Race Conditions
This year IM Cozumel had the fastest conditions ever for that course, mainly on the bike (maybe not too much wind?). Winner Frederik Van Lierde posted a new course record and got pretty close to breaking 8 hours, while female swim leader (and eventual second place finisher) Lauren Brandon posted a new swim course record, improving on Bree Wee’s 2009 time.
Male Race Results
Frederik Van Lierde was among the first in T1, then posted a strong bike to be within seconds of the lead in T2. He then went on to win the race by posting the strongest run of the bike leaders, winning with a new course record time. Matt Russell ran through the field by posting the second fastest marathon of the day and as last year finished in second place. After winning his first Ironman at Mont Tremblant, Chris Leiferman had another solid race and claimed the last spot on the podium.
Frederik Van Lierde validated his AQ Kona slot and is the first athlete to be a secure Kona 2017 Pro participant. In addition to him Matt Russell has enough points to be safe for a Kona slot.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected | Prize Money |
| 1 | Frederik Van Lierde | BEL | 00:43:46 | 04:22:37 | 02:52:42 | 08:03:09 | -09:54 | US$ 20000 |
| 2 | Matthew Russell | USA | 00:48:20 | 04:21:28 | 02:51:18 | 08:04:24 | -28:37 | US$ 10000 |
| 3 | Chris Leiferman | USA | 00:48:28 | 04:21:09 | 02:55:58 | 08:09:11 | 02:40 | US$ 6500 |
| 4 | Michael Weiss | AUT | 00:48:26 | 04:17:45 | 02:59:55 | 08:10:44 | -07:51 | US$ 4000 |
| 5 | Chris McDonald | AUS | 00:48:44 | 04:21:08 | 03:02:35 | 08:15:59 | -20:08 | US$ 3000 |
| 6 | Guilherme Manocchio | BRA | 00:47:18 | 04:26:14 | 03:01:23 | 08:19:26 | -13:37 | US$ 2000 |
| 7 | Jozsef Major | HUN | 00:57:13 | 04:32:31 | 02:46:50 | 08:21:33 | -22:34 | US$ 1500 |
| 8 | Karl-Johan Danielsson | SWE | 00:47:14 | 04:22:33 | 03:08:44 | 08:23:01 | -24:44 | US$ 1250 |
| 9 | Miquel Blanchart Tinto | ESP | 00:44:09 | 04:39:53 | 02:57:03 | 08:24:44 | -00:53 | US$ 1000 |
| 10 | Philipp Koutny | SUI | 00:48:16 | 04:32:43 | 03:04:22 | 08:29:16 | n/a | US$ 750 |
| 11 | Barrett Brandon | USA | 00:43:37 | 04:41:02 | 03:10:14 | 08:39:39 | 07:02 | |
| 12 | Andrey Lyatskiy | RUS | 00:46:39 | 04:42:43 | 03:07:21 | 08:41:21 | -07:50 | |
| 13 | Kevin Collington | USA | 00:43:46 | 04:40:48 | 03:17:46 | 08:45:52 | 28:11 | |
| 14 | Anton Blokhin | UKR | 00:46:36 | 04:42:53 | 03:14:42 | 08:48:22 | 12:30 | |
| 15 | Alan Carrillo | MEX | 00:51:32 | 04:48:09 | 03:10:22 | 08:54:46 | n/a | |
| 16 | Frederic Garcia | FRA | 00:57:05 | 04:51:53 | 03:03:51 | 08:58:05 | -14:18 | |
| 17 | Scott Bradley | USA | 00:58:16 | 04:37:11 | 03:18:44 | 08:59:52 | -17:49 | |
| 18 | Josep Vinolas | ESP | 00:51:24 | 04:45:11 | 03:19:44 | 09:00:20 | 08:29 | |
| 19 | Oliver Gonzalez | MEX | 00:46:32 | 05:05:38 | 03:10:55 | 09:08:07 | -12:01 | |
| 20 | Jarrod Shoemaker | USA | 00:43:44 | 05:12:26 | 03:08:57 | 09:09:10 | n/a | |
| 21 | Jorge Vazquez | MEX | 00:48:21 | 04:57:52 | 03:34:21 | 09:26:48 | -20:13 | |
| 22 | Gilian Oriet | SUI | 00:54:41 | 05:09:11 | 03:28:52 | 09:39:58 | -10:24 | |
| 23 | Igor Amorelli | BRA | 00:43:41 | 04:23:09 | 04:31:06 | 09:41:32 | 1:13:49 | |
| 24 | Bruno Matheus | BRA | 00:47:11 | 05:13:42 | 03:35:16 | 09:41:32 | n/a | |
| 25 | Sergio Quezada | MEX | 00:48:18 | 05:08:53 | 03:41:42 | 09:44:17 | -13:46 | |
| 26 | Eduardo Chong | MEX | 00:57:00 | 05:08:12 | 03:39:28 | 09:49:29 | -04:13 | |
| 27 | Stephen Bayliss | GBR | 00:43:41 | 05:20:57 | 03:47:03 | 09:55:49 | 1:17:33 | |
| 28 | Derek Yorek | USA | 01:03:14 | 05:06:26 | 04:02:12 | 10:21:46 | n/a | |
| 29 | Rod De Kanel | FRA | 00:46:34 | 05:02:11 | 04:50:39 | 10:44:58 | 35:34 | |
| 30 | Scott Defilippis | USA | 00:51:54 | 04:56:29 | 05:08:10 | 11:02:05 | 1:10:02 | |
| Mark Oude Bennink | NED | 00:43:48 | DNF | |||||
| Alessandro Degasperi | ITA | 00:48:21 | DNF | |||||
| Trevor Delsaut | FRA | 00:48:25 | DNF | |||||
| Christopher Bagg | USA | 00:48:27 | DNF |
Female Race Results
Lauren Brandon was leading after the swim by almost five minutes, posting a new swim course record. She reached T2 together with the “Danish Duo” of Michelle Vesterby and Camilla Pedersen. Camilla was leading the race for most of the run, but eventually faded at the end and finished in third place. In her first IM finish in Texas Lauren was also leading into T1 and T2 but the struggled on the run (3:56). In Cozumel she ran a steady 3:23 and was able to finish in second place. The win went to Michelle Vesterby who had the best run of the leaders into T2, ending her 2016 racing year with her third Ironman win. Last year’s winner Corinne Abraham finished fourth after a long injury break – she posted the best marathon of the day and without a double flat towards the end of the bike she could have finished on the podium. Rachel McBride had a solid day to finish fifth in her first full Ironman race.
After her 6th place in Kona Michelle Vesterby has enough points to be safe for a Kona slot. Camilla Pedersen is close but needs a few more points, she should be fine with two good 70.3 results.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected | Prize Money |
| 1 | Michelle Vesterby | DEN | 00:50:30 | 04:54:14 | 03:19:18 | 09:08:06 | -01:57 | US$ 20000 |
| 2 | Lauren Brandon | USA | 00:45:43 | 04:58:52 | 03:23:53 | 09:12:43 | n/a | US$ 10000 |
| 3 | Camilla Pedersen | DEN | 00:50:26 | 04:54:16 | 03:25:34 | 09:14:11 | 06:40 | US$ 6500 |
| 4 | Corinne Abraham | GBR | 00:56:48 | 05:10:41 | 03:07:44 | 09:19:14 | 09:52 | US$ 4000 |
| 5 | Rachel McBride | CAN | 00:53:06 | 04:59:14 | 03:32:42 | 09:29:33 | n/a | US$ 3000 |
| 6 | Celine Schaerer | SUI | 00:50:35 | 05:18:02 | 03:23:50 | 09:37:20 | 16:25 | US$ 2000 |
| 7 | Kelly Fillnow | USA | 01:02:41 | 05:12:58 | 03:18:13 | 09:38:23 | -08:15 | US$ 1500 |
| 8 | Nicole Valentine | USA | 01:00:58 | 05:20:26 | 03:17:22 | 09:43:26 | -32:59 | US$ 1250 |
| 9 | Annett Finger | GER | 00:56:52 | 05:16:22 | 03:28:40 | 09:46:15 | -12:09 | US$ 1000 |
| 10 | Lauren Capone | USA | 00:56:52 | 05:36:32 | 03:10:40 | 09:50:21 | 13:16 | US$ 750 |
| 11 | April Gellatly | USA | 00:53:10 | 05:12:11 | 03:43:07 | 09:53:46 | -09:47 | |
| 12 | Palmira Alvarez | MEX | 01:02:54 | 05:18:54 | 03:32:07 | 09:58:13 | -48:06 | |
| 13 | Amanda Wendorff | USA | 00:56:51 | 05:13:36 | 03:44:11 | 09:59:18 | 14:54 | |
| 14 | Neilia Bliss | USA | 01:02:49 | 05:22:16 | 03:49:48 | 10:20:35 | 09:29 | |
| 15 | Amelia McCracken | USA | 01:10:23 | 05:37:21 | 03:47:23 | 10:41:01 | n/a | |
| Molly Roohi | USA | 00:59:29 | 05:20:53 | DNF | ||||
| Caroline St-Pierre | CAN | 00:56:55 | 05:55:01 | DNF | ||||
| Amy Vantassel | USA | 01:02:47 | 05:53:04 | DNF | ||||
| Amber Ferreira | USA | 00:50:34 | DNF |