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.