Wisconsin wins for Tissink, Marsh
Raynard Tissink won the 2009 Ford Ironman Wisconsin, after defending champion Chris McDonald faltered during the run. The women's race was dominated by Amy Marsh who crossed the line well ahead of her closest pursuer.
The men
For Tissink his 6th Ironman title didn't come easy. "I got my nutrition all wrong," said Tissink to ironmanlive. "I was dehydrated, I got headaches, and I threw up several times. I wanted to quit." But Tissink did not quit and came away a winner. He even managed to run the fastest marathon among Pro Men in a time of 3:00:50.
"I crossed the line to finish the 2009 Ironman Wisconsin in what felt like the greatest victory of my career. 5 months ago I thought I was done in the sport of triathlon. Ironman win number 6, now I can't wait for the next one," wrote Tissink in his race report.
Christian Ritter of Germany and Raimo Raudsepp of Estonia had fast marathons to put them in second and third place respectively.
Chris McDonald had been in the lead during a good part of the run and for a while it looked like he might repeat what he did here last year. But the stars did not align the same for McDonald after all. "The wheels fell off around mile 16," said Chris McDonald to Greg Welch after the race, "…but after about 4 miles of walking I came good again. I even clocked some 6:30 miles." That was good enough to keep McDonald in the top 5.
Early run leader Will Smith limped home with what appeared to be a pulled muscle in his leg. A 5:07:18 marathon time brought him across the finish line just shy of 11 hours.
The women
This was the first Ironman title for Marsh and she seemed quite surprised when she heard from Mike Reilly that she had more than a 15 minute lead.
"I had no idea I was doing that well," a humble Marsh said at the finish line. "I felt great on the bike and the first 13 miles of the run. But I was definitely hurting the last 13 (miles)."
The Austin, TX resident had won Buffalo Springs 70.3 in late June, so she certainly wasn't flying under anyone's radar. Marsh moved into the lead about 50 miles into the bike segment and never had to look back after that. Her winning margin at the finish line was over 16:30 minutes. Dutch Pro Irene Kinnegim charged past 2008 Wisconsin champion Hillary Biscay late in the run to take second place. Biscay crossed the line in third place about 1:20 after Kinnegim.
Ford Ironman Wisconsin
Madison, WI / September 13, 2009
Top 10 men
1. Raynard Tissink (RSA) 8:45:19
2. Christian Ritter (GER) 8:50:34
3. Raimo Raudsepp (EST) 8:51:30
4. Konstantin Bachor (GER) 8:53:31
5. Chris McDonald (AUS) 8:56:47
6. Justin Daerr (USA) 8:59:06
7. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 9:08:26
8. Mac Brown (USA) 9:11:09
9. Joe Kurian (USA) 9:12:27 *AG M30-34
10. Brandon Marsh (USA) 9:14:41
Top 5 women
1. Amy Marsh (USA) 9:43:59
2. Irene Kinnegim (NED) 10:01:34
3. Hillary Biscay (USA) 10:02:58
4. Ariane Monticeli (BRA) 10:05:37
5. Ali Fitch (AUS) 10:09:29
