Chrissie Wellington, in only her 3rd year of racing in iron distance triathlons brakes the long standing course record held by Paula Newby-Fraser’s for the last 17 years with her third straight Ironman World Championship title. AMAZING! Chrissie took the lead early on the bike and never looked back, completely dominating the professional women’s field and winning by nearly 20 minutes. Mirinda Carfrae shares the record breaking spotlight during her first attempt at an Ironman event. In her first marathon run ever, she ran a blazing 2:56:51 to set the women’s run course record previously held Chrissie Wellington, set in 2008. Her run record breaking run set her up to a second place finish.
It wasn't easy but Craig Alexander successfully defended his Ironman World Championship title when he passed Chris Lieto at around mile 21 of the marathon. He becomes only the fourth man to successfully defend a championship title in Kona. Other back-to-back winners include Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Tim DeBoom. Chris Lieto's race to victory in Kona started around Hawi and ended just miles short of the finish line. He chased down the leaders on the bike, finishing the day with the fastest bike split. His run training paid off as he did not fade on the run like in previous years, this time holding on until the very end. He finished the day with his best Ironman World Championship finish, second place.
Here are some stats for the day:
• 1,779 athletes started
• 1,778 finished the swim (Kyle Garlett - four-time cancer survivor and heart transplant recipient missed the swim cut-off by 8 seconds)
• 1,653 athletes were official finishers - Finisher Rate: 92.9%
• Last Official Finisher: Richard Decker at 16:59:12
• Finishers by Gender: M 1,200 = 72.6% and F 453 = 27.4%,
========== Top 3 Splits on the Pro Side ========== |
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| PRO MEN SWIM | PRO MEN BIKE | PRO MEN RUN | ||
| 47:42 John Flanagan III 47:45 Andy Potts 50:03 Pete Jacobs |
4:25:11 Chris Lieto 4:28:34 Maik Twelsiek 4:30:05 Michael Weiss |
2:48:05 Craig Alexander 2:51:05 Andreas Raelert 2:51:32 Ezequiel Morales |
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| PRO WOMEN | PRO WOMEN | PRO WOMEN | ||
| 50:58 Lucie Zelenkova 53:27 Leanda Cave 53:29 Tereza Macel |
4:52:07 Chrissie Wellington 5:01:42 Virginia Berasategui 5:04:17 Tereza Macel |
2:56:51 Mirinda Carfrae* 3:03:06 Chrissie Wellington 3:04:32 Rebekah Keat |
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| * = course record | ||||
Check out the TRIJUICE - 2009 Ironman World Championship picture gallery
Craig Alexander - Received the wrong special needs bag out on the bike course. He was very gracious and thankful at the post race press conference that 3rd place finisher Andreas Raelert, who received his bag, gave him his special needs bag, a true sign of sportsmanship of Raelert’s part. Alexander said he wasn’t sure what might have transpired if he didn’t get his special needs bag. (Post Race Craig Alexander Audio)
Chris Lieto - Came to Kona as everyone else does with an intention to WIN! He nearly did it! When Alexander caught up to him at around mile 21 on the run course he tried to stay in synch with him, but he couldn’t hold on when Alexander picked up the pace. His brother Matt took time out of his race to cheer and encourage his brother on. (Post Race Interview with Chris and Matt Lieto)
The guys from the IMTALK podcast John and Bevan flew in from New Zealand to cover this year's race. I got their input on this year's Ironman World Championship race (John and Bevan interview). Don't forget to check out their race coverage of future podcasts at imtalk.me or on iTunes.
Chris McCormack – Was very pleased with his 4th place finish, better than his DNF from last year. It did take a toll on him as well and he was a no show for the post race press conference. He did mustered enough energy later on to hang out by the finish line in the pre-midnight hours.
Rasmus Henning - Weeks before the big race he experienced a fractured hand and ended up having surgery. The pre-race dark horse proved to everyone that he’s an up-and-coming star to watch out for. He finished 5th in his Ironman World Championship debut. In talking to him at the pre-midnight finish line festivities, he said it was a tough day, not only out on the course but with his hand. He didn’t lie; he stated it hurt on both the swim and run. His taped up hand got kicked on the swim and then on the bike course it stung every time he went for water bottles because of the speed he was going and then grasping the bottles with his broken hand.
Terenzo Boozzone – Participated in his first Ironman World Championship race. I found his waddling around a couple of hours after the race, all cleaned up. He stated that it was a tough day out for him out there on the course. He was doing fine but experienced difficulties out on the run course. He seemed happy with the outcome of the day.
Andy Potts – Was very pleased with his top ten finish in Kona especially after his bike crash at the Chicago Triathlon in early September. Before the race he was upbeat and optimistic about being in Kona and racing despite his recovery / training leading up to race day. He admits it was a tough day out there.
Normann Stadler - In talking to him before the race, he was unsure about his day in Kona. Off the bike and out at mile one on the run course he was in the top ten, but it just wasn’t his day, he also finished the day with a DNF. I just so happened to sit across from Normann on our flight out of Kona. Before the race he talked about his 16 month year old son and you could tell he was excited. Well, on our flight you could actually see that up close. After we settled at our cruising altitude he was right there checking up on the little guy, then later on he was holding and playing with him on his lap, at that point you could see his happiness. I have to say his son was well behaved on the 4 ½ hour flight, he did not cry.
Chrissie Wellington - Stated it was a tough day, well of course, why not! She was trying to stay un-defeated in an Ironman race and pull off a three-peat, but she was out to break the long standing Ironman Hawaii course record held by Paula -Newbie-Fraser and she did! She said she didn’t pay too much attention to the cumulative time on her watch up until the late stages of the run, at that point she realized she might be able to pull it off and stated those last miles were the toughest miles out on the run course all day. You have to wonder how much further / faster this woman can go. After her race she chatted with Mike Rieley about her race and then waited around to greet the 2nd and 3rd place finishers on the women’s side, about 20 minutes. In comparison, the men that finished the race left not long after crossing the finish line, except for the top 2 guys. Overall she was the 23rd finisher in a time of 8:54:02. (Post Race Chrissie Wellington Audio)
Miranda Carfrae - the pre-race dark horse on the women’s side had an amazing Ironman / Kona debut. In her first Ironman race she goes out and comes from 9 or 10 position down to be this year’s runner up. On top of that, in her first marathon run every, she goes out and sets the run course record previously held by Chrissie Wellington with a blazing 2:56:51. She’s another example of an athlete moving from the Olympic and Half iron distance races to the Ironman distance with much success.
Virginia Berasategui - Arrived to the post race press conference late and limping, and if you could have seen the huge blister on the bottom of her foot you would have understood why. Not much was mentioned about her before the race, she fell under the radar it seems. She placed 6th last year and for a while was in 2nd place in this year’s race until in her own words “Miranda flew right past me on the run”.
Yvonne Van Vlerken - Last year’s runner up promised not to look at the fish this time out on the swim course and it showed with a much improved swim. Unfortunately she had gearing issues out on the bike course, she was stuck using only three gears which wore out her legs for the run. She started the run but pulled out of the race at some point and finished the day with a DNF.
Rebekat Keat - Who was involved in Chrissie Wellington’s tire issue last year was disqualified this year, unfortunately she didn’t find out until she completed the entire race. It sounds like she might have been called for drafting and/or blocking and maybe exchanging some words with the race officials out on the bike course.
Here is a year-to-year comparison of how the professional field did::
| Men's Pro Field | 2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
Women's Pro Field | 2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
||
| Craig Alexander | 2nd |
1st |
1st |
Chrissie Wellington | 1st |
1st |
1st |
||
| Eneko Llanos | 7th |
2nd |
14th |
Yvonne Van Vlerken | N/A |
2nd |
DNF |
||
| Rutger Beke | 66th |
3rd |
DNS |
Sandra Wallenhorst | N/A |
3rd |
8th |
||
| Ronnie Schildknecht | DNF |
4th |
18th |
Erika Csomor | 10th |
4th |
26th |
||
| Cameron Brown | DNF |
5th |
22th |
Linsey Corbin | DNF |
5th |
11th |
||
| Patrick Vernay | 10th |
6th |
DNF |
Virginia Berasategui | DNF |
6th |
3rd |
||
| Andy Potts | N/A |
7th |
9th |
Bella Bayliss | N/A |
7th |
DNF |
||
| Mathias Hecht | DNF |
8th |
13th |
Gina Crawford | N/A |
8th |
DNF |
||
| Michael Lovato | 9th |
9th |
71st |
Gina Kehr | N/A |
9th |
DNF |
||
| Eduardo Sturla | 13th |
10th |
19th |
Dede Griesbauer | 7th |
10th |
9th |
||
| Faris Al-Sultan | DNS |
11th |
10th |
Mirinda Carfrae | N/A |
N/A |
2nd |
||
| Chris Lieto | 6th |
26th |
2nd |
Charlotte Paul | 16th |
11th |
27th |
||
| Andreas Raelert | N/A |
N/A |
3rd |
Tereza Macel | N/A |
N/A |
4th |
||
| Chris McCormack | 1st |
DNF |
4th |
Samantha McGlone | 2nd |
DNS |
5th |
||
| Rasmus Henning | N/A |
N/A |
5th |
Rachel Joyce | N/A |
N/A |
6th |
||
| Timo Bracht | 15th |
DQ |
6th |
Joanna Lawn | 4th |
14th |
7th |
||
| Dirk Bockel | N/A |
N/A |
7th |
Tyler Stewart | N/A |
29th |
10th |
||
| Pete Jacobs | N/A |
59th |
8th |
Rebekah Keat | 6th |
18th |
DQ |
||
| Terenzo Bozzone | N/A |
N/A |
11th |
Belinda Granger | 9th |
17th |
DNF |
||
| Bert Jammaer | 12th |
DNF |
16th |
Leanda Cave | 8th |
DNF |
20th |
Notable DNF's for the day include Tim DeBoom, Patrick Vernay, Normann Stadler, and Marino Vanhoenacker on the men's side and Yvonne Van Vlerken, Bella Bayliss, Gina Crawford, Belinda Granger, Gina Kehr on the women's side including for the 3rd year in a row Natascha Badmann who has been trying to come back since her crash in 2007. Rebekah Keat, last year's gaurdian angle to Chrissie Wellington was DQ's this year. Other notables include Jason Gunter and Garcia-Tolson, Rudy in the Physically Challenged division. Gunter almost made it, he collapsed out on the run course just a few miles from the finish. Icon iron woman Sister Madonna Buder also did not finish the race.
Rudy Garcia-Tolson - the 21 year old double-amputee was up for the challenge, but the bike course conditions took a toll on him and derailed his aspirations of completing his first Ironman triathlon race. He missed the bike cut-off by 8 minutes. What a role model he is, later on in the day he was out and about at the finish line cheering on other athletes crossing the finish line and mingling with the press and others. He said he will be back to conquer the challenge Kona has to offer another day.
Related Posts:
• 2009 Ironman World Championship Coverage
