Patrick Lange Takes Third IRONMAN World Title

Patrick Lange has taken his third IRONMAN World Championship in spectacular fashion, shattering Gustav Iden’s 7:40:24 course record from 2022 with a 7:35:53 performance.

Lange was in front-running contention nearly all day, beginning with a front pack swim that included all the major contenders on the day. Lange rode with the front chase group, which lost significant time to the front-running defending champion Sam Laidlow. But his run prowess could not be denied, erasing a more than seven minute deficit to Laidlow in just over eleven miles.

Laidlow, who rode by himself off the front for the entirety of the ride and demolished the bike course record in 3:57:22, appeared comfortable through the opening miles of the run, despite losing time to Lange. However, once the run turned up Palani, Laidlow suddenly looked to be running in cement. It was a classic, spectacular Kona meltdown. He was far from the only one; Kristian Blummenfelt was seen vomiting throughout the bike before also suffering on the run. Matthew Marquardt ran in the top 10 through 14 miles of the run before he, too, would explode.

The only athlete who was able to come back from one of these blow-ups was Magnus Ditlev. Suffering late on the bike, and taking significant time in transition, Ditlev was able to rebound through the marathon. From 10th place early in the marathon, Ditlev kept relentless forward progress, and passed athletes consistently until emerging from the Natural Energy Lab in second, holding it across the line in 7:43:39.

Rudy Von Berg, who was also in the front for most of the day, was able to capitalize with a consistent marathon performance, moving through the field as other contenders faltered to claim the final spot on the podium.

Post race, Lange dedicated his victory to his mother. “I always said that I thought my best days were yet to come, and nobody believed in me. This was a perfect day. Mahalo. This is for my mom. I cannot believe it.”

“I just feel grateful. This race was…I’m just so grateful to be here.”

Ditlev and Von Berg, meanwhile, spoke about how difficult the race was. Ditlev said, “It’s probably the toughest race I’ve ever done. I really struggled on the bike, I wasn’t sure I would finish. The mental fight today was beyond anything I’ve ever done before.”

“It was really really tough. It’s the hardest day of my life by far. I struggled the entire run, so happy I was able to keep my head in the game and keep one foot in front of another.”

Von Berg added: ““I’m obviously extremely happy but that was the toughest race I’ve ever done. Kona hits different. I thought I was really in control of the marathon, at least as in control as you can in the marathon in an IRONMAN, but that last 10, 12K was absolute hell.” 

As the Race Unfolded

Most contenders lined up over on the left side of the swim course, furthest from the sight buoys. As the cannon fired, it was a clean start, but there were three very different packs developing — far left, center, and far right.

Ben Kanute and Sam Laidlow were in front of the group to the left, driving out the pace, splitting the field out and forcing the other two groups to come together to chase. Rudy Von Berg and Magnus Ditlev swam together, about ten positions back in the chase pack. Jackson Laundry was the man holding the whole 50 man pack together, but was just starting to lose the feet of the men in front of him.

After 700 meters, the pack had whittled down to about 40 men, but there was no clean breakaway of superswimmers. Kanute and Laidlow were leading the effort to breakaway, but they had yet to make a clean getaway. Ditlev had appeared to lose his swim cap, with a paddle boarder holding a purple cap, as well as Sam Appleton.

Approaching the first turn buoy and the packs had split, with three distinct groups. The leading pack had approximately 30 men, including Kanute, Laidlow, Ditlev, and Patrick Lange, with the two chase groups evenly split with the remaining field. The first chase included Leon Chevalier and Gustav Iden, as well as Matt Hanson. The second chase had Jackson Laundry, Cam Wurf, and Trevor Foley in it.

Getting close to the turnaround and Laidlow started to push the pace, as the front group only hit the first turn at 23 minutes. Laidlow’s pace started stetching out the pack, turning it into a single-file line as they turned around the second boat in 24:33. In that span, Laidlow spaced this group out over 100 meters, and had opened up a 5 meter gap over everyone. Kristian Blummenfelt was in danger of being dropped, who would leave Sam Appleton and Rudy Von Berg behind him.

As the swim progressed back towards shore and Laidlow, taking some backstroke strokes, had let his gap close back up. Menno Koolhaas took the lead. Bradley Weiss and Robert Kallin had gotten dropped, with Ditlev hanging on for dear life to stay in the front group.

With roughly 400 meters left to swim, the front of the group seemingly had backed off a bit, as the group began to accordion back together and becoming a near 20 man pack again. Seven or eight of those men had “lost” their swim caps by this point. 

Koolhaas took swim prime honors in 47:02, followed by Laidlow, Antonio Benito Lopez, Lange, Greg Barnaby, Kieran Lindars, Ben Kanute, Finn Grosse-Freese, Sam Appleton, and Paul Schuster. It was a 22 man pack, which also had Matthew Marquardt, Von Berg, Blummenfelt, Braden Currie, Clement Mignon, and David McNamee. The first chasers were 1:15 back, led by Igor Amorelli and including Ditlev, Kallin, Bradley Weiss, and Kristian Hogenhaug. Second chase pack came out 3:30 down, led by Arnaud Guilloux and had Iden, Hanson, Leon Chevalier, Laundry, and Pieter Heemeryck. The third chase group came out 5:15 behind with Chris Leiferman, Lionel Sanders, Cameron Wurf included. Trevor Foley came out of the water another three minutes behind.

For the out and back section of the bike through town and Laidlow had gone to the front, drilling the bike, and opening a 13 second lead early, chased by Marquardt. RaceRanger lights were blinking furiously as the pack started to jockey for initial positions. By the first turnaround Laidlow had extended his gap to 52 seconds, as the main pack began forming, Marquardt leading the 17 man deep pack as the rain began falling.

Climbing up Palani, and Laidlow continued accelerating away, making it a 1:15 lead as he hit the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway. In the main chase, Blummenfelt had a strong move to push further up in the group. The remaining chasers had lost even more time through town, with the likes of Sanders and Wurf sitting nearly seven minutes down already.

Laidlow kept on the gas pedal; by 12 miles, he’d grown the gap another 15 seconds. Lange now led the chase pack, which had swelled to more than 20 athletes, spread out over 32 seconds on the road. Names there included Marquardt, Lopez, Kanute, Blummenfelt, Steven McKenna, Von Berg, Barnaby, Appleton, Baekkegard, Currie, Ditlev, Hogenhaug, and McNamee the caboose. Iden was over 5 minutes behind, riding with Chevalier and Laundry, Hanson another 20 seconds off. Sanders was also losing more time, approaching closer to 8 minutes down and losing touch with Wurf.

In the chase pack, Ditlev began riding through the front of the chase group, not being able to slot in. Blummenfelt, who was in the front third, opted to chase Rudy Von Berg’s wheel as Von Berg chased Ditlev. It created a bit of danger as Blummenfelt was also being passed, creating the kind of three-man passing situation that can result in position foul penalties. 

Laidlow rode the opening 25 miles in 47:07, earning himself a 2:08 lead over Ditlev. Blummenfelt was the first athlete of the big chase, but he was 5 seconds behind Ditlev and that gap appeared to be growing. Ditlev’s effort had removed a few men from the group: Clement Mignon and McNamee now found themselves in no man’s land between groups.

It appeared that the effort from Laidlow early was starting to hurt, as at the next checkpoint six miles up the road he was starting to lose time. He lost 14 seconds of his lead, with Ditlev and Blummenfelt breaking away from the group. Marquardt had also split away from the group, 23 seconds from Blummenfelt and followed by Stepniak. The group now was led by swim leader Koolhaas, and had Kanute, Von Berg, Lange, Lopez, Barnaby, McKenna, Hogenhaug, Baekkegard, Appleton, and Lindars for company. McNamee was now in a second group, about four minutes down, with Kallin, Petersen, and Bradley Weiss with him. Still, 48 athletes remained within 10 minutes of the lead at this point of the bike.

Ditlev at roughly mile 33 decided to pull away from Blummenfelt, whereas Marquardt had decided to go back and lead the chase group versus trying to go it alone. By mile 42, Ditlev had narrowed the gap to 99 seconds to Laidlow.  Blummenfelt had dropped from Ditlev, 48 seconds further back, and throwing up more than six times on camera. Von Berg had taken the initiative of the main chase group. The effort through here had dropped Appleton and Lindars. Penalties were indeed abound through the group as well, with an announced penalty to Iden (unintentional littering) and Baekkegard (position foul). Blummenfelt was swallowed up by the Von Berg group in the final miles leading to the climb to Hawi. Von Berg climbed hard past Blummenfelt, and looked to open a gap to chase down Laidlow and Ditlev.

Fifty miles down and Laidlow had bumped his lead slightly back up over Ditlev to 1:51. The Marquardt / Von Berg / Lange group had slowed as well, now 3:44 down at the head, and had let the likes of Appleton, Lindars, and Weiss close back up. Blummenfelt slid back through this group on the climb to Hawi, looking like his race may be over following the vomiting episode. Athletes also heading the wrong direction included Braden Currie (down six spots) and Robert Wilkowiecki (10 spots down). 33 athletes were still within 10 minutes of Laidlow’s lead, with last of them Chris Leiferman. 

At the turnaround in Hawi, Laidlow was averaging over 28 miles per hour, and had a gap of 2:33 over Ditlev. Both of those athletes had driven the pace significantly over the chasers, Laidlow’s lead now 4:55 on the group led by Koolhaas. Kanute, Marquardt, Stepniak, Kallin, Barnaby, Hogenhaug, and McKenna rounded out your top 10 athletes. Blummenfelt had managed to glue himself back together and tied back into the group. But these efforts had whittled the number of athletes within that magical 10 minute window to 23. 

Descending from Hawi, Laidlow was riding two minutes faster than his bike course record set in 2022. That said, Ditlev was holding serve, 2:35 behind with just over 40 miles left to ride. The pack jockeying began again in earnest, with two lines of athletes forming in that chase: those passing, and those being passed. That in-fighting had seen the group lose another 10 seconds to the lead. Further down the field, Trevor Foley had made up 26 places on the bike thus far, now riding just behind Laundry and Wurf at just over 11 minutes from the lead.

Hitting the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway again and both Laidlow and Ditlev were both on bike record pace. Their combined effort continued to distance the chase pack; 5:34 behind Laidlow, just under three minutes from Ditlev. The group was down to fifteen, with Kallin, Marquardt, Stepniak, Kanute, Koolhaas, Barnaby, Blummenfelt, Von Berg, Hogenhaug, Lange, Lopez, Nick Thompson, Weiss, Lindars, and McKenna, in order. Chevalier (+8:17), Appleton, and Grosse-Freese rounded out the top 20 athletes. Foley remained a man on the mission, passing Wurf and Laundry and just over five minutes from the back of the main chase pack with 35 miles left to ride.

With 25 miles left to ride and with a herd of goats jumping through the lava fields behind him, Laidlow was well on pace to shatter the four hour bike barrier in Kona and pushing his lead over Ditlev ever closer to three minutes. Kallin had broken away from the chase group and had actually gained time on the leaders, now under five minutes from the front. Marquardt led that group now, but they had lost almost a full minute over the last 10 miles. Blummenfelt was clearly feeling better, as he was right behind Marquardt in the group. The pack dynamics had also seen McKenna drop off, now sitting behind Chevalier.

Coming over Scenic Point Hill and Laidlow’s lead had blown out to almost four minutes on Ditlev. Kallin was under 90 seconds from joining Ditlev, and it had extended the chase group gap to 7:40. Chevalier had dug deep, riding faster than any of the other top 20 athletes, and had managed to latch onto the back of that chase pack to make it a 14 man group as they neared the end of the ride. Foley also was progressing towards that chase pack, with he and Wurf less than four minutes from the last man of the group (Chevalier).

Passing the airport, meaning there were fewer than 10 miles left to ride, and Laidlow’s lead had extended out to 5:38. Kallin had Ditlev in his sights, just 17 seconds further back at the time check; within the next few miles Kallin made the pass. Hogenhaug had also made a break away from the splintering chase group, riding by himself 7:26 behind Laidlow. Marquardt was another minute back, with Chevalier and Koolhaas with him. Blummenfelt came next, leading the remains of the real group, which still had Von Berg, Lopez, Lange, and Weiss with him, all around 9 minutes. Kanute was off the back of that, but was keeping the gap to the front under 10 minutes.

Laidlow racked his bike having smashed his own bike ride to pieces, riding 3:57:22. And perhaps most shockingly, his run form looked loose and calm hopping off the bike. The lead was 5:53 over Kallin, who rode 4:01:44, three minutes under the prior bike record. Ditlev was 1:04 behind Kallin after a 4:02:52 ride, followed by Hogenhaug 24 seconds later. Marquardt came next, 7:47 down. Chevalier also had an old bike record ride in 4:01:38, now in sixth and 7:57 from Laidlow. Koolhaas, Thompson, Blummenfelt, Barnaby, Stepniak, Von Berg, Lange, and Lopez were the last athletes under 10 minutes, all within a minute of one another. Foley, however, had crashed in the closing miles of the bike, coming in over 14 minutes down and hobbling through transition.

Through transition and the first mile, and it was a tale of two men moving in opposite directions. Leon Chevalier sped through transition, gaining two places and moving into fourth on the road. Ditlev, meanwhile, was labored coming off the bike. He also was loading himself up with lots of ice to stay cool. Combined it meant he lost almost three minutes to Laidlow, and moved down to fourth place.

Laidlow set a solid, if unspectacular, starting pace, running 6:20 mile pace early. That meant he was building a gap on Kallin and Hogenhaug, but men moving faster were Chevalier (about to catch Hogenhaug), Marquardt, and Koolhaas. Blummenfelt had pushed up to 8th. But the fastest man on the road was Patrick Lange — 32 seconds a mile faster than Laidlow, and about to move back into the top 10.

There was lots of movement through the opening miles. Laidlow set the pace, followed by Kallin who was slowing significantly. Chevalier moved into the podium positions, with Koolhaas and Hogenhaug running with him, 7:35 from Laidlow. Marquardt was by himself in sixth, another 15 seconds back, but was about to be joined by the fast moving Lange, now 7th on the road. Blummenfelt sat 8th, running second fastest. In the eight to ten minute down window were Barnaby, Ditlev, Von Berg, Lopez, and Stepniak. In the back end of the top 15, Lindars was closing fast on Thompson. 

Lange was blitzing through the field. By the next split he’d ripped past everyone not named Laidlow — second place, 7:07 down, running 35 seconds per mile faster than Laidlow. Koolhaas moved up into third, running slightly faster than Laidlow, 7:23 back. Kallin had slid to second and was soon to be passed by Chevalier, Hogenhaug, and Blummenfelt. Also going the wrong way were Ditlev, who was about to lose his position in the top 10 to Lopez, and Von Berg, who was in 12th but ceding time.

Kallin was the first run course meltdown; in under two miles, he’d lost seven positions on the road. But by the time the race was getting to Palani Hill and Lange had a relentless charge to the front. By far the fastest man on the road, and he’d whittled Laidlow’s lead to just 5:54. If the pace continued at this rate, Lange would catch Laidlow in the final three miles of the run. Koolhaas (+7:14) held steady, with Chevalier in 4th another 20 seconds back. Marquardt and Blummenfelt were trading 5th and 6th back and forth with one another. Ditlev had rebounded from his issues earlier in the run, up to 7th place and about to enter the Marquardt and Blummenfelt battle and bringing Hogenhaug with him. Further down Von Berg had also found his stride, moving up to 10th place, whereas Lopez appeared to be hitting the Kona novice wall, sliding backwards. Blummenfelt was the next major name to slowdown, losing five spots in the next mile. 

Onto the Queen Ka’ahumanu HIghway again and Laidlow had run the first 9 miles in 55:08. Normally this would be amazing. But you also didn’t have Lange chasing him in run record pace, as Lange hit that mat in 50:38, now bringing the deficit down to 4:36 with 17 miles to run. And that deficit would only shrink over the next stretch, as Laidlow was reduced to walking through the next aid station. Chevalier had once again moved into third, gapping Koolhaas by almost 30 seconds and under 7 minutes from the suffering Laidlow. Ditlev continued his resurrection, pushing into fifth place and running faster than anyone not named Lange or Chevalier. Von Berg was also moving up, now in 8th place. Blummenfelt was moving again, but not at a fast pace, sitting back in 13th.

Laidlow came completely unglued in the next mile. Reduced to a shuffle, clearly suffering from the heat and the record-breaking ride, he’d lost all but a minute of his lead. It was merely a matter of when the pass would get made now, with it coming just before the mile 11 marker. Lange tapped Laidlow on the way by, with a brief exchange, before Lange strode off into the distance. For what it’s worth, Lange was clearly paying for the effort to close this quickly, taking an entire gallon of water at the next aid station and dumping it over himself in an attempt to cool down. Laidlow took a 2 liter of Coke, trying to get calories, before heading to a port-o-john, defeated. 

Chevalier passed Laidlow, pushing with 15 miles left to run. He was 3:10 behind Lange, but running slower than the leader. The question of who would take third was really open. Ditlev had turned his race around, now in fourth, 90 seconds from the fast fading Laidlow. Koolhaas was with him. Another 30 seconds behind was Von Berg. Hogenhaug held 7th. The next athlete to suffer from conditions and potentially effort was Marquardt, in 8th, but sliing backwards and with Lopez, Lindars, and Barnaby all within a minute if he did not get himself back together.  In the battle for paychecks, Cam Wurf held 12th, with a minute hap to Kallin in 13th. Weiss was in 14th, running with Stepniak who held the finally paying position and a comfortable gap over Blummenfelt in 16th.

The temperatures and incredible efforts were taking its toll on all the athletes. Multiple athletes, including Ditlev, were seen grabbing huge chunks of ice from the buckets holding water or Coke, and using them in any way possible to cool themselves off. Entering the Natural Energy Lab, Lange held a 3:40 lead over Chevalier. Ditlev followed in third, another 1:15 back. Von Berg was also running well, 36 seconds behind Ditlev and 20 seconds in front of fifth place Koolhaas. Lopez was also on the move, pushing into sixth place but with Hogenhaug and Barnaby chasing hard. Long-time leader Laidlow had fallen all the way to 11th place, and was soon to slide out of the paying positions. Further back and Matt Hanson was showing his run prowess, under three minutes from 15th place and running faster than everyone but Lange.

With ten miles left to race, it was Lange’s race to lose. Although slowing from a potential 2:30 marathon, Lange’s lead had stretched to 4:34. The podium was far from settled, though, with Chevalier, Ditlev, and Von Berg all within 1:24 of one another, with Chevalier looking like he was suffering the most from the heat, sticking his head into one of the large ice buckets. Koolhaas had a 90 second gap for fifth place over Barnaby. Lopez, Lindars, Hogenhaug, and Wurf filled out the top 10 positions — all still within 10 minutes of the lead.

Preparing to exit the Energy Lab, and both Ditlev and Von Berg had made the pass on Chevalier; the latter of which at an aid station for third — shortly after a helicopter got a touch too close to the ground and blew multiple pop-up tents into the road. Volunteers quickly cleared them before they impacted any athletes. Von Berg had 90 seconds to make up on Ditlev. Chevalier still had work to do, though — there were only 20 seconds between him and Koolhaas in fifth. Further down, Lopez was moving backwards and appeared to be suffering in the heat. The beneficiary? Wurf, now in 8th and with the potential to chase his way up to 6th. Also making in-roads were Hanson, now on track to move into the top 10, and Stepniak.

With four miles left to run, it seemed like the podium was set and locked with positions; Lange in front, Ditlev 6:15 behind, but now 1:45 in front of Von Berg. Chevalier’s aid station tactic had appeared to work, rebounding and holding off Koolhaas. Wurf, meanwhile, was about to pass Lindars for 7th and not far off from closing to Barnaby for 6th. Hogenhaug sat 9th, another minute behind. Weiss was 10th, Matt Hanson 11th, and Lopez, Stepniak, Petersen, and Marquardt the final paying slots.

Lange strode comfortably on All’i Drive, starting to celebrate with roughly 400 meters left to run. He ran 2:37:34 to win, taking four minutes off the course record in 7:35:53. Ditlev held on for second in 7:43:39. Von Berg took third in 7:46:00, with Chevalier hot on his heels for fourth.

2024 IRONMAN World Championship Top 15

Photos: Jason Strohbehn; Eric Wynn

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