There’s no-doubt that the T100 Triathlon World Tour has added a lot of money to pro triathletes’ coffers (or, at least, the lucky 20 or so who have been able to compete). It is interesting, though, that even the top athletes from the series are still looking to keep the door open to be able to compete at IRONMAN races. Certainly the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), the folks behind the series, have been open to athletes competing at other races. It still has to smart for the PTO, though, that just a week after being crowned world champion at the T100 finale in Dubai, Belgium’s Marten Van Riel is on his way to race in Cozumel.

Van Riel will be competing in his first full-distance race. It would be silly to count him out. He’s only “lost” one long-distance race in his career – his runner-up finish to Jelle Geens at T100 Lake Las Vegas. In addition to his other T100 wins (San Francisco, Ibiza and Dubai), Van Riel won IRONMAN 70.3 Xiamen in 2019, Ironman Dubai in 2022 and 2023, and also won Ironman 70.3 Fortaleza last year.

Van Riel is looking to earn himself a slot for the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice next year. By nailing the spot this weekend, he’ll be able to grab that T100 contract and race that series without having to try and fit in an IRONMAN race along the way.

Of course we all know that there’s no guarantees with any IRONMAN race, let alone a first, but Van Riel won’t exactly have to rip things apart to get himself to Nice next September. As the Latin American Championship, the race offers five pro men’s and women’s spots for the 2025 world champs. And, while he’ll be taking on some seasoned IRONMAN types, including defending champion Leon Chevalier (FRA), who took fourth in Kona last month, American Chris Leiferman and Australian cyclist/ pro triathlete Cam Wurf, as long as Van Riel can remain patient and not push too hard too soon, one would think a top-five finish is quite realistic.

Kona for Knibb?

Women’s T100 world champ Taylor Knibb will be going after her third straight IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo next month. The American has long had a “do it all” approach to her racing – she followed her Olympic-qualifying race at the Paris Test Event in 2023 with her second 70.3 world title and then her first IRONMAN in Kona, where she finished fourth. In Kona last year she made it abundantly clear that the goal was to get experience on the course in order to come back in 2025 and go after the win.

There’s no arguing that the T100 racing this year has offered some big names, lots of prize money and very expensive live coverage. The organization has been outspending its incoming revenue at an alarming rate. Which is why one would imagine, at some point, we’ll see the PTO try to put some pressure on athletes to race exclusively at their events. Especially if the first thing its world champions are doing after they win the titles is to get ready for an IRONMAN World Championship.

The post T100 Champ Marten Van Riel Sets His Sights on IRONMAN first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Today roughly 2,000 athletes will be competing in one of the longest-running events on the North American IRONMAN circuit – IRONMAN Arizona. The first race took place on April 9, 2005, hosted by the City of Tempe and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community. Renowned as a fast course, the race consists of a one-loop swim in the cool waters of Tempe Town Lake, followed by a three-loop bike course that follows the Beeline Highway and is traditionally extremely fast. The day wraps up with a three-loop bike course that mostly follows Tempe Town Lake and is, like the bike course, relatively flat and fast.

The extreme heat of the April event led to a calendar switch in 2008 which moved the race to the November date that we’re now accustomed to. (There were actually two races held that year, not unlike 1982 when the Ironman World Championship changed its date. As the managing editor of ironman.com at the time, I lived the headaches of trying to figure out how to have two sets of results for the same race in the same year up on the site.) Rather than diminish the race’s stature as a pro event, the move raised the profile as athletes looked to either kick off the next season with an early world-championship qualifying spot, or round out an otherwise lackluster season with a big day.

Pro Racing

It wasn’t as if the race didn’t attract some big names over the first few years. The inaugural event was won by Germany’s Faris Al-Sultan, who would go on to win in Kona later that year, while Australian Kate Major, a three-time Kona bronze medalist during her career, took the women’s race. In 2006 it was Michellie Jones’ turn to use the Arizona race as a build up to a Kona title, while in 2007 Rutger Beke, the 2003 Kona runner-up, would take the title.

In 2009 Andreas Raelert made his Ironman debut in Arizona, following on his runner-up finish at the 70.3 worlds just a few weeks before and serving as a precursor to his five Ironman World Championship podium finishes over the next seven years. That same year Canadian Samantha McGlone began the trend of top athletes bouncing back after Kona to compete in Arizona – she took the win after a fifth-place finish on the Big Island. A year later German star Timo Bracht followed up his sixth-place Kona finish with a win in Tempe.

World-best times

It was 2010 that really put Ironman Arizona on the map as the “redemption” race for those who hadn’t performed as they’d hoped on the Big Island. That year Chrissie Wellington (photo above), the three-time defending Kona champ, had pulled out of the race in Hawaii due to illness. Looking to end the season with a big day, the British star blasted to an 8:36:13 finish, enough for eighth overall and shattering the previous IRONMAN best time (Sandra Wallenhorst’s 8:47:26 at IRONMAN Austria in 2008) by over 11 minutes. (And, yes, we know that Wellington had gone 8:19:13 at Challenge Roth earlier that same year – the race in Arizona was an IRONMAN best.)

While no-one has topped Wellington’s time since then (Heather Jackson went 8:39:18 in winning the 2018 race), there have been a raft of speedy men’s times over the years. Spain’s Eneko Llanos was the first man to break the eight-hour barrier at Ironman Arizona in 2011 (7:59:38). In 2014 Canadian Brent McMahon blasted to a 7:55:48 finish, a pre-cursor to his world-best Ironman time set at Ironman Brazil the following spring. In 2016 another Canadian, Lionel Sanders, took the second of his three-straight Ironman Arizona titles in 7:44:29, setting a new IRONMAN record. That performance remains the fastest time recorded in Tempe. (Sanders is another example of athletes bouncing back after tough days on the Big Island with an appearance in Tempe, although his third win came after his runner-up Kona finish in 2017.)

Rudy’s redemption

Pros weren’t the only ones looking to use the Arizona race as a chance to come back after a tough day in Kona. In 2009, double-leg amputee Rudy Garcia-Tolson missed the bike cut off in Kona by eight minutes. He would line up in Arizona for another attempt at the distance, this time reaching the finish line in 16:06:27.

Age-Group only racing

Despite that rich history of professional racing, prize-money events in Tempe have been a bit sporadic over the last few years. In 2019 the race was held as women’s-only pro event, with the 2020 event cancelled due to COVID. The 2021 race was an age-group only race, with around 2,000 athletes racing. In 2022 there were pro men and women on hand as Brit Joe Skipper and American Olympian Sarah True took the wins. Last year, as with this year, sees age-group only racing again.

IRONMAN Arizona remains one of the brand’s mainstay events because of the huge fields it has attracted over the years. The inaugural event in 2005 had 1,682 starters, which ballooned to 2,399 in 2009. (Registrations would have been much higher.) The race would routinely see well over 2,300 athletes start on race morning, including the 2,523 that hit Tempe Town Lake in 2013. Those numbers prove just how popular (and lucrative) the race has been.

The post Celebrating 20 years of racing at IRONMAN Arizona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

IRONMAN Arizona is celebrating its 20th year this year. The long-standing event is the staple closer of the North American full distance racing season. Although the event has ebbed and flowed in popularity, IRONMAN is reporting a race sellout for the weekend. It’s traditionally a Slowtwitch favorite — both for the ease of the event in Tempe, as well as producing typically fast times and an early ticket to the IRONMAN World Championships. This year is solely spotlighting the age group field, as it is one of the few times this race does not feature professionals.

We will be on site late this week for Sunday’s race. Here are a few of the age groupers we’re going to be keeping an eye on.

Could a World Record Be Set?

The current world record for the oldest finisher is Hiromu Inada. The Japanese athlete has finished races through 2022 and attempted another finish this year at IRONMAN Cairns at the age of 91 (he finished the swim and bike). That record is in jeopardy with Steve Gray from Mount Pleasant, Utah. At 98 years young, Gray (assuming he starts) will break Inada’s start record by seven years, and would shatter the finishing record by a decade. As of this writing, conditions look ideal for an IRONMAN finish for all athletes — light winds and temperatures in the upper 60s.

On the women’s side, Gail Hughes from Flagstaff, AZ is the oldest competitor at 72. Hughes is a long-time IRONMAN athlete, having qualified for the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona before. She’s also a former member of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors.

Young Athletes Racing

Looking to the opposite end of the age spectrum and you’ll find two eighteen year olds toeing the line this weekend. Ashley Forrest is the youngest woman in the field. Lane Wheeler is the youngest man. He’ll be racing with his father this weekend. Wheeler has Tourette’s syndrome with Coprolalia; it involves involuntary utterances of obscene words or phrases.

Athletes With Charitable Causes

As is typical with an IRONMAN event, many athletes starting are doing so as part of a fundraising or awareness campaign. One such athlete is Timothy Bolen of Tempe. Bolen founded 2Gether We Live in 2017, an organization which gives sport participation opportunities to individuals who can’t actively compete by themselves. Volunteers for the organization provide the propulsion for these individuals, whether in triathlon, skiing, hiking, or other opportunities. The organization currently has a roster of approximately 30 families they are assisting with participation, and over 70 athlete volunteers. According to the organization’s website, their greatest need are additional Hoyt chairs. Bolen is racing alongside his daughter, Cloe.

There’s also Dan Lee from Boulder. The 31-year old veteran struggled with adjustment into civilian life following his exit from the Army in October, 2021. Like some of his fellow vets, Lee experienced panic attacks and an identity crisis. Counseling was a great assist for Lee. Lee is racing IRONMAN Arizona to raise funds for ROGER, which provides free counseling, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention services to veterans and service members.

The post Some of the Stories of IRONMAN Arizona first appeared on Slowtwitch News.