Ironman Florida Kona Qualifying Times Analysis

In most ironman events, the competition to qualify for Kona  is increasingly fierce, but the qualifying times at this year's Ironman Florida proved to be the exception. In 2011, nearly 2500 athletes began the race, with as many as 500 hoping they might have a shot at winning one of the 65 available qualifying slots.

Qualifying times in 2010 were generally faster than in 2009, across most age groups. And it was generally expected that qualifying times in 2011 would be even faster. Surprisingly, is actually was 'easier' to qualify for Kona in Ironman Florida this year, as indicated by slower qualifying times in nearly every age group.

Adding an additional element of surprise were qualifying times in age groups that actually offered fewer slots in 2011 compared to 2009. We would have expected notably faster qualifying times in M35-39, which lost 2 slots, but that was not the case. 

Ironman Florida 2011 Results Analysis

One thing you can count on at Ironman Florida is relative consistency in conditions and finish times. The average finish time in 2011 was 12:45, merely minutes from the 12:42 in 2010 and 12:37 in 2009. Of the 2921 who registered to compete, 19% did not start and 4% did not finish, Congratulations to those who finished . . . see how your finish time compared to your peers in our analysis below.

Also see our analysis of the correlation between bike and run splits, and more of our complete Ironman Florida Race Coverage. For complete results, ironmanflorida.com.

Miami Half Ironman 70.3 Results Analysis

The 2011 Miami half ironman event stands out among the 40+ others on the 70.3 race calendar for 3 reasons:

1. The most registered entrants: 2,995
2. The highest DNS (registered entrants that did not start the race): 29%
3. One of the largest improvements in year-over-year average finish time: 29 minutes -- from 6:18 to 5:51

Given the relative speed of this year's race, it's also a little surprising that the DNF (did not finish) rate exceeded 6%. 

Of the 1982 triathletes who finished, here are the average times by age group.