Course Conditions
With the low number of Pro athletes this year, it’s a bit tricky to say, but it seems that the conditions were quite slow this year. There were reports of lots of wind on the bike, and it seems that it also took some energy from fast runs.
Even so, there were a few new course records on the female side: Teresa Adam improved on her winning time from last year by roughly five minutes, and Kristin Liepold set a new marathon CR with a 2:54:04 (improving on Beth McKenzie’s 2:55:23 from last year).
Kona Qualifying
As IM Cairns is the Regional Championship for the Asia/Pacific region, there were six Kona Pro slots available. With 9 men and 10 women starting the race, the slots were split down the middle – 3 for the men and 3 for the women.
Unless one of the men decline their slot, the slots will go to the Top 3: Braden Currie, Tim Berkel and David Dellow. On the female side, there will be some rolldown as Sarah Crowley was already qualified. Two of these slots will fo to Kaisa Sali and Kristin Liepold. The last one is tricky and we’ll have to wait for the rolldown meeting: Winner Teresa Adam would normally be expected to go to Kona, but she declined her slot in New Zealand. If she declines again, the slot would roll down to Els Visser. (Update June 10th: Els Visser has posted on Instagram that she has received a Kona slot.)
Male Race Results
Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to exp. | Prize Money |
1 | Braden Currie | NZL | 00:47:29 | 04:28:59 | 02:44:33 | 08:04:19 | -13:52 | US$ 30,000 |
2 | Tim Van Berkel | AUS | 00:50:03 | 04:45:22 | 02:45:03 | 08:23:48 | 02:24 | US$ 15,000 |
3 | David Dellow | AUS | 00:49:38 | 04:45:45 | 02:53:11 | 08:32:11 | 08:02 | US$ 8,000 |
4 | Matt Burton | AUS | 00:52:54 | 04:32:38 | 03:10:01 | 08:39:24 | 09:50 | US$ 6,500 |
5 | Blake Kappler | AUS | 00:51:56 | 04:43:25 | 03:10:01 | 08:49:12 | 01:15 | US$ 5,000 |
6 | Jarrod Harvey | AUS | 00:52:33 | 04:51:43 | 03:23:56 | 09:11:35 | 04:29 | US$ 3,500 |
7 | Justin Wendemuth | AUS | 01:00:31 | 04:59:56 | 03:20:15 | 09:25:21 | n/a | US$ 2,500 |
8 | Mike Phillips | NZL | 00:47:35 | 05:41:00 | 04:06:19 | 10:39:51 | 1:22:44 | US$ 2,000 |
Luke Bell | AUS | 00:47:36 | DNF |
Female Race Results
Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to exp. | Prize Money |
1 | Teresa Adam | NZL | 00:50:11 | 04:51:48 | 03:02:56 | 08:48:33 | -23:43 | US$ 30,000 |
2 | Sarah Crowley | AUS | 00:51:19 | 04:50:48 | 03:08:03 | 08:53:37 | -16:25 | US$ 15,000 |
3 | Kaisa Sali | FIN | 00:56:00 | 04:54:18 | 03:00:03 | 08:53:51 | -10:51 | US$ 8,000 |
4 | Kristin Liepold | GER | 01:05:37 | 04:58:41 | 02:54:04 | 09:02:09 | -40:08 | US$ 6,500 |
5 | Els Visser | NED | 00:59:27 | 04:59:25 | 03:12:44 | 09:14:29 | -29:16 | US$ 5,000 |
6 | Kelsey Withrow | USA | 00:55:50 | 05:16:41 | 03:29:06 | 09:46:48 | 01:56 | US$ 3,500 |
7 | Jessica Mitchell | AUS | 01:05:40 | 05:18:35 | 03:34:26 | 10:04:03 | -02:33 | US$ 2,500 |
Sarah True | USA | 00:50:12 | 04:51:58 | DNF | ||||
Melanie Burke | NZL | 01:05:39 | 05:05:38 | DNF | ||||
Chloe Lane | AUS | 00:55:53 | DNF |