 09:05:04 |
| 16 | Daiki Masuda | JPN | 00:54:51 | 05:08:39 | 04:11:15 | 10:20:54 | 09:55:42 |
| 17 | David Bowden | NZL | 00:54:54 | 05:17:25 | 05:00:18 | 11:20:18 | n/a |
Female Race Results
On the women’s side, Meredith Kessler “defended” her 2012 title. (She said herself that her win in the shortened 2012 had a little asterisk to it, and now she captured the title for real.) Second place Gina Crawford was able to claw a few minutes back on the run, but Meredith was leading the race by eight minutes after the bike. Candice Hammond posted the fastest run split of the day and placed third.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Actual Time | Expected Time |
| 1 | Meredith Kessler | USA | 00:47:37 | 05:04:44 | 03:19:24 | 09:17:10 | 09:26:19 |
| 2 | Gina Crawford | NZL | 00:51:44 | 05:08:17 | 03:14:54 | 09:20:54 | 09:24:11 |
| 3 | Candice Hammond | NZL | 01:02:37 | 05:15:00 | 03:13:20 | 09:35:52 | 09:36:32 |
| 4 | Anna Ross | NZL | 00:58:21 | 05:19:02 | 03:15:47 | 09:38:59 | n/a |
| 5 | Janine Sax | NZL | 01:00:35 | 05:22:29 | 03:34:48 | 10:03:21 | n/a |
| 6 | Melanie Burke | NZL | 01:09:58 | 05:22:34 | 03:30:03 | 10:09:02 | n/a |
| 7 | Megumi Shigaki | JPN | 00:58:24 | 05:44:47 | 03:47:54 | 10:40:01 | 10:52:49 |