Interview: Marino Vanhoenacker (Part One)

On 4 July 2010 Marino Vanhoenacker joined a very exclusive gentlemen’s club, alongside only Mark Allen, Chris McCormack and Cameron Brown, when he won his fifth consecutive Ironman title at Austria. Vanhoenacker not only won the race but he smashed the eight hour barrier when he broke the tape at 7:52. It was a phenomenal performance which left him lying on the ground shattered and in a state of disbelief. It was an electric moment as the Austrian crowd brought home their adopted son.

Having taken control of the race soon after the swim, he rode a staggering 4:18 bike split which left onlookers wondering what to expect on the marathon. No one would have ever imagined the tall Belgian would then run a 2:42 off the bike en route to legendary status. You could say he had one of those magic days, it certainly feels that way to Marino now…

“I was actually quite relaxed going into Ironman Austria because the training I did just before was exactly what I’d planned to do, although sometimes a little harder than I’d expected. There was new competition coming here to challenge me and I focussed on doing what I had to do. I went through all the right preparation and the result would depend on just how strong the other competitors were.”

Going into the race there was plenty of hype regarding Vanhoenacker winning his fifth title. If this wasn’t enough pressure there were also whispers about him going sub-eight hours. Peter Reid had been the only person to ever break the magical eight hour mark in Klagenfurt (in 1999), but this was on a different course.

“The idea of winning five wasn’t so bad, but when the pressure of breaking the eight hour mark came up that was harder to deal with. When it comes to times, you never really know what’s going to happen on race day. So many external things, like the weather, for example, can influence the time.”

The race didn’t start as planned when Vanhoenacker missed the lead swim group. Fortunately, he later managed to find some feet, coming out of the water in fifth in 47:49. Vanhoenacker is a monster on the bike and is recognised as one of the fastest bikers in the sport. Here in Austria, he simply did what he does best: got on his bike, rode to the front and blasted off into the distance.

“Like every year I just hit it hard. I took the lead early on and opened up a gap. This was about seven minutes at the end of the first loop and I started to take control and that’s how I love to race. In previous years I usually have a great first lap and lose time but not this year.”

This year Austrian biking superstar Michael Weiss was in the race and he could have been the fly in Vanhoenacker’s ointment. Weiss was expected to provide some competition for the four-time champion. While Weiss did ride well and posted a bike split which came close the Belgian’s, a poor swim meant he was never within striking distance on the bike.

“Mentally I knew there was new competition. I expected Michi Weiss to come close to me or even catch me. At Ironman 70.3 in St Polten (Austria) in May he rode with Massimo Cigana and they ate a lot of time out of my lead. I expected him to come forward again. I was getting the splits and they [the chasing men] hadn’t closed the gap, so that was good news for me.”

After such a blistering bike the big question was whether Vanhoenacker could hold on and run the 2:50 marathon required to hit the elusive sub-eight hour mark. Straight out of T2 he looked good and was instantly hitting 3:40-3:45 per kilometre pace, which was impressive, but unsustainable.

“Out of transition I was going fast but the pace felt unbelievably comfortable. I told myself to hold back a little bit because the plan was to negative split the run. Running at 3:40 per kilometre I knew there was no way in the world I was going to negative split at that pace. I slowed to 3:55 pace and at half way started to push it some more, but then the sun came out. Having rain in the first half was super and made things easier.”

While the rain coming down may have been a blessing in disguise, it didn’t last and the sun broke through the clouds. This pushed the mercury upwards and made for hot and sticky conditions out on the run course.

“I tried to push the pace but with the heat the negative split idea turned into an evenly paced marathon. I had a little flat spot at about 31-32 kilometres. I actually forgot one of my gels and while it was only 15 minutes late I started to feel I was slowing down. Then I remembered about the gel and told myself to focus on what I was doing. I did two gels and got back into the pace and from then on it was fine.”

Vanhoenacker never faltered, crossing the line with a 2:42 split, which was all the more impressive off a 4:18 bike. Because he is often referred to as one of the strongest bikers on the M-dot circuit, his run abilities are sometimes overlooked. His marathon in Austria should serve as a reminder to those who have forgotten he has the legs off the bike too.

“It felt perfect running 2:42, especially after a 4:18 bike. It would be good after a 4:30 but after such a fast bike that’s quite impressive. I’ve not really focussed any more on my run than before. We [he and his coach] expected a good marathon and had planned for a negative split, which isn’t done too often in an Ironman marathon. The 2:42 is really fast regardless.”

To read part two of the interview click here.

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