In its 35th anniversary year, the Ironman Hawaii was more exciting than it had been in previous years. Many favorites were named in advance, both for men and women. However, not all of them could live up to their role. However, the race in Kailua-Kona also showed that you now have to be a complete triathlete to finish at the front – just being really strong in one of the three disciplines is no longer enough.
This was shown most clearly by the American Andrew Starykowicz, who climbed out of the water behind Pete Jacobs. On the bike, he then quickly pulled away from the group of other favorites and was able to fend off the strong emerging Australian Luke McKenzie towards the end of the 180-kilometer bike course. At the final marathon, however, his masses were quickly read. In the end, Starykowicz took 21st place.
Things were going better for McKenzie there. While cycling, he broke away from the group of favorites together with the Ironman 70.3 World Champion Sebastian Kienle and made his way to the front. Surprisingly, he was able to put some time between himself and Kienle towards the end of the bike course. This in turn managed to keep strong runners like the Belgian Frederic Van Lierde, Faris Als-Sultan, winner of 2005, and Timo Bracht at bay.
But Hawaii wouldn't be Hawaii if the race were already decided at the second change. For a long time, McKenzie and Kienle defended themselves against Van Lierde, who was coming up strong in the second half of the marathon. In the end, however, they had to pass and let the Belgian go first. For all three, however, the places on the podium are equivalent to the greatest successes of their careers so far.
From a German perspective, Timo Bracht in ninth and Faris Al-Sultan in tenth completed the good performance of the German starters. However, they also had to cope with a small downer with the early departure of last year's second Andreas Raelert. The Rostocker complained at the beginning of the bike race about muscular problems in his right thigh and finally had to pay tribute to them.
The women's race was just as exciting as the men's race. Here, however, the top was together longer than with the men. Only halfway through the bike course, the Swiss Caroline Steffen pushed the pace and tried to break the eight-man lead. However, she did not succeed. Greater pressure on the pedals was shown by the British Rachel Joyce, who wanted to make the race difficult with her attack, even for the pursuers around Yvonne van Vlerken, Mirinda Carfrae and the German Anja Beranek, who had gotten a bit behind in the swim.
Their attempt initially looked promising. In the lead, the Brit went on the run. Behind her, however, came Van Vlerken, who set the fastest bike time, and Carfrae, who ended the day with the fastest marathon ever run by a woman on Hawaiian asphalt. Carfrae was the only starter that Joyce was able to intercept. Brit Liz Blatchford came in third and was able to intercept Van Vlerken just a few kilometers from the finish.
From a German point of view, the race was less spectacular. Sonja Tajsich and Mareen Hufe threw in the towel on the bike, Beranek later while running. Kristin Möller, who had started with injury problems, ended the race in 16th as the best German.
//Result men
1. Frederik Van Lierde (Belgium) 8:12:29
2. Luke McKenzie (Australia) 8:15:19
3. Sebastian Kienle (Germany) 8:19:24
4. James Cunnama (South Africa) 8:21:46
5. Timothy O'Donnell (USA) 8:22:25
6. Ivan Rana (Spain) 8:23:43
7. Tyler Butterfield (Bermuda) 8:24:09
8. Bart Aernouts (Belgium) 8:25:38
9. Timo Bracht (Germany) 8:26:32
10. Faris Al-Sultan (Germany) 8:31:13
//Result women
1. Mirinda Carfrae (Australia) 8:52:14
2. Rachel Joyce (UK) 8:57:28
3. Liz Blatchford (Great Britain) 9:03:35
4. Yvonne van Vlerken (Netherlands) 9:04:34
5. Caroline Steffen (Switzerland) 9:09:09