Stierli, Nilsen take Norseman
Swissman champion Markus Stierli took the win at the 2013 isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in 11:25:16. Norwegian Inger Liv Bjerkreim Nilsen grabbed the women's title on day that was described as ultra tough.
After a night of heavy thunderstorms, a very early wake-up call and a ferry ride to the swim start, the 2013 isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon was ready to go, but first all 230 brave souls who managed to snag an entry into this increasingly popular and unique race had to leap into the dark blue water of the Hardangerfjord. At 5:10am with the horn sound from the ferry the race was on and it was Brit Tom Wade who led a group of 5 athletes back into the swim-bike transition after a time of 55:30 in the reasonably warm water. Warm in this case was about 18c (64 F) with outside temperatures a slightly cooler 13c (55F). With him were Austrian female Lydia Waldmüller, Swiss athlete Marc-Yvan De Kaenel, Norwegian Kristian Thorsvald and fellow female Elite Malin Lundvik from Sweden.
De Kaenel was first onto the bike after a speedy transition, but that lead did not last very long. Norwegian Lars Christian Vold came out of the water about 2 minutes behind him, but quickly made up time on the bike despite the heavy headwind conditions and charged past the early leaders on the opening 40k climb to Dyranut – a section that has a 1,300 meter elevation gain. When Vold reached Dyranut he had an almost 7 minute advantage over Kaenel, but 2013 Swissman champion Markus Stierli had ridden even faster and had the race leader already in his sights. The fast Swiss athlete was almost 6 minutes slower in the water than Vold, but only 15 seconds behind him at Dyranut. Stierli soon after took the lead and pulled away further and further and the the Swiss athlete seemed to be unfazed by the rainy, cold and windy conditions. Dutch triathlete Dirk Wijnalda had moved himself into third position with a fine ride. As the race progressed Wijnalda moved past Vold and so did Ulrik Schaarup, but no one managed to come close to Stierli who rode like a man possessed up front.
In the women’s race Waldmüller set the pace on the bike, and with 2012 champion Annett Finger not at the start, the surprising news was that 3-time champion Susanne Buckenlei had called it a day early on. It is however still not clear why Buckenlei stopped early. Norwegians Line Foss, Inger Nilsen meanwhile were hard in the hunt for the lead and they moved past Lundvik who had been riding in second position. Nilsen started the bike segment 17 minutes after the leader and lost a few more minutes on the bike, but she was ready to take charge. Foss came from even further back in the swim and managed to reach the bike-run transition in third place with the second best female bike split. But Waldmüller was already well on the run after a 6:47 race best split.
As Stierli set out on the run he was 10 minutes up on Wijnalda, 12 on Schaarup and 14 ahead of Vold and the latter two athletes seemed to be paying for their bike pace. Allan Hovda started the run about 9 minutes behind Vold, but he soon moved into third position. Vold got a second wind during the final climb to the finish and made up time on Hovda, but in the end it was not enough. Stierli was the clear champion on the day in 11:25:16 and Wijnalda was next in 11:41:33. Hovda held on to the final podium spot in 11:49:30, just 37 seconds ahead of Vold.
Nilsen had the best run among the women and caught Waldmüller on the final leg-breaking climb to the finish. When it was all said and done Nilsen was the new champion in 12:43:14, 12 minutes ahead of runner-up Waldmüller. Line Foss crossed the line in third place in 13:01:34.
"Winning the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon was unbelievable. This was my first triathlon ever so I was excited, nervous, but also unsure how I would handle the different transitions. I have to admit that I did not know what I was heading into. My main goal was to make it to Gaustatoppen and get the black t-shirt," said Nilsen to slowtwitch. "I had two people for support up the mountain. One in front of me guiding me and setting the pace, and one behind me playing music from his cell-phone and cheering me up. We continued to pass other runners even though I started to be tired. Then suddenly we heard from another runner we passed 'come on, heia heia, the first girl is 20m ahead.' Neither of us could believe it! My support knew that I was 6 minutes behind at 37km, and that the leader was tired, and that I might have a shot if I kept my pace, but it took us all by surprise that I caught her so fast."
Nilsen added, "The last 30 minutes was just a hard struggle to move forward. I had to start walking, almost lost my balance sometimes, and tripped on some of the big rocks on the trail. It was foggy and no visibility, so I could not see how far it was to the top, so none of us knew until I had about 150m left. Then I just stumbled to the finish and collapsed in the arms of my support knowing that I reached my goal of the black t-shirt. It is only afterwards I realized that I also had won one of the hardest triathlon competition in my triathlon debut."
A special bonus awaited all the athletes on top of Gaustatoppen. Heavy lightning had killed the elevators inside the mountain and while athletes typically get to use the elevator to go down the mountain after the race, this year they had the pleasure and pain to walk down the mountain. Clearly having fully earned that black finisher t-shirt.
isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon
Eidfjord, Norway / August 3, 2013
3.8k swim / 180k bike / 42.2k run
Top men
1. Markus Stierli (SUI) 11:25:16
2. Dirk Wijnalda (NED) 11:41:33
3. Allan Hovda (NOR) 11:49:30
4. Lars Christian Vold (NOR) 11:50:07
5. Lasse Rypdal (NOR) 11:55:09
Top women
1. Inger Liv Bjerkreim Nilsen (NOR) 12:43:14
2. Lydia Waldmüller (AUT) 12:55:20
3. Line Foss (NOR) 13:01:34
4. Malin Lundvik (SWE) 13:54:59
5. Rebekka Trukenmüller (GER) 13:59:04
A related image gallery: 2013 isklar Norseman images
