Corinne Abraham nailed a personal best at IRONMAN Kalmar thanks to a brilliant performance just a few weeks out of the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona. The weather conditions were great when her compatriot Kimberley Morrison and Annie Thoren from Sweden opened up a fast race early in the water. When they exited the water after a little more than 52 minutes, the hunt was on.
Dede Griesbauer (USA) came out of the water in third a few meters in front of Abraham, but she had to call it a day on the bike due to feeling sick right after the start. Abraham and Griesbauer were five minutes down after the swim, but the 40-year old Brit really made use of the fast bike course after that. Abraham managed a sensational split in 4:34:32 and caught up with Morrison on the final kilometers of the bike course.
Although she had only an advantage of 23 seconds when she hit T2, Abraham was ready to go hard on the run. She increased her lead step by step and took a five-minute-benefit onto the second half of the run. While Abraham eventually smashed the course record stunningly, the 2012 champion Asa Lundstrom ran into the hearts of the crowd. The Swedish hero took second in her first ever sub-9-hour race in front of a strong Angela Naeth. Naeth rounded out the podium in great style, celebrating a huge comeback after being a diagnosed with Lyme disease in spring.
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Abraham, Corinne DEU 8:45
2 Lundstroem, Asa SWE 8:54
3 Naeth, Angela CAN 9:01
4 Morrison, Kimberley DEU 9:07
5 Tajsich, Sonja DEU 9:13