2011 Ironman Arizona
In past years, nasty winds and hot weather sometimes made Ironman Arizona tough and times were not remarkable. This year sunny skies, mild temps, tame winds and a red-hot field conspired to produce one race record, three broken barriers, and at least one sizzling duel. This time around, the Bee Line Highway was fast in both directions for the sport’s best. And for most of the 2,600 disciples of aerobic overexertion, a merry time was there for the asking.
All photographs © Timothy Carlson
Sebastian Kienle of Germany is a rising Ironman star. He won Ironman 70.3 titles at Miami and New Orleans and broke 8 hours while placing 2nd to Andreas Raelert at Roth. Sunday his 8:19:29 finish was good for 5th
Can you guess who is this French star swimmer with the abs that won’t quit?
Launch time.
Age group aquatic cavalry charge in Tempe Town Lake.
Wetsuit strippers help Stefan Schmid on his way to a 13th place finish after his 54:58 swim.
Jordan Rapp was a co-favorite going in after his recent win at the ITU long course World Championship. But gastric woes stopped Rapp short of repeating his 2009 IM Arizona win.
Number 1556’s bike kit was whiter than Arizona’s clouds.
Viktor Zyemtsev of the Ukraine lost a 10 minutes to a flat but made it back up to 3rd overall with a race-best 2:43:30 run.
Physically challenged racer heads to the bike turnaround.
Leanda Cave wanted to win an Ironman, break 9 hours and run a sub-3 marathon. On Sunday the genie granted all three wishes.
Eneko Llanos is famed for his run. But he won Ironman Arizona on the strength of his race-best 4:20:54 bike and held off Paul Amey’s challenge with a 3rd-best 2:46:09 run.
Doc Amanda Stevens seized the lead with a race-best 48:43 swim, held on with a 4th-best 4:51:51 bike and stubbornly maintained her lead for the first of three run loops before surrendering to Cave, Linsey Corbin and Meredith Kessler.
Torsten Abel of Germany took 4th place as he closed with a fine 2:48:14 marathon.
Aid station volunteers come in all ages and sizes.
Pedro Gomes ran 3:08:25 on his way to 23rd place.
Llanos and Amey run this close together for six miles before the Spaniard pulled away for the win at Mile 16.
Eneko Llanos exults at his win – and breaking 8 hours for the first time.
Amey trailed Llanos by 1:51 and the two tri warriors embraced at the finish.
Leanda Cave, her confidence buoyed by her 3rd place finish at Kona, ran 2:58:51 on her way to the win and an 8:49:00 finish.
Linsey Corbin tried hard to beat her 2nd place finish last year. But the Montanan said she had no regrets as her 8:54:33 finish was as good as she could do.
