Course Conditions
After all the fast results at IM Texas one week ago, IM Australia had results close to what could have been expected from previous years. Conditions were good, but not massively: The swim and bike were a little bit faster than in the past, but then the run was a bit slower. The overall adjustment of 8:50 is in line with the course rating of 7:03.
A few new records were set: Marino Vanhoenacker improved the overall course record (set last year by David Dellow) by a minute. On the female side Bella Luxford was one second quicker than the swim record but then DNF’d, but Kelsey Withrow finished and now co-owns the swim record with Melissa Ashton. Laura Siddall lay the groundwork for her win with a new bike course record, she improved on Carrie Lester’s 2010 time and posted the first sub-5 bike split in Port Macquarie.
Male Race Results
Before the race, Marino Vanhoenacker seemed to be the athlete to beat. But into T2 Mark Bowstead was leading the race posting the fastest swim and bike split, but a 3:07 marathon saw him drop back into third. Even then Marino had to fight for the win: Luke McKenzie was never more than a few minutes behind, but he wasn’t quite able to close the gap and finished second. Marino won his 18th Ironman title and becomes the first athlete to claim wins in all six continents.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to exp. | Prize Money | KPR Points |
| 1 | Marino Vanhoenacker | BEL | 00:45:57 | 04:30:55 | 02:54:12 | 08:14:37 | 01:27 | US$ 8,000 | 2000 |
| 2 | Luke McKenzie | AUS | 00:46:46 | 04:33:55 | 02:53:13 | 08:18:10 | -01:06 | US$ 4,000 | 1600 |
| 3 | Mark Bowstead | NZL | 00:45:47 | 04:29:08 | 03:07:18 | 08:26:25 | 05:15 | US$ 3,000 | 1280 |
| 4 | Nathan Shearer | AUS | 00:54:30 | 04:38:38 | 02:52:13 | 08:29:13 | -16:42 | US$ 2,500 | 960 |
| 5 | Paul Ambrose | AUS | 00:46:42 | 04:34:17 | 03:05:00 | 08:29:37 | -11:00 | US$ 1,500 | 720 |
| 6 | Dougal Allan | NZL | 00:52:45 | 04:38:46 | 02:59:16 | 08:34:45 | 14:22 | US$ 1,000 | 540 |
| 7 | Mitchell Robins | AUS | 00:46:41 | 04:54:26 | 02:57:23 | 08:42:49 | n/a | 405 | |
| 8 | Levi Maxwell | AUS | 00:51:12 | 04:48:11 | 03:06:51 | 08:49:25 | 04:08 | 305 | |
| 9 | Jarrod Harvey | AUS | 00:51:39 | 04:52:30 | 03:09:33 | 08:58:12 | n/a | 230 | |
| 10 | Bryce McMaster | NZL | 00:52:40 | 06:01:01 | 04:13:21 | 11:12:37 | 1:01:47 | 170 | |
| Casey Munro | AUS | 00:45:50 | 04:45:04 | DNF | |||||
| David Dellow | AUS | 00:45:53 | DNF | ||||||
| Lachlan Kerin | AUS | 00:46:42 | DNF |
Female Race Results
After a slower-than-normal swim, defending champion Laura Siddall had her work cut out: She was seven minutes behind rookie Kelsey Withrow and Annabel Luxford. It tool Laura more 140k catch to Annabel who was shortly after forced to drop out with asthma (worsened by a cold). After that it was clear sailing for Laura: After posting a new bike course record she also had the fastest run of the day, claiming her third Ironman title with a gap of more than 20 minutes to Melanie Burke in second and Kelsey Withrow in third.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to exp. | Prize Money | KPR Points |
| 1 | Laura Siddall | GBR | 00:55:48 | 04:56:12 | 03:10:21 | 09:05:58 | -05:17 | US$ 8,000 | 2000 |
| 2 | Melanie Burke | NZL | 01:00:14 | 05:10:45 | 03:14:33 | 09:29:49 | -12:19 | US$ 4,000 | 1600 |
| 3 | Kelsey Withrow | USA | 00:48:42 | 05:27:09 | 03:23:11 | 09:44:59 | n/a | US$ 3,000 | 1280 |
| 4 | Els Visser | NED | 00:55:50 | 05:11:49 | 03:44:53 | 09:56:31 | n/a | US$ 2,500 | 960 |
| 5 | Renee Kiley | AUS | 00:57:52 | 05:17:54 | 03:36:20 | 09:58:13 | n/a | US$ 1,500 | 720 |
| 6 | Jessica Mitchell | AUS | 01:00:13 | 05:25:08 | 03:27:09 | 09:58:25 | 03:37 | US$ 1,000 | 540 |
| 7 | Kierra Sansome | AUS | 01:00:54 | 05:53:10 | 03:33:12 | 10:32:40 | n/a | 405 | |
| Annabel Luxford | AUS | 00:48:41 | DNF |
Kona Qualifying Implications
As a P-2000 race, IM Australia didn’t produce too many changes, here’s a look at the athletes in the running for a slot:
- Laura Siddall is now safe for a July slot.
- On the male side, both Luke McKenzie and Marino Vanhoenacker are “in the bubble”. I’m not sure if Marino wants to do another Kona race (last year he declined his slot).
- Dougal Allan will need about 800 more points, he’s in my “close” category.
- Annabel Luxford already had enough points, but she still needs an Ironman finish. I hope she recovers quickly from her asthma, and it’s not too late to register for IM Cairns in June.