But, wait: the official cutoff time, it turned out, was determined to be 16 hours 15 minutes (I have no idea why). That meant another 50 or so athletes who happily finished under 17 hours but after 16 hours 15 minutes got the staggering news they would not be considered Ironman finishers, but instead were classified DNF.
My analysis and charts reveal how brutal it was out there for all Ironman Chattanooga 2016 triathletes. And it's based on results for all who finished under 17 hours.