Career Highlights

• 4-time Winner IM France (2009, 10, 12, 14)

2015 Season

• DNF IM South Africa
• 4th 70.3 Mallorca, 70.3 Barcelona
• 4th IM Brasil 9:08:29
• 7th IM Germany 9:28:20
• 12th 70.3 Champs

Tine managed to qualify after a pretty late start to the season: Her first points are from 70.3 Mallorca in May! She raced well in Brasil to finish 4th in a close race. She was well placed in T2 at IM Germany, but was overtaken by a few athletes on the run and had to settle for 7th. At first this did not look enough, but when a few other athletes missed scoring good points, she received a July slot. “My Kona qualification was my main goal for 2015. The spring and summer races presented an uphill battle I was really pleased to conquer.”

Even though her 12th place at the 70.3 Champs in Zell am See was “a nice surprise”, she has been mainly focused on Kona, choosing to prepare in Lanzarote instead of altitude training. What’s her goal for Kona? “I know that others have a stronger claim to a place in the Top 10, but I am hoping to be the surprise outsider. But a place in the Top 15 would be pretty good, too.”

She’ll need a perfect day in order to finish in the Top 10: Not loosing too much time in the swim, ride with a decent group on the bike and then especially a strong marathon. She has run around three hours in France, and she’ll need about a 3:05 in Kona this year.

(Photo: Tine enjoying the sun in Lanzarote. Supplied by Tine)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!

Career Highlights

• Kona Champion 2013
• 3-time winner IM France (2011-13)

2015 Season

• 1st IM South Africa 8:16:35
• 5th IM Germany 8:07:09

The 2013 champion isn’t the flashiest racer but he hardly ever shows any weakness. Last year in Kona 15 bad minutes cost him a podium place when he was cramping after the Energy Lab: “Afterwards we found out I had a little abdominal muscle rupture that was probably caused by too high rpm going down Hawi with a tail wind. That section was crucial on the bike course 2014.”

This year he has already competed in two Regional Championships. I consider his IM South Africa win in 8:16:35 (including a 2:49 marathon when he already had a big lead in T2) one of the most underrated performances: When taking the slow course and conditions into account it is the second best 2015 performance (behind Frodo’s win in Frankfurt). In Frankfurt he was “one of the big three” in the male field, and some may consider his 5th place a “disappointment” (in the same way as his second place in Frankfurt last year). “I wanted to perform at my best possible level, but the heat was something I’ve never experienced before”, he says.

I expect the ‘South Africa Frederik’ to show up in Kona: “In February and March I put in new things, and it worked for South Africa. The hard work and the different approach during winter definitely payed off! Leading up to Frankfurt I did the traditional high altitude training camp (like the last six years) and I felt less aggressive than I was before South Africa. For Kona, I’ll do my preparation in the same way as I did for South Africa. I’m chasing a second victory in Kona. I think it’s realistic and I have still a few years to go. But I really need ‘the perfect day’ to make it happen again.”

If he wants to contend for the win in Kona, he has to limit the time he looses to the very strong bike riders and still be able to follow that with a superb run. It would require the next step forward in his development, but his dominating win in South Africa showed he is working towards these capabilities.

(Photo: Frederik Wins in South Africa, Credit: JacVanEvents)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!

Career Highlights

• Multiple IM Winner (Brasil, Cairns)
• 2nd Kona 2013

2015 Season

• 4th 70.3 Pucon, 70.3 Subic Bay
• 1st IM Cairns 8:18:01
• 2nd 70.3 Sunshine Coast

After his second place in Kona 2013 Luke struggled in the next season, still finishing fifteenth in Kona. A dominating win in Cairns shows that he has rediscovered his old form: “Winning Ironman Cairns was the highlight this year as a validation of consistent hard work.” Though at times the life of the “McGerdes Family” (Luke, his fiancee Beth Gerdes and their young daughter Wynne) seems a total whirlwind, they have managed to build an environment around preparing and racing triathlons: “The run work that I’ve been putting in with Beth consistently throughout this year is really starting to pay off. We love to see each other out on the course and it’s always a little lift to see the other one passing by. Beth actually stopped her race and shouted at me as I crested the final hill in Sunshine Coast 70.3 with Terenzo and it gave me the little push I needed to close in that final kilometer.”

Going into the year he identified his swim as one of the areas he needed to improve: “I’ve been working hard on it and have consistently swum better this year than last year. Moving to Australia allowed me to train with a local elite swim squad which I feel is invaluable. I feel really good about the swim heading into Kona.” A better swim will also allow him a slightly easier first two hours on the bike: “My main limiter in Kona are the tactics that go on at the beginning of the bike. I’m hoping for a race where I can race my own race.”

If his swim goes well he then be able to ride with Frodo from the start or with Sebi when the bike group breaks up. If he can follow that up with another sub-3h marathon he’ll be in a great position to fight for a podium finish. That seems to be what Luke has in mind as well: “I’d love to be back on the podium, the ultimate dream is obviously to win it. I think anything is possible.”

(Photo: Luke, Beth and Wynne after 70.3 Sunshine Coast. Supplied by Beth Gerdes)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!

Career Highlights

• Ironman Winner (Switzerland)

2015 Season

• 5th IM Malaysia 10:15:19
• 4th IM Western Australia 9:04:38
• 5th IM Melbourne 9:05:08
• DNF IM Cairns
• 1st IM Switzerland 9:21:05
• 2nd 70.3 Philippines
• 6th 70.3 Sunshine Coast

The last few years have been a total whirlwind for Beth: Starting a new relationship with an Australian Pro triathlete training in California who “happened” to live next door, wondering why she was vomiting at IM Wisconsin 2013, supporting her new boyfriend who finished 2nd in Kona, finding out she was pregnant, having her baby daughter Wynne at the end of May ’14 and getting back into Ironman racing in September. And that was just the start of her crazy busy 2015 racing season!

Roughly four months after giving birth to Wynne, Beth raced IM Malaysia, finishing 5th. In December she raced IM Western Australia, finishing fourth with a sub-3h marathon. In March she finished 5th at IM Melbourne, posting her first sub-5h IM bike leg. Even with a few more points from 70.3 racing, she didn’t have enough points to qualify. She lined up with Luke at IM Cairns only to DNF early on the bike when her bike kit didn’t include a valve extender and she couldn’t put air in her tires after fixing a flat. (She couldn’t be too mad at her bike mechanic – Luke had a great day and won the men’s race.) It was mid-June, Beth still need more points to qualify and time was running out. After a bit of back and forth, she settled on racing IM Switzerland, probably needing a second place finish for a Kona slot. She came off the bike in third place, quickly overtook Mareen Hufe (who “only” needed third to qualify) but was still more than ten minutes behind Mary Beth Ellis at the half-marathon mark. That quickly changed when MBE struggled and Beth ran a phenomenal 3:01 marathon (within a minute of the run course record). Beth took the lead at 36k and went on for her first Ironman win – and finally a safe position for a Kona slot. Of course this was the highlight of her season so far: “Winning Ironman Switzerland was my first Ironman win, so of course it was special. It was also unexpected, which made it even more of a personal highlight.”

Still, she didn’t take things easy to focus on Kona: In addition to racing two more 70.3s she and Luke bought a house in Noosa to use as a training base. “I am still in the groove and excited for Kona. I keep seeing progress with my training and racing, so that keeps me motivated. But I am absolutely ready for a break after Hawaii. I think Kona will be my last Ironman for the year, but I guess you never know.” Ask any question about Kona and you can tell how much she is looking forward to the race: “I’m excited to race the Top 40 women in the world in Ironman. Kona is the only time you can do that and truly see where you rank in the world-wide scheme of things. I think the pro race experience will be completely different from the age group race. Sitting on the sidelines the past two years, I have a good idea about how the race can unfold, and I’m excited to be a part of it. So even though much of the race and course is known to me, it will feel completely new and I’m not sure how it will unfold on the day.”

For a good Kona result, Beth needs to limit the time she looses to the rest of the field on the swim. “I need to get into a solid swim pack that swims around 1 hour. If I come out of the water with this group of girls, I can set myself up for a really good day. I love non-wetsuit swims without surf/beach entry, so Kona is a great course for me and I believe I can make it happen. I’m swimming 25-30k of long course meters per week with an elite squad which is giving me some uncharted swim fitness. I also thrive on the Kona atmosphere. Whether I’m racing or not, the Big Island during Ironman week is my happiest place on earth.” With her run strength she’ll be able to plow through most of the Kona field. If she manages to come off the bike not much more than 20 minutes behind the leaders, I’m sure we’ll see her run into the Top 10.

(Photo: Beth getting some extra motivation by daughter Wynne on the run at 70.3 Sunshine Coast. Supplied by Beth.)

This is an excerpt from my free “Kona Rating Report” – 150+ pages with tons of information about the Kona Pro races!