Ironman Kona Qualifying Times: Comparing 30 Ironman Races



By Raymond Britt -- What finish time do you need to qualify for Kona? It depends on the race you choose, your age group, the number of Kona slots allocated to your age group. Because Ironman races can vary significantly in terms of difficulty, Kona qualifying times can vary widely by race as well.

We've done the analysis to develop the most comprehensive Kona Qualifying Times and Slots analysis on the web, ranging from top-level summary tables to drill-down detail, by race and by age group. We've conducted this analysis annually, and will present stats for 2013, 2011 and 2010 here. If you want to qualify for Kona, these are the times you need to beat. [Also see Ironman Races, Locations, Dates, Kona Qualifying Slots by Event, for the 2013 Season]

Kona Qualifying Times, Slots, and Faster Times by Age Group

 More than 2000 athletes register for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. For most, it's an incredible feat to earn the right to race in Kona.

Of more than 75,000 competitors in 30 Ironman races and 6 Ironman 70.3 events, only about 1800, or 2.5%, will qualify to race with the best of the best, in Ironman's premier championship race.

We're not sure why the World Triathlon Corporation (an excellent and inspiring team that I'm privileged to consult for) has decided to keep many results private.

So we publish here Kona qualifying Times, Slots, and Change in Qualifying Times for the select races willing to share their results. Some terrific performances in these races, and congratulations to all qualifiers. For complete qualifying times for 2011 and 2010, they are further down this post.


The biggest challenge of all: qualifying times are getting faster, in most age groups and most events. On average, qualifying times dropped around 2%this year. That means for example, if it took 10 hours and 30 minutes to qualify in your age group, that 2% improvement means you'll need to finish 13 minutes faster to qualify next year.


In previous years, we presented complete Kona Qualifying Times and Slots comparisons for all Ironman Triathlons in 2011 with some updates for 2012. In preparing the analysis for those posts, we were able to access data for all events.

Unfortunately, this year Kona Qualifying results have not been released for most races on the calendar. Some European and Asia/Pac events proudly shared Kona results; all North American races did not.


Kona Qualifying Races and Times by Age Group: 2011

Kona Qualifying Races and Slots by Age Group: 2011




Kona Qualifying Times Results Analysis By Ironman Races and by Age Groups




Kona Qualifying Races, Slots and Times: 2010

This table outlines 2010 qualifying times for the last qualifier in each division across 25 of the best Ironman triathlons in the world.


If you want to have a chance to qualify for Kona in one of these races, expect that you'll need to be at least as fast as the time in your division on this table. Probably faster; qualifying times get faster every year. See the complete list of Qualifiers and Finish Times by Race and Age Group for complete details. Also see our Analysis of Kona Slots per Age Group and our Allocation of Kona Slots by Event and Age Group graphs.

How do Kona qualifying times compare with average times by age group across all 25 races?




Preparing to Qualify

For advice and guidance, see our complete Complete Kona Coverage, and our book  Qualifying for Kona.

Train for a Marathon: to Finish, to Qualify for Boston or set a PR

By Raymond Britt

Finishing a marathon can be an ultimate achievement, but it takes desire, dedication, enthusiasm, understanding and a positive attitude to complete those 26.2 miles on race day. But it's not easy, and it's why runners seek coaching and marathon advice. We're here to share advice, tips and experiences.
Beginnings: From non-runner to Boston Qualifier

I was not born a runner. I was not one of those athletes who ran cross country, or loved to run for fun. Frankly, I could not understand why people enjoyed running. I wore corrective shoes as a child. I had asthma. It seemed too late in life to start running.

Then I watched the Boston Marathon. The race and the runners captured my attention with their fitness, their attitude, their drive, their commitment, their emotions, their exhaustion and ultimately their pride at the finish line. Despite my prior lack of interest in running, I decided at that moment that someday I would run a marathon. And maybe someday after that, I would run Boston.

At age 34, that first someday arrived, as I lined up optimistically at the start of the 1994 Chicago Marathon. I had no idea what my experience over the next few hours would be like, but I knew I'd be a different person at the end.

Well it was everything I thought it would be, and more. And less. I struggled to the finish line in under five hours, somewhat proud to have finished, though feeling disappointed with my slow time. And physically, I was a wreck, hobbling to my car. But I was wearing a finisher's medal, which eased the muscle pain a bit.

The next day, I vowed to become a better marathoner. And I did, shaving 97 minutes off that debut finish time to qualify for the Boston Marathon one year later.

Since then, I've completed 48 marathons, 8 ultramarathons (ranging from 31 to 78 miles), and 29 Ironman Triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride followed by a 26.2 mile marathon).

That's 85 official marathons (or longer), on courses like Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles and others all over the world. The best news: I've been able to run all those races with average training of less than one hour per day. I've got the details to prove it in my training plans.

Because of that background, runners reach out to me for coaching and running advice. In my experience, on their journey to their first or best marathon, runners want specific insight about a variety of topics: annual training plans, what happens on race day, what it looks and feels like on the course, and even mile-by-mile splits from actual race performances to illustrate, in detail, the good, the bad, the ugly and the great of the race day experience.

I've found the best way to provide runners the insight about how to run a marathon, based on real-life racing experience, is through the links above: my articles, training plans and annual training and racing performance summaries that provide insight about how I prepare for Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Madison Marathons.

Good luck in your next marathon. Be Epic.

New York City Marathon 2017 Results: Overall, Searchable, Historical Analysis

A record 50,643 runners finished the 2017 New York City Marathon, in an average time of 4 hours, 37 minutes. The average finish time was second slowest in the last 17 years (only 4:39 in 2015 was slower). Shalane Flanagan's victory, the first by an American woman in 40 years, was the race's highlight; the men's winner, Geoffrey Kamworor, edged Wilson Kipsang by 3 seconds.

New York City Marathon Results Links and Historical Analysis

TCS NYC Marathon 2017 Results Links

PlaceBibNameTimeStateCountryCitizenship
15Geoffrey Kamworor2:10:53KenyaKEN
24Wilson Kipsang2:10:56KenyaKEN
37Lelisa Desisa2:11:32EthiopiaETH
46Lemi Berhanu2:11:52EthiopiaETH
510Tadesse Abraham2:12:01SwitzerlandSUI
614Michel Butter2:12:39NetherlandsNED
73Abdi Abdirahman2:12:48AZUnited StatesUSA
816Koen Naert2:13:21BelgiumBEL
9442Fikadu Girma Teferi2:13:58NYUnited StatesETH
1012Shadrack Biwott2:14:57CAUnited StatesUSA

PlaceBibNameTimeStateCountryCitizenship
1108Shalane Flanagan2:26:53ORUnited StatesUSA
2101Mary Keitany2:27:54KenyaKEN
3105Mamitu Daska2:28:08NMUnited StatesETH
4102Edna Kiplagat2:29:36KenyaKEN
5126Allie Kieffer2:29:39NYUnited StatesUSA
6120Sara Dossena2:29:39ItalyITA
7117Eva Vrabcova2:29:41Czech RepublicCZE
8114Kellyn Taylor2:29:56AZUnited StatesUSA
9106Diane Nukuri2:31:21AZUnited StatesBDI
10116Stephanie Bruce2:31:44AZUnited StatesUSA
11109Buzunesh Deba2:32:01NYUnited StatesETH


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