Kona

2014

By Holly Bennett

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the

Women's
Race
mirinda carfrae's
remarkable run and an
impressive rookie debut by
daniela ryf made for an
enthralling day in kona.

he build-up to the
2014 womens Ironman
World Championship
race was ripe with talk of
race-day favorites. Would
triathlon darling Mirinda
Rinny Carfrae of Australia
successfully defend her 2013
crown and prove that her
marathon is unmatchable,
despite the pressure of a
distinct target on her back and
a distraction from her usual
Kona laser focus to compete
(and win) at Challenge Roth
earlier in the season?
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Kona

2014

HOW
THEY
FARED

Jodie Swallow
(GBR)
Fourth place,
9:10:19
The former 70.3
world champion
battled back into the
mix after serving a
four-minute penalty
for failing to pass
within the time
allowed.

Julia Gajer (GER)

Sixth place, 9:16:58
A fixture on the
European circuit,
Gajer impressed
in her first Kona
appearance.

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THE CHAMPION
The day kicked off with a predictable group of swim stars
emerging first out of the water
in a time of 54:25. Americans
Amanda Stevens and Meredith Kessler and Great Britains
Jodie Swallow exited together,
followed shortly after by other
small groups of women including American Mary Beth Ellis,
Brit Liz Blatchford and Kiwi
Gina Crawford. The conditions
on the swim were choppier
than previous years, which
especially affected weaker
swimmers. Joyce and Steffen
were less than two minutes in
arrears, with Carfrae climbing
from the sea five and a half
minutes back. The women
ahead of the reigning world
champion knew they would
need every advantage over
Carfraes killer run speed, so
they set to work pushing the
pace hard into the howling
head and crosswinds.
By the bikes halfway point,
a few contenders let their
intention to win be known.
Ryfa notoriously strong cyclistforged ahead and opened
a gap on her rivals. Meanwhile,
Swallow, who had been in the

Paul Phillips / Competitive Image(2)

Caroline Steffen
(SUI)
Fifth place, 9:12:43
For the fifth year
in a row, the strong
cyclist, whos now
coached by Chris
McCormack, scored
a spot in the top five.

Would Switzerlands Daniela

Ryf, the recently crowned Ironman 70.3 world champion yet
an unproven Kona newcomer, stun the field in her debut
appearance, under tutelage
of the same coach, Brett Sutton, who mentored four-time
Ironman world champion
Chrissie Wellingtons rookie Kona season? Would it be
Great Britains Rachel Joyce or
Switzerlands Caroline Steffen,
finally rewarded with a win
after years of dogged determination and consistent top-five
finishes? Or would one of the
other numerous talents in an
ever-improving womens field
prove triumphant?

lead pack, served a four-minute

drafting penalty, which she
called questionable after the
race. Joyce used her own intense focus and speed to stay
close to Ryf, as well as to build
a time buffer against Carfraes
inevitable run onslaught. The
two arrived to T2 two minutes
apart, with Ryf 14:32 ahead of
Carfrae and clocking a 4:54:33
bike split, and both looked mission-driven to maintain their
time advantage.
When I started the runI
thought 14 minutes on Rinny
could be enough, said rookie
Ryf. I was really confident,
and the run felt pretty good.
But I hit the wall at 30K, probably not having enough food.

Liz Lyles (USA)

Seventh place,
9:18:11
Finishing as the top
American, Lyles,
a mother of two,
proved that top
performances and
parenthood can go
hand in hand.

Gina Crawford
(NZL)
Eighth place,
9:19:21
Likewise a racing
mother, the Kiwi
used her finely
honed foot speed to
battle back from a
sub-par bike, despite
suffering a race-day
stomach bug.

Clockwise from top left: Jodie Swallow

and Meredith Kessler were among the
first women out of the water; Rachel
Joyce chased in second place on the
way back to town; Swallow incurred a
four-minute penalty on the bike, taking
her out of the early lead; Daniela Ryf
led most of the bike leg and posted the
fastest split among the women (4:54).

Mary Beth Ellis

(USA)
Ninth place,
9:20:46
Ellis bounced back
from a devastating
DNF in 2013 due
to a pre-race bike
crash and broken
collarbone to post
an impressive top-10
performance this
year, despite having
dropped her salt
tabs early in the bike.

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2014

Liz Blatchford
(GBR)
10th place, 9:23:34
After a podium finish
in her Kona debut
last year, Blatchford struggled yet
remained steadfast
throughout the bike
and run after an
expectedly speedy
swim, refusing to
relinquish the final
spot in the womens
top 10.

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Joyce felt similarly optimistic

starting the marathon: I could
see the time gaps going up and
by T2 I had 12 minutes on Rinny. Like Daniela, I hoped that
would be enough. But I really
struggled at the beginning of the
run and was wondering how a
marathon was going to happen
at all. Like in any Ironman you
have dark points and usually
things come around, and by
the time I hit the Queen K I
was running a little better, but

Linsey Corbin
(USA)
12th place, 9:25:38
Despite starting the
day with a disappointing swim and
failing to gain ground
on the bike, Corbin
in the end logged
the second-quickest
womens marathon
split (2:58:58)she
was the only woman
aside from Carfrae
to break the threehour mark, yet she
finished outside the
top 10 in her best
season to date.

Natascha
Badmann (SUI)
24th place, 9:50:37
The six-time Kona
champ finished in
9:50at age 47.
Enough said.

Paul Phillips / Competitive Image(; Nick Morales / Competitive Image

Ryf started the run with two

minutes on Joyce and more than
14 minutes on Carfrae, who
ultimately averaged a 6:30
pace for the marathon.

with Rinny running 2:50 by that

point it was too late.
Indeed, the athlete known
affectionately as the Aussie
pocket rocket was en route
to proving her run prowess
yet again on the Kona course,
clawing back at the leaders
seemingly insurmountable
buffer at a rate that shocked
everyone, including herself.
Going into the race I said
to my coach anything over
10 minutes is too much, admitted Carfrae, post-race. I
hopped off the bike and was
quite concerned. I was actually
just focused on trying to get
into the top five at that point,
because they were so far ahead.
But then I was able to make
my way into the top five and
then the top three.
Carfrae continued to gain
momentum, and by the time
she emerged from the Energy
Lab and turned onto the Queen
K highway for the final stretch
back to Kailua-Kona town she
had a historic third title firmly
in sight. With four miles to
go, Carfrae had claimed the
lead, appearing to fly just above
the asphalt with unwavering

Kona

2014

Meredith Kessler
(USA)
DNF
The American, looking to improve on her
best-ever Kona finish
of seventh place
last year, predictably
stayed with the lead
swim-bikers but collapsed around mile
8 of the run due to a
combination of G.I.
distress and battling
the hot conditions.

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perfect rhythm and form.

Ultimately, Carfrae bettered
her 2013 run course record
by 12 seconds, laying down
a 2:50:26 marathon, a negative split and the fifth fastest
overall run of the day in her
9:00:55 finish. I knew going
in that it would be a battle to
the finish line, Carfrae said
after the race. Im just ab-

Caitlin Snow
(USA)
22nd place, 9:48:14
After four years in a
row of top-10 Kona
finishes thanks to
super speedy run
splits, including sixth
place last year, Snow
battled to clock an
uncharacteristically
slow 3:16 marathon
split and was proud
to have been able to
finish, she tweeted
after the race.

Paul Phillips / Competitive Image(; Nick Morales / Competitive Image

Carfrae improved upon her

course record from 2013, posting a 2:50:26 marathon, the
fifth fastest overall, and nearly
cracking the nine-hour mark. Ryf
held on for second in her Kona
debut, and Joyce rounded out
the women's podium in third.

solutely shocked to get this

done. Defending is harder than
anything. Kona rookie Ryf
finished two minutes later, and
Joyce earned her fourth top-five
Kona finish with the final spot
on the podium.
At 33 years old, with several
competitive seasons still ahead,
Carfrae has already cemented
her place in Ironman lore, joining the likes of Paula-Newby
Fraser, Natascha Badmann and
Chrissie Wellington as the only
women in the sports history
to thrice claim Kona titles.
Yet one cant help but wonder what will be her ultimate
legacywhether shell surpass even the greatest greats in
record and impact. Her 2014
come-from-behind message
clearly resonates with powerful inspiration, and is best
summed up by Carfraes own
morning-after Kona tweet:
Where to even start. What a
day. Start of the run thought
it just wasnt my day. Little
under 3hrs later I broke the
tape. Never. Give. Up.

Heather Wurtele
(CAN)
15th place, 9:34:18
After a solid swim
and bike in windy
conditions, she was
as high as sixth
early in the run, but
struggled on the
marathon to a 3:25
run split.