Race Conditions
Similar to last year, IM Japan was pretty slow: An adjustment of -5:35 (mainly because of a slow bike) leads to a new course rating of -10:47. This is reflected in the slow winning times – just under 9 hours for the men and just under 10 hours for them women.
Male Race Results
A solid performance – very close to his expected time – was good enough for my pre-race favorite Michael Ruenz to win the race – his 2:52 marathon was too good for the rest of the field. Harry Wiltshire finally got enough points for a Kona slot with his second place finish. The last spot on the podium went to Cedric Lassonde in his first Ironman.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected |
| 1 | Michael Rünz | GER | 00:54:22 | 05:01:23 | 02:52:36 | 08:53:40 | 00:39 |
| 2 | Harry Wiltshire | GBR | 00:49:23 | 05:04:26 | 03:08:17 | 09:06:34 | -05:36 |
| 3 | Cedric Lassonde | FRA | 00:54:24 | 05:01:00 | 03:06:40 | 09:07:44 | n/a |
| 4 | Brian Fuller | AUS | 00:53:23 | 05:01:49 | 03:12:55 | 09:13:49 | 01:02 |
| 5 | Yu Shinozaki | JPN | 00:56:54 | 04:57:09 | 03:17:04 | 09:15:35 | -33:49 |
| 6 | Tohara Kaito | JAP | 00:55:45 | 05:12:42 | 03:03:16 | 09:16:48 | -10:42 |
| 7 | Kuniaki Takahama | JPN | 00:49:20 | 05:32:30 | 02:56:32 | 09:24:52 | -00:40 |
| 8 | Timothy Beardall | AUS | 01:05:32 | 04:40:07 | 03:46:57 | 09:38:32 | -29:26 |
| 9 | Jose Jeuland | FRA | 00:54:18 | 05:22:03 | 03:34:37 | 09:58:25 | 40:40 |
| 10 | Masayuki Matsumaru | JPN | 00:55:48 | 05:23:51 | 03:38:14 | 10:04:10 | 32:54 |
| 11 | Tadashi Iida | JPN | 00:56:52 | 05:42:56 | 03:19:53 | 10:05:49 | 23:54 |
| 12 | Jon Woods | NZL | 00:56:55 | 05:30:39 | 03:41:35 | 10:14:52 | 22:04 |
| Daiki Masuda | JPN | 00:54:16 | DNF |
Female Race Results
On the women’s side, Shiao-yu Li defended her 2013 title while also improving her time by more than 14 minutes. The other spots on the podium went to Jessica Fleming and Keiko Tanaka.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected |
| 1 | Shiao-yu Li | TWN | 01:04:34 | 05:31:05 | 03:17:05 | 09:58:30 | -38:55 |
| 2 | Jessica Fleming | AUS | 01:00:19 | 05:33:54 | 03:26:32 | 10:06:49 | -03:54 |
| 3 | Keiko Tanaka | JPN | 00:56:42 | 05:44:39 | 03:22:43 | 10:09:24 | -05:03 |
| 4 | Emi Sakai | JPN | 01:06:50 | 05:43:56 | 03:42:06 | 10:39:42 | 11:23 |
| 5 | Hiromi Matsumaru | JPN | 01:07:25 | 06:00:08 | 03:41:32 | 10:54:29 | n/a |
| 6 | Yoriko Obayashi | JPN | 00:59:58 | 06:31:54 | 03:26:28 | 11:06:21 | n/a |
| 7 | Leslie Lamacchia | USA | 01:05:37 | 06:23:19 | 04:40:33 | 12:16:34 | 1:26:56 |
| Megumi Shigaki | JPN | 01:01:51 | DNF | ||||
| Mami Ishii | JPN | 01:04:35 | DNF |