Ironman Lake Placid 2013 Results Analysis

In the 15th edition of Ironman Lake Placid, 2,345 triathletes finished one of the more beautiful yet challenging races on the North American Ironman circuit in an average time of 13 hours and 12 minutes, with a fairly normal DNF rate of 5.4%. At 13:12, (compared to an average 12:35 finish time for all Ironman events) Lake Placid is one of the tougher races in our RunTri Toughest/Easiest Ironman Triathlon Rankings.

The 2013 race results and swim (1:19), bike (6:40, or 50%), run (4:57) splits were consistent with those in races from 2009 to 2011; the outlier remains the unprecedentedly difficult race in 2012, when the average finish time was 13:30 with a DNF of 11%.

We're proud to have been at the first Ironman Lake Placid in 1999, have finished Ironman Lake Placid 6 times, and have been covering the event extensively for years. Here's our analysis of 2013: overall, by split, by age group, by comparison to 2009 to 2012, by DNF rates, our correlation between bike and run splits and more.

For more, see our complete Ironman Lake Placid Coverage, our Stats/Results/Analysis archive of more than 200 analytics posts, or our home page.

Ironman Lake Placid Results Analysis

For the Latest: See Ironman 2013 Results Analysis

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Ironman Lake Placid 2012 was one of the toughest races on the course in years, as indicated by the average finish time of 13:30 -- nearly 30 minutes slower than in the 2011 race. Below are a sampling of the results; for more, see our complete Ironman Lake Placid 2012 Results Analysis.

Ironman Lake Placid 2011/2012 2011 Results Avg IM LP Finish Times # IM LP Finishers and DNFs Bike Course Map  Run Course Map Bike Course Splits and Analysis Analysis: Finishers and Kona Qualifiers Qualifying Times and Slots 2004-2011 Qualifying by AG: Men  Qualifying by AG: Women Qualifying for Kona

Racing Ironman Lake Placid Exclusive Race Photos 2010 What to Expect at IM LP Bike Course Strategy Essential Racing Tips Correlation b/w  Bike and Run Splits Lake Placid vs. other Ironman Races Toughest/Easiest Ironman Courses Swim Splits Bike Splits Run Splits

Ironman Lake Placid 2011 Results Analysis


More than 2330 triathletes (after an estimated DNS = 14% and DNF = 6%) finished Ironman Lake Placid 2011 in an average time of 13 hours, 4 minutes. This result places Lake Placid among the more challenging Ironman events in our rankings.

Compared with 2010 results (gray bar),  2011 overall average times per age group (blue bar) were generally slower across the board.

Ironman Lake Placid Kona Qualifying times were also slower in many age groups, compared to 2010.

The overall 13:04 average finish time included a 1:18 average swim, 6:36 average bike split, and a 4:52 average run split, with the remaining time spent in transitions.

The bike course can be ruthless, with its effects made apparent on the run. The chart below plots each finisher's bike split (x) and run split (y); those in the upper left quadrant are the ones who biked too hard and suffered as a result, on the run.

The participants' age distribution and entrant location charts; full results are at ironman.com. For more, see our Complete Ironman Lake Placid Coverage.

Wall Street Journal: Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Triathlon Competitor

The Wall Street Journal's July 25 print (page D6) and online editions feature our photo of Rahm Emanuel at Chicago Triathlon 2012, while also picking up on our analysis of the Mayor of Chicago's performance in the event's Sprint Distance races. Click the image to be take to the full online article.

Rahm Emanuel Photos by Raymond Britt

Our Rahm Emanuel racing analysis and/or photos have been similarly featured by CNN,  Runner's World magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times, among others.

For more, see our complete Chicago Triathlon Coverage and our Stats/Results/Analysis Archive, or our RunTri.com site map.

Interest in Qualifying for Boston Still at an All-Time High

In the week following the tragic bombing at, and suspension of, Boston Marathon 2013, we reported that interest in qualifying for Boston 2014 had increased dramatically. Runner's weren't about to be deterred by terrorism, and many explored the idea of racing Boston 2014 to be part of the rebirth of Boston's greatest race.

Based on the number of google searches including the phrase 'qualify for Boston Marathon' since 2008, trends showed interest was up to 15x greater than normal. A few months have passed, we wondered: is interest in qualifying for Boston 2014 still higher than in previous years?

Answer: Yes, absolutely, at a consistent rate of 22% to 25% higher than in 2012, and even higher vs 2010 (35% to 50%).

We analyzed and indexed 'qualify for Boston' google searches from the months of June and July 2013, and compared the results to the same periods going back to 2009, as shown in the chart above.

The longer term, weekly trend is also consistent, as shown below, along with a geographic heat map indicating states with strongest interest, and recent Top 10 related search phrases.

For more, visit our comprehensive Boston Marathon Coverage; to dig deeper, visit our Stats/Results/Analysis Archive with more than 200 endurance sports analytic posts and reports; and for everything else, visit our site map.

Ironman 70.3 Racine 2013 Results Analysis

2014: See our analysis and photos of Ironman 70.3 Racine 2014 at bit.ly/IronmanRacine

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2013

Nearly 2,200 determined triathletes braved a challenging swim in a churning Lake Michigan to finish the Ironman 70.3 Racine 2013 edition in an average finish time of 6 hours and 10 minutes. The swim took a longer than average at 45 minutes, compared to a roughly typical 40 minutes, but athletes rode a 3 hour bike split -- exactly the same as in 2012 -- and then cut 10 minutes from 2012's 13.1 mile run to finish with an average time of 2:14. The 6:10 average finish time is slightly higher than the average time to finish a half Ironman, based on our analysis of dozens of events around the globe.

Details for the 2013 race, as well as comparable stats for the 2012 race, are below, overall, by age group, by split, by year, plus correlations between bike and run splits and finally, DNS and DNF averages. For more, see our comprehensive Stats/Results/Analysis archive to compare these results with more than 40 other Ironman 70.3 races.

Ironman Lake Placid 2012 Results Analysis

2013 Results: Ironman Lake Placid 2013 Results Analysis

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Ironman Lake Placid 2012 was a tough one for the nearly 2,273 triathletes who finished the race, and even tougher on the 11% who started but didn't finish. The average finish time of 13:30 was 29 minutes slower than in 2011, and was the slowest overall time in the last four years. Most of the difference resulted from a noticeably slower bike split of 6:37, and the challenge of those tough 112 miles significantly pushed average marathon times to more than 5 hours. See our complete results analysis below. 

For more, see our comprehensive  Ironman Lake Placid Coverage and Results Archive.