Skipper smashes race record at IM Florida
Just three weeks after strong finishes at the Ironman World Championship at Kona, Joe Skipper of Great Britain smashed the Ironman Florida race record with a 7:46:28 performance that gave him a 2:01 margin of victory over Ben Hoffman of the U.S.
Skipper’s finish was 5:45 under Victor Del Corral’s 2013 race record of 7:52:13.
Skipper’s win comes three weeks after his 6th place finish at Kona and Hoffman’s runner-up at Panama City Beach comes after a 4th place finish at Kona.
Ironman Florida was a Pro Men only race with a $50,000 total purse. Ironman Arizona will hold a Pro Women only race with a $50,000 purse later this month.
In a day of multiple records, Andrew Starykowicz of the U.S. rode a record 4:01:19 bike split on his way to third place, 10:04 behind the winner and 3:26 under the 8-hour mark.
Hoffman broke the race run record with a sizzling 2:36:09 marathon, which was 1:20 under the Ironman Florida record. Skipper also posted an impressive 2:39:01 marathon.
Race Recap
Skipper started his day with a 19th-best swim that put him 6:21 behind swim leader Alexander Berggren of Sweden and 6 minutes behind eventual race rival Hoffman.
After 12.5 miles, of the bike leg, Berggren held an 8 seconds lead on Jesper Svensson of Sweden, 9 seconds on Johan Ackermann of New Zealand, 13 seconds on Hoffman, and 32 seconds on Starykowicz.
After 30 miles, Svensson and Starykowicz broke away by 1:48 over Ackermann, 2:58 on Hoffman, 5:02 on Denis Chevrot of France, 5:05 on Berggren, 5:16 on Justin Metzler of the U.S., 5:18 on Ruedi Wild of Switzerland and 5:34 on Skipper.
By 68 miles into the bike leg, Starykowicz turned on his usual afterburners and opened a 42 seconds lead on Svensson, 5:08 on Skipper, 6:59 on Ackermann, 9:14 on Metzler, and 9:16 to 8:25 on a group that including Metzler, Hoffman, Chevrot and Wild.
After 100 miles, Starykowicz increased his lead to 4:37 on Svensson, 7:04 on Skipper, 12:45 to 12:53 on Chevrot, Metzler, Wild and Hoffman.
After a race record 4:01:19 bike split, Starykowicz led the field into T2 by 6:13 on Svensson and 9:17 on Skipper.
While his lead was substantial, Starykowicz’s personal best Ironman marathon of 2:55 looked doomed when trying to fend off the onslaught of low 2:40 Ironman marathoners Skipper and Hoffmann.
After 9 miles of the run, Jesper Svensson sliced his deficit to Starykowicz to 5:27, followed by Skipper (+5:28), Hoffman (+7:59), Metzler (+10:22), Chevrot (+11:21) and Ruedi Wild (+13:41).
Through 14 miles, Starykowicz hung stubbornly to a 2:17 lead on Skipper, 4:45 on Hoffman, 6:58 on Svensson and 9:36 on Metzler and Chevrot.
At Mile 17, Skipper made the pass on Starykowicz while Hoffman slowly reduced his deficit to 2:26. By Mile 19.4, Skipper opened a 2:11 lead on Hoffman, who passed and led Starky by 34 seconds.
After a second-best 2:39:01 run, Skipper finished in 7:46:28 with a 2:01 margin of victory over Hoffman, who posted the race record 2:36:09 marathon. Starykowicz held in to 3rd place with an estimable 2:58:36 run split that brought him to the line in 7:56:32.
Denis Chevrot ran 2:49:50 to take 4th place, 5:50 behind Starykowicz. Ruedi Wild ran 2:49:09 to finish 5th, 59 seconds behind Chevrot. Justin Metzler of the U.S. ran 2:51:26 to finish 6th, 1:32 behind Wild and Tyler Butterfield of Bermuda ran 2:42:58 to finish 7th, 1:45 behind Metzler.
Ironman Florida
Panama City Beach, Florida
November 2, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Joe Skipper (GBR) 7:46:28 S 54:18 T1 4:32 B 4:05:51 T2 2:48 R 2:39:01
2. Ben Hoffman (USA) 7:48:29 S 49:08 T1 3:43 B 4:17:15 T2 2:15 R 2:36:09
3. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 7:56:32 S 50:55 T2 3:10 B 4:01:19 T2 2:34 R 2:58:36
4. Denis Chevrot (FRA) 8:02:22 S 50:42 T1 3:14 B 4:16:13 T2 2:25 R 2:49:50
5. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 8:03:21 S 51:35 T1 2:54 B 4:17:15 T2 2:30 R 2:49:09
6. Justin Metzler (USA) 8:03:53 S 50:36 T1 2:51 B 4:16:49 T2 2:14 R 2:51:26
7. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 53:00 T1 3:18 B 4:21:42 T2 4:42 R 2:42:58
8. Jesper Svensson (SWE) 8:07:02 S 49:05 T1 3:13 B 4:09:18 T2 2:14 R 3:03:14
9. Raul Tejada (GUA) 8:08:55 S 53:37 T1 3:36 B 4:22:51 T2 2:22 R 2:46:31
10. Pedro Gomes (POR) 8:11:06 S 53:02 T1 3:12 B 4:23:42 T2 2:12 R 2:49:00
