Ironman Wisconsin 2011 Results Analysis

Congratulations to the 2244 triathletes who finished the 2011 Ironman Wisconsin. While conditions have been worse in previous races (2004's heat and 2006's frigid drizzling come to mind), temperatures that rose into the high 80s clearly had an impact on the field.

More than 8% of starters didn't finish (12% of registrants didn't start), and the average finish time of 13:24 was 8 minutes higher than seen in 2010 and 2009. Overall, Wisconsin remains near the top of RunTri's 25 Toughest Ironman Rankings. How did your finish time stack up against average finishing times by age group? Also see our Kona Qualifying Times Analysis and our Ironman Wisconsin Race Photos.

Sarah Palin Runs Half Marathon in Iowa -- 1:46:10, 2nd in Age Group

Sarah Palin ran the Jump Right in and Run Half Marathon in Storm Lake, Iowa, on Sunday September 4, 2011, finishing with a time of 1:46:10. At a pace of 8:06 per mile, it was fast enough to win her second place in her age group.

It was also an unexpected, unpublicized and nearly anonymous run for Palin, who registered for the race using her maiden name, Heath.






Overall she finished in 5th out of 33 women; impressive. Photo and results by www.stormlakerunningclub.com.

Ironman Louisville Kona Qualifying Times Analysis

At the 2011 Ironman Louisville, 65 triathletes rose above all others to qualify for Kona, to compete at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii in October. Remarkably, the dynamics of slot allocations and finish times in Louisville changed perhaps more than in any 2011 qualifying event.

Especially noteworthy: a shift of 4 slots from men age groups to women, which dramatically increased competition among men, leading to qualifying times an hour or more faster than in some age groups, compared to 2011.