Ironman Switzerland 2015 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

As seems to be the norm for Switzerland the last few years, the race was again a slow one. A non-wetsuit swim and hot weather on the run lead to an adjustment of -8:09 and a new course rating of 4:49. Obviously, no new course record could be set in these conditions.

Male Race Results

Ronnie Schildknecht & IM Switzerland – what else is there to say?! Ronnie raced a very smart race to win his home race for the eighth time! This year he needed a strong 2:50 marathon to overtake the T2-leaders. Of these Manuel Küng couldn’t quite hold on to the lead (he still finished a respectable 7th), but Jan Van Berkel fought hard for his second place and a Kona slot. Alessandro Degasperi had the fastest marathon (2:47), but he lost too much time on the bike to move further ahead than third place.

Only Jan was able to score enough points for a Kona slot (Ronnie was already safe), especially Michael Raelert (DNF with cramps, decided not not to risk too much for 70.3 Worlds) and Mike Aigroz (had a good swim but hurt his foot when exiting the water) were frustrated with their races.

Female Race Results

Mary Beth Ellis was the race leader for most of the day. She was setting the pace on the swim and the bike, but she was struggling on the run. However, it took Beth Gerdes a phenomenal 3:01:24 marathon (only 38 seconds slower than Kristin Möller’s course record) to close the gap to MBE. Beth took the lead at 36k and went on to win her first professional Ironman. MBE finished second and Mareen Hufe took a solid third place. All podium finishers can be happy with their results as all of them secured Kona slots.