Ironman UK Results Analysis

After its inaugural event's average finish time of 13:01 in 2010 placed Ironman UK, Bolton, as one of RunTri's toughest Ironman events, the 2011 edition was substantially faster, with a 12:36 average finish time. Dramatically improved times were seen across most age groups.

Breaking down the gains: the swim, at 1:11, was 2 minutes faster; the bike at 6:50 was 12 minutes faster; and the run, at 4:17, was 13 minutes faster. 

For some reason, the run split seems too good to be true. A large number of runners went sub-3 hours (see red circled area below), more than we'd expect, particularly after lightning fast bike times on a very tough course.

As a reference, we did the same analysis on Ironman UK's bike and run splits for 2010; substantially fewer ran sub-3. Did Ironman UK have a notably high number of run specialists this year?

Vineman Half Ironman Results Analysis

Triathletes finished the Vineman half Ironman in an average time of 6:02, about 6 minutes faster than last year. The average bike split was identical in both years -- 3:04 -- but conditions were conducive to a 5 minute improvement in the run split, to 2:10. Most age groups delivered faster average times as well.

With a rolling bike course that's a bit more challenging than most, there's always a higher chance that triathletes will expend too much energy on the bike, retaining too little for a fast run. But with the average 2:10 run split and only a 2% DNF rate, it seems that most avoided this pitfall. The not-so-lucky ones who suffered on the run are represented by the datapoints in the upper left quadrant.

Rhode Island Half Ironman Results Analysis

The average finish time at this year's Rhode Island half ironman distance event was 6:04, just a few minutes faster than last year's 6:13. However, the difference, resulting from slightly faster bike and run splits, will move the half ironman Rhode Island from the top 1/3 in our ranking of Toughest Half Ironman races to about the middle of the pack.

The triathlete's major challenge -- on the Rhode Island course or any other triathlon -- is getting the balance right between a fast bike split with enough energy left over to also execute a fast run split. In Rhode Island, most either got it right (lower left quadrant) or took it too easy on the bike.