The most famous race in the sport, the 2016 IRONMAN World Championship takes place in Kona, Hawaii on Saturday. The British team, both Pro and Age-Group, have high and very realistic hopes of success in the lava fields
It’s the most iconic race in the sport, and on Saturday morning around 2,300 athletes will leave Dig Me Beach in Kailua Kona, Hawaii on a journey of 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling before a final marathon distance run to finish on the historic finish line on Ali’i Drive. Defending champions Jan Frodeno (GER) and Daniele Ryf (SUI) will start as the favourites to defend their IRONMAN World Championship title, but the British entry is a strong one.
Jodie Swallow will be full of confidence having recently added her second career ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship title in Oklahoma. Fourth in Hawaii two years ago, she certainly has the ability to be a podium contender.
Leanda Cave has reached the highest step of the Kona podium, winning the championship in 2012. Having also won ITU World Championship titles at Standard and Long distance, plus the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, she is a championship performer and not phased by the big occasion.
Susie Cheetham and Lucy Gossage complete the British Female Pro entry, and having finished sixth and tenth respectively last year, they will be hoping to once again be part of the trophy presentations on Sunday. Despite breaking her clavicle just eight weeks ago, Lucy has battled back to make it to the start line. Look for her to put her cycling strength to good use on the Queen K Highway, while Susie’s strength typically sees her cut through the field during the marathon.
Aside from Kona debutant Will Clarke, four of the five British Pro men have previous experience of Hawaii to draw upon. Last year, David McNamee (11th), Joe Skipper (13th) and Tim Don (14th) all finished within seven minutes of each other in their first race experiences at the IRONMAN World Championship. All will realistically believe that they can go faster, and finish further up the leaderboard, this time around. Harry Wiltshire didn’t race in Kona last year, but does have previous experience in Hawaii. His 2016 season has been perhaps his best to date since switching to the longer distances, with wins at both IRONMAN Vichy and IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth in recent months. He has never looked stronger and has the swim skills to be right at the front of the race from the start.
Simply qualifying for the race is a major task in itself, but several British amateur athletes will be hoping to reach the top five finishing positions within their categories, which will earn the coveted Umeke trophy, the traditional hand-carved wooden bowls of Hawaii.
Remarkably, 2015 saw 10 British Age-Group athletes take to the stage during the prize giving, with four – Alison Rowatt (35-39), Jane Hansom (45-49), Linda Ashmore (70-74) and Reece Barclay (25-29) – returning this year. They all have chances to repeat their success, with the likes of Rachel Hallam (30-34), Andy Greenleaf (30-34) and Victoria Hill (40-44) among several others who will also have hopes of leaving the island with one of the iconic awards from the IRONMAN World Championship.
Live coverage of the event is available online, with the Pro men starting a 5.25pm (U.K. time) on Saturday 8th October. Full details, including a guide on how to follow the race and the timings involved are provided on the links below.
IRONMAN Triathlon World Championship – Saturday 8th October 2016
3.8km swim / 180km bike / 42.2km run
Race website: Visit here
Great Britain Pro athletes racing:
#102 – Susie Cheetham
#105 – Lucy Gossage
#108 – Jodie Swallow
#112 – Leanda Cave
(Full Pro Female start lists - Visit here)
#15 – Tim Don
#32 – David McNamee
#39 – William Clarke
#46 – Joe Skipper
#52 – Harry Wiltshire
(Full Pro Men start lists - Visit here)
Full GB start lists: Visit here
How to follow the race live:
Live (online) video and text coverage from the race is available free of charge on ironman.com. For details on how to follow the race, visit here.
Schedule (Local timings / U.K. timings):
The race starts early morning on Saturday (local time in Hawaii), which means an evening start in the UK, the race running well into Sunday morning (UK time).
0625 / 1725 – Male Pro start
0630 / 1730 – Female Pro start
0655 / 1755 – Age-Group men start
0710 / 1810 – Age-Group female start
