Alexander And Wellington Win Ironman World Championships: 2am Report

Two fantastic races, two incredible champions, two very different stories. Craig Alexander smashed the Kona course record with an 8:03:56 on his way to his third world championship in large part thanks to an incredible 4:24:05 bike split that saw him enter T2 in fourth place – and was 13 minutes quicker than any of Crowie’s previous efforts. Wellington, meanwhile, overcame injury and some fantastic opposition to take the win – but had to come from behind and had to do it late, passing Caroline Steffen with just three miles to go to take the win.

We’ll have a full race report for you tomorrow, but for a brief overview:

The Men’s Race
Alexander may have been imperious out on the bike and the run, but as expected Andy Potts led the field out of the water (49:44). Eventual runner-up Pete Jacobs was second (51:38) at the head of a pack that contained most of the major athletes.

And it was this pack that dominated the opening stages of the bike. For the best part of the first 60 miles, thirty men rode together (in a field of fifty pros) in what must be one of the biggest trains ever to hit the Queen K. Then it started to break. Lieto attacked at the turnaround – hitting an impressive 50mph at one stage. But this time they weren’t going to let him escape. Crowie was part of a group containing Vanhoenacker and Luke McKenzie that pulled him back in. The American did eventually get away, but the five minutes Lieto took into T2 after a 4:18:31 bike split (eight seconds off the course record) was never going to be enough to hold off Crowie.

Because the Australian was simply in a different league. Passing Lieto at Mile Six, Alexander never looked back. Andreas Raelert briefly started to chip away at his 2:45 lead, but Crowie simply found another gear and pulled away from the German. And despite the fact that he suffered from cramps within the last mile, he had enough in the tank to close the run out in 2:44:03 to cross the line in 8:03:56 to take the title. Pete Jacobs took an outstanding second with another fantastic run (2:42:29), with Andreas Raelert third.

Alexander was overwhelmed by the win. “I think it all started with a dream – it’s just a dream. I can’t believe it. To win this three times…I wish I could tell you how it feels.

“I would have been a happy man just to race here, but to win it three times. I left it all out there – I’ve got nothing.”

The Women’s Race
While Amanda Stevens may have claimed the early honours in the water with a 51:54 swim, the big news was Chrissie Wellington’s 1:01 which put her on the back foot from the start. Dibens was close behind Stevens (51:58) and from that point on the Briton took control.

Out on the bike course Dibens was, quite simply, a different class. As expected, the Briton immediately opened up a lead on the chasing pack and it simply got bigger and bigger. However, behind her things were interesting. Caroline Steffen used her incredible bike power to push her way into second, while Rachel Joyce and Leanda Cave shadowed one another in third and fourth. But what about Chrissie? Three minutes down on Carfrae in the first twelve miles, at the start it looked like she was struggling to close the gap…or was she just warming up?

Dibens continued to ease away from the field, building up a four minute lead over Steffen by Mile 25 (she was running six minutes down on the lead men at this point) and had 7:36 by the 60 mile turn at Hawi. Meanwhile, behind her Wellington was making her move. Passing Carfrae just before the turn, the four-time Ironman World Champion slowly started bring the race back under her control. Meanwhile, Dibens was just immense. A 4:44:14 bike split was enough to break the course record and took her into T2 11:20 up on Caroline Steffen.

But out on the run, the foot injury that interrupted her pre-race build up would ultimately ruin her chances of the win. Gingerly running through transition, Dibens was walking by Mile 5 and passed by Caroline Steffen at Mile 6. From there, all eyes (including Steffen’s at times) were on the race behind her. Because in legendary style Wellington was looking ominously quick – and despite the injuries smiling all the way.

Passing Rachel Joyce on Pelani, Wellington quickly ran down Cave – who performed out of her skin – and the pass on Steffen for the lead came at Mile 16. And despite the fact that Carfrae was winding up her run and taking time out of her, Chrissie was simply too strong. Crossing the line in 8:55:08 a visibly emotional four-time World Champion took a famous – and probably her toughest – win. Carfrae took a hugely impressive second with a run course record (2:52:09) to cross the line in 8:57:57, with Cave taking an outstanding third.

“This race means more to me than anything,” Wellington said. “Through this victory I have proved to myself that anything is possible. I had to dig so deep today. There were times that I thought my body would give up on me. But I had to have faith in my body.

“To regain the title and be crowned world champion is an honour and a privilege”

Ironman World Championships
Results (unofficial)

Top 5 Men
1. Craig Alexander (Aus) 8:03:56
2. Pete Jacobs (Aus) 8:09:11
3. Andreas Raelert (Ger) 8:11:07
4. Dirk Bockel (Lux) 8:12:58
5. Timo Bracht (Ger) 8:20:12

Top 5 Women
1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 8:55:08
2. Mirinda Carfrae (Aus) 8:57:57
3. Leanda Cave (GBR) 9:03:29
4. Rachel Joyce (GBR) 9:06:57
5. Caroline Steffen (SWI) 9:07:32

FILED UNDER: Race Results TAGS: Andreas-Raelert / Caroline-Steffen / Chrissie-Wellington / Craig-Alexander / Hawaii / Ironman / Julie-Dibens / Kona / Mirinda-Carfrae / Pete-Jacobs / Race / report / World Championships

Paul Moore

Paul Moore is the Online Editor for Triathlete Europe. When not glued to a computer he can be found writing books - most recently Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which you can buy on Amazon

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