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Ironman Boulder 2017 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

This was only the second time that IM Boulder had Pros racing the course. The first time was in 2014 and apparently the course underwent a lot of changes since then. Even with that, the general conditions are comparable as the race is still held in June and at altitude. The bike course continues to be relatively fast (adjustment of 11:52), but overall the race was quite slow (adjustment of -4:27). This is caused by a very slow run course (adjustment -8:35, almost the same as in 2014) – probably the altitude makes this very hard to run fast and also causing a number of explosions.

As noted above the 2014 course was different from this year, but almost all “course records” were broken this year. Tim O’Donnell had the fastest times in all three legs and overall, he now holds all the male records. On the female side Heather Jackson has the new bike course record while Rachel Joyce took the run and overall records. The only time from 2014 that still stands is Laura Bennett’s swim time.

Male Race Results

There was never a doubt that Tim O’Donnell was out to win the race – he took the lead during the swim and was extending his lead all day with the fastest times in all three legs. What a dominating performance and a good indicator that Tim will be an athlete to reckon with in Kona.

2014 Champion Justin Darr was second across the line but after the race he was DQ’d for course cutting (even if unintentionally and by just a few hundred meters, see Justin’s blog for more details). Matt Chrabot with a good race across the board took second place, and Patrick Mckeon took the last podium spot in his first Pro Ironman race. Jarrod Shoemaker had the best relative performance of the day to finish in fourth.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to exp. Prize Money KPR Points
1 Timothy O’Donnell USA 00:49:20 04:24:25 02:53:55 08:13:30 -14:01 US$ 15,000 2000
2 Matt Chrabot USA 00:50:25 04:30:33 03:07:42 08:34:36 -09:05 US$ 7,500 1600
3 Patrick Mckeon USA 00:57:08 04:35:15 03:03:40 08:42:24 n/a US$ 5,000 1280
4 Jarrod Shoemaker USA 00:50:18 04:50:25 02:59:21 08:45:38 -27:07 US$ 3,250 960
5 Jozsef Major HUN 01:03:20 04:31:10 03:10:57 08:51:35 -06:04 US$ 2,750 720
6 Tripp Hipple USA 00:54:34 04:35:35 03:18:23 08:55:03 01:17 US$ 2,000 540
7 Sam Long USA 01:01:39 04:32:50 03:17:52 08:57:16 02:04 US$ 1,500 405
8 Colin Laughery USA 00:58:13 04:40:07 03:13:30 08:58:45 -18:43 US$ 1,250 305
9 Mike Schifferle SUI 01:03:15 04:45:22 03:12:00 09:09:32 00:55 US$ 1,000 230
 DQ Justin Daerr USA 00:54:05 04:30:57 02:57:13 DQ      
 DQ Leon Griffin AUS 00:52:14 04:34:43 03:11:56 DQ      
  Christopher Bagg USA 00:56:40 04:39:23   DNF      
  Tyler Butterfield BMU 00:54:04 04:51:17   DNF      
  Robert Wade IRL 00:59:32 04:48:45   DNF      
  Kennett Peterson USA 00:54:37     DNF      

Justin Daerr and Leon Griffin were DQ’d after the race for making one of the turns on the run course too early and missing a timing mat. Some more notes on Justin’s blog.

Female Race Results

As expected Kelly Williamson was first out of the water but then fell back on the bike, still finishing in fourth with a good marathon. Rachel Joyce was just a few seconds behind Kelly in T1 and took over the lead for most of the bike. Heather Jackson had the fastest bike ride and able to close the gap to Rachel. By T2 Heather had built a lead of three minutes, but Rachel refused to cede the race to her and slowly started to eat into the lead. When Rachel took the lead in the second half of the marathon she quickly created a gap and eventually won her return to Ironman racing by seven minutes. Heather finished in second place, more than 20 minutes ahead of 2014 winner Danielle Mack in third place.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to exp. Prize Money KPR Points
1 Rachel Joyce GBR 00:54:59 04:56:09 03:16:01 09:13:32 05:00 US$ 15,000 2000
2 Heather Jackson USA 00:59:51 04:49:06 03:26:09 09:20:42 03:26 US$ 7,500 1600
3 Danielle Mack USA 01:04:46 05:11:02 03:20:24 09:42:16 -01:22 US$ 5,000 1280
4 Kelly Williamson USA 00:54:56 05:26:15 03:16:35 09:44:08 05:24 US$ 3,250 960
5 Uli Bromme USA 01:04:49 05:05:30 03:34:45 09:52:32 -00:32 US$ 2,750 720
6 Kimberly Goodell USA 01:04:48 05:25:53 03:36:00 10:13:34 n/a US$ 2,000 540
7 Carla Schubiger SUI 01:04:43 05:27:29 03:43:29 10:22:59 n/a US$ 1,500 405
8 Maggie Rusch USA 01:07:37 05:26:51 03:55:33 10:36:36 19:24 US$ 1,250 305
9 Kate Bruck USA 01:04:32 05:42:19 03:59:03 10:54:20 21:47 US$ 1,000 230
  Amy Vantassel USA 01:11:51 05:56:36   DNF      

Kona Qualifying Implications

There are not too many changes for Kona Qualifying: Only Heather Jackson and Tim O’Donnell are now safe for a July slot – after their great results in Kona they just needed a validation finish.

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