Ironman Cozumel 2012 Results Analysis

It was a tough year for competitors at Ironman Cozumel 2012, which saw about 1725 athletes finish the race in an average time of 12 hours, 58 minutes, the slowest time since the first running of Ironman Cozumel in 2009.

Notably, swimmers were confronted by a highly unanticipated current, reportedly on the last segment of the course,  that dramatically slowed swim times to an average split of 1:28, compared to the 2011 average swim of 1:14.

There's been some confusion about the number of athletes who did not start the race vs those who started the race but were unable to meet the swim cutoff time. Combined, the total represented 27% of total registered entrants.

How tough was Ironman Cozumel 2012? We've crunched the numbers, overall, by age group, by year, and here are the results.

Paula Broadwell Race Results and Photos; David Petraeus Race Results

Paula Broadwell Finishes the 2011 Thunder Road Half Marathon in 1:36 -- Photo via Brightroom

Paula Broadwell Triathlon and Running Race Results 2002 to present via Athlinks

Paula Broadwell Running the 2011 Thunder Road Half Marathon -- Photo via Brightroom

David Petraeus Running Race Results via Athlinks

David Petraeus Running
Via Washingtonian/ Wiki Commons

Paula Broadwell
At Start of River Bound 15k Race 2112 

Photo via MurphyPhotos.net

Average Marathon Finish Times 2000 to 2013: Boston, New York City, Chicago, MCM

Having completed a deep dive into average finish times by age for the Boston, New York City and Chicago marathons for a single year, it's time to step back and see how overall average finish times for these races compare between 2000 and 2013.

Over the 14-year period, Boston Marathon times have slowed by 10 minutes to the 3:50 range, NYC is steady roughly around 4:27. Chicago seems to be on a slowing trend by as much as 20 minutes; while weather has had an impact in some recent years, conditions in 2011 had a limited impact on the 4:40 average time. And of course, Hurricane Sandy led to the cancellation of NYC Marathon in 2013, and the Boston Bombing suspended the legendary marathon in 2013.

For more, see our complete Boston, New York City, Chicago and Marine Corps Marathon coverage.