Ironman Mont Tremblant 2017 – Analyzing Results

Course Conditions

Mont Tremblant is a challenging course: Even if the conditions this year were better than the torrential rains we’ve had last year, the adjustment of 3:45 indicates that this is one of the slower courses on the Ironman calendar.

Male Race Results

Marino Vanhoenacker put on a clinic: He was just a few seconds behind in the swim then posted the fastest times in the bike and run and won his 17th Ironman by twenty minutes! (By his words he won “only” 16 – he doesn’t count the abbreviated IM New Zealand 2012.) He secured a Kona slot but probably will decline it. His slot would roll down to Chris McDonald. Chris was solid all day – just 30 seconds behind Marino after the swim, then loosing time to him on the bike but gapping the rest of the field. A hard earned 3:04 marathon saw him finish second. Third place went to Jordan Monnink in his first Professional Ironman race, moving up from racing on the 70.3 distance.

Female Race Results

The female Pro field in Mont Tremblant was larger than the male, had more potential Kona qualifiers and was also a lot more exciting. The first two legs were clearly dominated by Lauren Brandon: Not only was she the first female out of the water, she was also the first overall out of the water, making up the three minutes that the male Pros started before the females! Lauren also posted the fastest bike split. By T2 she had built a lead of more than 13 minutes in front of Rachel Joyce and Magali Tisseyre who were looking for the the points to qualify for Kona. Two more females – Kim Schwabenbauer and Jennie Hansen – were 18 and almost 20 minutes back at the start of the marathon. 25k into the run, the order hadn’t changed – Lauren was still in the lead, but Rachel was just 30 seconds back and the other three ladies were within four minutes of the lead.

The last part of the run created a major re-shuffle: In the end Rachel Joyce won her second Ironman race of the season – and finishing her third IM within ten weeks was finally enough for her to secure a Kona slot. With Kim Schwabenbauer another recent mom had the fastest marathon and finished in second place. The final spot on the podium was claimed by Jennie Hansen who managed to end her three-year injury break with a great return to Ironman racing.