With Ironman South Africa, the first Regional Championship of 2017 is coming up, offering direct Kona slots for the winners. The resulting fields are very strong, both defending Champions Kaisa Lehtonen and Ben Hoffman are back. On the male side we have the three last winners (Nils Frommhold, Frederik Van Lierde and Ben Hoffmann), on the female side we have Kona winner Daniela Ryf and three of the five Regional Champions from last year (Kaisa Lehtonen, Julia Gajer who won IM Texas and Jodie Cunnama who won IM Cairns).
Update March 28th: Jodie Cunnama announced she won’t be racing “for health reasons”.
Update March 27th: On Twitter Rachel McBride said “Wish I was there! Alas not racing”.
Update March 17th: Mareen Hufe (planning to race IM Brasil) and Laura Siddall won’t be racing.
Update March 20th: Alessandro Degasperi has announced on his blog he’ll focus on IM Lanzarote.
Previous Winners
| Year | Male Winner | Time | Female Winner | Time |
| 2006 | Gerrit Schellens (BEL) | 08:36:06 | Natascha Badmann (SUI) | 09:46:38 |
| 2007 | Gerrit Schellens (BEL) | 08:33:05 | Natascha Badmann (SUI) | 09:22:01 |
| 2008 | Stephen Bayliss (GBR) | 08:18:23 | Bella Bayliss (GBR) | 09:27:48 |
| 2009 | Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) | 08:17:32 | Lucie Reed (CZE) | 09:16:32 |
| 2010 | Raynard Tissink (ZAF) | 08:23:28 | Sonja Tajsich (GER) | 09:16:55 |
| 2011 | Raynard Tissink (ZAF) | 08:05:36 | Chrissie Wellington (GBR) | 08:33:56 |
| 2012 | Clemente Alonso McKernan (ESP) | 08:34:45 | Natascha Badmann (SUI) | 09:47:10 |
| 2013 | Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) | 08:11:24 | Jessie Donavan (USA) | 09:10:58 |
| 2014 | Nils Frommhold (GER) | 08:26:07 | Simone Braendli (SUI) | 09:31:54 |
| 2015 | Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) | 08:16:35 | Jodie Cunnama (GBR) | 09:26:56 |
| 2016 | Ben Hoffman (USA) | 08:12:37 | Kaisa Lehtonen (FIN) | 09:06:50 |
Last Year’s TOP 3
Male Race Results
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time |
| 1 | Ben Hoffman | USA | 00:52:58 | 04:29:36 | 02:45:50 | 08:12:37 |
| 2 | Tim Van Berkel | AUS | 00:50:00 | 04:32:33 | 02:48:15 | 08:14:51 |
| 3 | Marko Albert | EST | 00:49:37 | 04:30:53 | 02:54:19 | 08:18:52 |
Female Race Results
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time |
| 1 | Kaisa Lehtonen | FIN | 00:58:21 | 04:59:41 | 03:02:34 | 09:06:50 |
| 2 | Susie Cheetham | GBR | 00:58:21 | 05:04:26 | 03:02:43 | 09:09:49 |
| 3 | Lucy Gossage | GBR | 01:03:20 | 04:56:10 | 03:07:36 | 09:11:43 |
Course Records
| Leg | Gender | Record | Athlete | Date |
| Total | overall | 08:05:36 | Raynard Tissink | 2011-04-10 |
| Swim | overall | 00:45:22 | Anton Storm | 2009-04-05 |
| Bike | overall | 04:19:41 | Raynard Tissink | 2011-04-10 |
| Run | overall | 02:45:48 | Gerrit Schellens | 2007-03-18 |
| Total | female | 08:33:56 | Chrissie Wellington | 2011-04-10 |
| Swim | female | 00:47:40 | Lucie Reed | 2009-04-05 |
| Bike | female | 04:45:23 | Chrissie Wellington | 2011-04-10 |
| Run | female | 02:52:54 | Chrissie Wellington | 2011-04-10 |
Course Rating
The Course Rating for IM South Africa is 02:59.
Race Adjustments for IM South Africa
| Year | Adjustment | Swim Adj. | Bike Adj. | Run Adj. | # of Finishers | Rating | Swim Rating | Bike Rating | Run Rating |
| 2006 | 01:35 | -04:53 | -01:53 | -00:21 | 28 | 01:35 | -04:53 | -01:53 | -00:21 |
| 2007 | 01:16 | -08:52 | 03:31 | 00:49 | 33 | 01:26 | -06:52 | 00:49 | 00:14 |
| 2008 | 15:32 | 01:13 | 11:14 | 04:15 | 36 | 06:08 | -04:11 | 04:18 | 01:34 |
| 2009 | 17:18 | 02:09 | 10:45 | -01:03 | 28 | 08:55 | -02:36 | 05:54 | 00:55 |
| 2010 | 09:39 | -00:15 | 08:15 | 01:15 | 34 | 09:04 | -02:08 | 06:23 | 00:59 |
| 2011 | 15:31 | 00:13 | 14:40 | 01:56 | 36 | 10:08 | -01:44 | 07:45 | 01:08 |
| 2012 | -11:59 | -08:35 | -08:23 | 01:54 | 28 | 06:59 | -02:43 | 05:27 | 01:15 |
| 2013 | 06:23 | -01:17 | 11:20 | 03:07 | 36 of 44 | 06:54 | -02:32 | 06:11 | 01:29 |
| 2014 | -12:13 | -01:05 | -08:46 | -02:56 | 29 of 40 | 04:47 | -02:22 | 04:32 | 00:59 |
| 2015 | -13:45 | -00:47 | -10:09 | -00:57 | 49 of 61 | 02:56 | -02:13 | 03:04 | 00:48 |
| 2016 | 03:32 | -02:43 | 09:06 | 01:34 | 42 of 53 | 02:59 | -02:16 | 03:37 | 00:52 |
KPR points and Prize Money
IM South Africa is a P-4000 race. It has a total prize purse of 150.000 US$.
Estimated Time Plan
The following table shows the time plan for the race start and the estimated times for the first athlete to end each leg or finish the race. The estimates are based on the start time and my time estimates, these times can change based on how fast or slow the race ends up:
| What | Racetime | Local Time |
| Male Pro Start | 06:30 | |
| Female Pro Start | 06:35 | |
| Age Group Start | 06:45 | |
| First Male Out of Water | 00:50 | 07:20 |
| First Female Out of Water | 00:51 | 07:26 |
| First Male End of Bike | 05:21 | 11:51 |
| First Female End of Bike | 05:49 | 12:24 |
| Male Winner | 08:13 | 14:43 |
| Female Winner | 08:49 | 15:24 |
Port Elizabeth is on South Africa Standard Time, 2 hours ahead of UTC. Here are the conversions to a few other time zones:
- +8 hours: Melbourne (AEST, DST ends on April 2nd)
- -1 hour: United Kingdom (BST), race starts at 5:30
- no change: Central Europe (CEST), race starts at 6:30
- – 5 hours: US East Coast (EDT), race starts at 12:30am
- – 8 hours: US West Coast (PDT), race starts at 9:30pm on Saturday
Male Race Participants
| Rank | Bib | Name | Nation | Expected Time | Rating | Exp. Swim | Exp. Bike | Exp. Run | Consistency | Overall |
| 1 | 2 | Frederik Van Lierde | BEL | 08:13:03 | 08:19:35 | 00:50:04 | 04:26:50 | 02:51:08 | 80% +9% -11% (22) | 8 |
| 2 | 3 | Nils Frommhold | GER | 08:15:45 | 08:19:07 | 00:49:53 | 04:26:42 | 02:54:10 | 83% +0% -17% (8) | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | Ben Hoffman | USA | 08:16:55 | 08:25:18 | 00:51:18 | 04:31:09 | 02:49:27 | 34% +50% -16% (18) | 19 |
| 4 | 4 | Boris Stein | GER | 08:20:51 | 08:24:41 | 00:54:49 | 04:29:07 | 02:51:54 | 65% +35% -0% (7) | 15 |
| 5 | 8 | Eneko Llanos | ESP | 08:23:55 | 08:25:37 | 00:50:21 | 04:29:04 | 02:59:30 | 90% +0% -10% (28) | 21 |
| 6 | 10 | David McNamee | GBR | 08:25:27 | 08:25:11 | 00:49:49 | 04:41:24 | 02:49:14 | 100% +0% -0% (5) | 18 |
| 7 | 34 | Joe Skipper | GBR | 08:27:12 | 08:34:59 | 00:56:35 | 04:34:05 | 02:51:32 | 32% +29% -40% (14) | 48 |
| 8 | 28 | Giulio Molinari | ITA | 08:29:44 | 08:42:52 | 00:51:47 | 04:30:32 | 03:02:25 | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (77) |
| 9 | 7 | James Cunnama | ZAF | 08:29:55 | 08:34:05 | 00:51:37 | 04:36:20 | 02:56:57 | 57% +10% -33% (23) | 38 |
| 11 | 6 | Kyle Buckingham | ZAF | 08:31:17 | 08:43:10 | 00:50:53 | 04:33:35 | 03:01:50 | 62% +0% -38% (11) | 78 |
| 12 | 13 | Johann Ackermann | GER | 08:31:19 | 08:39:43 | 00:49:58 | 04:32:09 | 03:04:12 | 55% +0% -45% (8) | 66 |
| 13 | 25 | Christian Kramer | GER | 08:32:29 | 08:35:41 | 00:49:35 | 04:37:04 | 03:00:49 | 77% +7% -16% (19) | 54 |
| 14 | 11 | Jens Petersen-Bach | DEN | 08:33:30 | 08:34:21 | 00:53:04 | 04:43:40 | 02:51:45 | 63% +0% -37% (17) | 42 |
| 15 | 9 | Victor Del Corral | ESP | 08:34:55 | 08:39:39 | 00:57:59 | 04:41:12 | 02:50:44 | 51% +0% -49% (15) | 65 |
| 16 | 24 | Markus Fachbach | GER | 08:34:58 | 08:35:48 | 00:52:40 | 04:38:06 | 02:59:12 | 69% +1% -31% (20) | 55 |
| 17 | 38 | Jan Van Berkel | SUI | 08:36:22 | 08:47:47 | 00:51:53 | 04:37:15 | 03:02:14 | 56% +9% -35% (13) | 92 |
| 18 | 40 | Andrej Vistica | CRO | 08:36:24 | 08:40:28 | 00:55:30 | 04:39:12 | 02:56:43 | 83% +0% -17% (12) | 71 |
| 19 | 31 | Michael Ruenz | GER | 08:44:23 | 08:51:13 | 00:57:17 | 04:47:07 | 02:54:59 | 71% +0% -29% (9) | 101 |
| 20 | 29 | Ivan Risti | ITA | 08:46:21 | 09:04:06 | 00:50:42 | 04:46:30 | 03:04:09 | 39% +17% -44% (8) | 154 |
| 21 | 23 | Mario De Elias | ARG | 08:46:33 | 09:02:17 | 00:53:33 | 04:50:57 | 02:57:04 | 2% +54% -43% (7) | 146 |
| 22 | 35 | Erik-Simon Strijk | NED | 08:46:38 | 08:53:05 | 00:55:36 | 04:44:50 | 03:01:11 | 97% +3% -0% (8) | 109 |
| 23 | 30 | Roman Deisenhofer | GER | 08:48:15 | 08:57:56 | 00:55:06 | 04:40:25 | 03:07:43 | 32% +68% -0% (6) | 126 |
| 24 | 12 | Harry Wiltshire | GBR | 08:48:27 | 08:51:26 | 00:49:49 | 04:48:46 | 03:04:51 | 39% +26% -35% (18) | 102 |
| 25 | 39 | Diego Van Looy | BEL | 08:50:59 | 08:54:00 | 01:08:19 | 04:46:08 | 02:51:32 | 100% +0% -0% (3) | 113 |
| 26 | 73 | Cameron Wurf | AUS | 08:58:50 | 09:15:20 | 00:52:20 | 04:21:11 | 03:40:20 | 44% +56% -0% (2) | (183) |
| 27 | 21 | Balazs Csoke | HUN | 08:58:59 | 09:03:32 | 00:50:01 | 04:52:33 | 03:11:26 | 47% +12% -41% (26) | 152 |
| 28 | 26 | Freddy Lampret | ZAF | 09:00:06 | 09:36:19 | 00:54:42 | 04:47:12 | 03:13:13 | 1% +30% -69% (9) | (237) |
| 29 | 37 | Petr Vabrousek | CZE | 09:01:44 | 09:14:30 | 00:58:43 | 04:51:43 | 03:06:18 | 69% +1% -29% (96) | 179 |
| 30 | 20 | Greg Close | USA | 09:08:51 | 09:22:01 | 01:01:17 | 04:57:05 | 03:05:29 | 63% +0% -37% (7) | (199) |
| 31 | 22 | Gerhard De Bruin | ZAF | 09:22:53 | 09:38:37 | 00:56:48 | 04:57:32 | 03:23:33 | 65% +35% -0% (5) | 241 |
| 32 | 18 | Bekim Christensen | DEN | 09:24:39 | 09:39:12 | 01:07:39 | 04:56:41 | 03:15:19 | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (243) |
| 33 | 15 | Carlos Aznar Gallego | ESP | 09:27:03 | 09:41:39 | 01:06:27 | 05:06:47 | 03:08:48 | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (246) |
| 34 | 19 | Emanuele Ciotti | ITA | 09:31:03 | 09:35:39 | 00:55:03 | 04:56:38 | 03:34:22 | 60% +0% -40% (5) | 235 |
| 35 | 41 | Valentin Zasypkin | RUS | 10:35:03 | 11:02:05 | 01:15:31 | 05:26:12 | 03:48:20 | 13% +23% -64% (5) | (295) |
| 36 | 33 | Drew Scott | USA | 11:17:09 | 11:41:33 | 00:52:08 | 04:43:27 | 05:36:33 | 45% +0% -55% (2) | (297) |
| 14 | Josh Amberger | AUS | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (n/a) | |
| 16 | Fredrik Baeckson | SWE | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | n/a (no IM Pro race) | (n/a) | |
| 17 | Vinicius Canhedo | BRA | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | n/a (no IM Pro race) | (n/a) | |
| 32 | Evert Scheltinga | NED | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | 0% +0% -100% (2) | (n/a) | |
| 36 | Toumy Degham | FRA | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (n/a) |
Female Race Participants
| Rank | Bib | Name | Nation | Expected Time | Rating | Exp. Swim | Exp. Bike | Exp. Run | Consistency | Overall |
| 1 | 43 | Daniela Ryf | SUI | 08:49:25 | 08:41:40 | 00:53:37 | 04:50:15 | 03:00:33 | 85% +0% -15% (9) | 1 |
| 2 | 42 | Kaisa Lehtonen | FIN | 09:10:40 | 09:12:57 | 00:58:02 | 05:05:14 | 03:02:23 | 100% +0% -0% (3) | 4 |
| 09:19:34 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 45 | Susie Cheetham | GBR | 09:11:52 | 09:21:32 | 00:57:29 | 05:08:02 | 03:01:21 | 69% +0% -31% (5) | 14 |
| 5 | 46 | Julia Gajer | GER | 09:17:04 | 09:21:58 | 00:55:35 | 05:08:38 | 03:07:51 | 60% +0% -40% (12) | (15) |
| 6 | 47 | Astrid Stienen | GER | 09:23:18 | 09:27:23 | 01:01:27 | 05:02:42 | 03:14:09 | 35% +28% -36% (10) | 21 |
| 9 | 68 | Danielle Mack | USA | 09:37:51 | 09:44:37 | 01:04:43 | 05:19:19 | 03:08:48 | 52% +20% -28% (8) | 54 |
| 10 | 52 | Kristin Moeller | GER | 09:40:14 | 09:42:40 | 01:06:39 | 05:25:55 | 03:02:41 | 80% +8% -12% (21) | 51 |
| 11 | 49 | Annah Watkinson | ZAF | 09:40:46 | 09:44:35 | 01:01:09 | 05:15:17 | 03:19:19 | 100% +0% -0% (3) | 53 |
| 12 | 64 | Kirsty Jahn | CAN | 09:41:16 | 09:56:15 | 01:01:49 | 05:24:18 | 03:10:09 | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (72) |
| 13 | 65 | Katja Konschak | GER | 09:42:18 | 09:51:07 | 00:56:14 | 05:25:21 | 03:15:42 | 42% +28% -30% (18) | 63 |
| 14 | 74 | Ariane Monticeli | BRA | 09:42:58 | 09:44:58 | 01:04:36 | 05:20:56 | 03:12:26 | 52% +18% -29% (16) | 56 |
| 16 | 72 | Alexandra Tondeur | BEL | 09:43:30 | 09:41:27 | 01:03:59 | 05:20:50 | 03:13:41 | 100% +0% -0% (3) | 47 |
| 17 | 60 | Dimity-Lee Duke | AUS | 09:43:48 | 09:42:24 | 01:02:54 | 05:16:16 | 03:19:38 | 83% +17% -0% (11) | 50 |
| 18 | 71 | Natascha Schmitt | GER | 09:43:53 | 09:57:04 | 00:57:09 | 05:12:21 | 03:29:23 | 44% +31% -25% (7) | 73 |
| 19 | 50 | Gurutze Frades Larralde | ESP | 09:44:05 | 09:50:13 | 01:04:31 | 05:21:33 | 03:13:00 | 34% +39% -27% (7) | 61 |
| 20 | 59 | Camille Deligny | FRA | 09:46:42 | 09:56:35 | 01:05:10 | 05:05:06 | 03:31:26 | 100% +0% -0% (2) | (72) |
| 21 | 66 | Carolin Lehrieder | GER | 09:47:19 | 10:02:14 | 00:58:10 | 05:19:25 | 03:24:44 | 38% +14% -49% (8) | 82 |
| 22 | 56 | Jeanne Collonge | FRA | 09:47:39 | 09:54:01 | 01:01:46 | 05:11:44 | 03:29:09 | 50% +5% -45% (10) | 68 |
| 23 | 51 | Katharina Grohmann | GER | 09:52:11 | 10:03:14 | 01:14:04 | 05:16:31 | 03:16:36 | 100% +0% -0% (14) | 84 |
| 24 | 54 | Nikki Bartlett | GBR | 09:54:00 | 10:09:18 | 01:06:16 | 05:17:38 | 03:25:05 | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (95) |
| 25 | 67 | Diane Luethi | SUI | 09:56:21 | 10:08:18 | 00:57:56 | 05:22:37 | 03:30:48 | 100% +0% -0% (2) | (94) |
| 26 | 57 | Kate Comber | GBR | 09:57:34 | 10:00:50 | 00:56:51 | 05:25:21 | 03:30:23 | 100% +0% -0% (3) | 78 |
| 27 | 61 | Jenny Fletcher | CAN | 09:59:20 | 10:14:47 | 00:59:15 | 05:22:14 | 03:32:51 | n/a (1 IM Pro race) | (104) |
| 28 | 70 | Lina-Kristin Schink | GER | 10:09:34 | 10:16:48 | 01:15:23 | 05:20:25 | 03:28:46 | 83% +0% -17% (7) | 107 |
| 29 | 55 | Rahel Bellinga | NED | 10:12:34 | 10:32:18 | 01:08:48 | 05:13:20 | 03:45:27 | 71% +21% -8% (7) | 134 |
| 30 | 63 | Helena Herrero Gomez | ESP | 10:15:44 | 10:27:56 | 01:02:51 | 05:44:14 | 03:23:39 | 50% +0% -50% (7) | 125 |
| 58 | Steph Corker | CAN | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | n/a (no IM Pro race) | (n/a) | |
| 62 | Manon Genet | FRA | n/a | unrated | unrated | unrated | unrated | n/a (no IM Pro race) | (n/a) |
Winning Odds
Male Race Participants
The male race has two favorites – the winners from the last two years. Frederik Van Lierde had a fantastic race in Port Elizabeth in 2015, but Ben might have the momentum after a great 2016 season. Nils Frommhold is the 2014 winner, he’s looking for a good result after a frustrating 2016 season cut short by another stress fracture. Boris Stein needs just a finish for a Kona slot, but as last year he’ll be racing aggressively to test for any weaknesses to work on over the summer.
- Frederik Van Lierde: 33% (2-1)
- Ben Hoffman: 32% (2-1)
- Nils Frommhold: 21% (4-1)
- Boris Stein: 9% (10-1)
There is a number of other strong contenders not shown in the above list, for example I expect Eneko Llanos, Joe Skipper and David McNamee to contend for a podium spot.
Female Race Participants
There can’t be any discussion that two-time Kona champion Daniela Ryf has to be the favorite, even if the race is early in her season. Jodie Cunnama is likely to be leading after the swim, it’ll be interesting to see if she tries to go with Daniela on the bike, trying to reclaim her 2015 title that she lost after crashing under dubious circumstances last year. Kaisa Lehtonen has proven in Kona that her win at IM South Africa in 2016 wasn’t a “fluke result”, I’m looking forward to see her race after deciding to be coached by Siri Lindley last fall.
- Daniela Ryf: 69% (1-1)
- Kaisa Lehtonen: 15% (6-1)
- Jodie Cunnama: 7% (14-1)
Susie Cheetham (3rd in 2015, 2nd in 2016, so what’s in store for 2017?) should be in the mix for at least a podium spot, and I expect a number of German athletes such as Julia Gajer, Astrid Stienen or Mareen Hufe (more likely to racing IM Brasil) to have some good early season form as well. Laura Siddall has already raced two IM-distance races in New Zealand, I’d be surprised to see her on the start line, but watch out for her if she is! (Laura has withdrawn from racing IM South Africa.)