Ironman Korea Results Analysis

The Inaugural Ironman Korea is one challenging race course, with an average finishing time of 12:56 that ranks it among the top 1/3 of RunTri's 25 Toughest Ironman Triathlons.

By comparison, Ironman Korea was 93 minutes slower than Ironman Austria, held the same weekend. The difference: 45 minute slower bike split, 34 minutes slower marathon.

Scatter-plot analysis of bike/run splits for each Ironman Korea finisher portrays a wide range of triathlete performances, from those who rode too fast and suffered on the run (upper left), those who rode too easily and had energy to spare on the marathon (lower right), to those who managed a steady balance between bike and run efforts. 

Kona Qualifying Times Analysis 2010-2011

Our current, comprehensive Kona Qualifying Times Analysis for 25 Ironman races defined the minimum finishing times to qualify for the 2010 Ironman World Championship.

We're updating the analysis for the 2010-2011 season, and will be featuring qualifying times by race here, as results become available. We're also comparing qualifying times by race and age group, year-over-year.

The results are not surprising. Each year it seems the challenge to qualify for Kona becomes more difficult. Two reasons: more competition and fewer slots per race in many cases.

We've compared Kona qualifying times for many of the major Ironman races  -- France, Florida, St. George, Western Australia, New Zealand and Wisconsin, Cozumel -- by age group.  Harder? Yes, in most cases. But look closely: Cozumel's race was dramatically faster overall in 2010, as were the qualifying times, and sometimes the last slot rolls far deeper than you might expect. Note the M30-34 time at Ironman Austria in 2010, for example.

France

New Zealand

Ironman Austria Results Analysis

Incredibly, the Ironman Austria course, which is ranked as 3rd fastest in our Top 25 Toughest Ironman Triathlons, was even faster in 2011.

The average finish time in 2011 was 11 hour, 23 minutes, a dramatic improvement compared to the very fast 11:45 in 2010. Based on these results, Austria is now, without question, the fastest/easiest ironman.  on the calendar.

The average bike split of 5:42 is ridiculously fast, and the median time is even faster. An average run split of 4:14 is unprecedented.

And the ironman world record finish time of 7:45 was recorded by a solid triathlete, but not one expected to shatter such a record. 

Why is Austria so fast? It's not cutoff times -- the race time limit was a full 17 hours.  Drafting, course measurement, other?

Whatever the answer, in 2011 Austria has proven, again, to be one of the the fastest, easiest, ironman events in the world.