On a perfect day with light winds and some of the mildest temperatures in the 40-year history of the IRONMAN World Championship, defending champions Patrick Lange and Daniela Ryf shattered their own course records in what will go down as the fastest race in race history.
Not to be overshadowed by Ryf's race for the ages, Lange's first order of business after his record-setting performance was to propose to his girlfriend, Julia. She said yes.
"This was the most intense, most beautiful, most amazing thing that I've ever experienced in my life—after just asking Julia to marry me," Lange said of a day that will be hard top.
Men's Race
Josh Amberger led a pack of nine athletes out of the water in 47:39, with a group that included Tim O’Donnell and Javier Gomez in tow. The first of the uberbikers to make his way out of Kailua Bay was Andrew Starykowicz, just under two minutes behind Amberger. Bike course record-holder Cameron Wurf and 2014 IRONMAN World Champion Sebastian Kienle exited the water another minute back, and Kienle found himself with a flat tire in the opening mile and needed a rear wheel swap before he could get his signature lead underway. Reigning runner-up Lionel Sanders had the most work to do out of the water, finding himself 6:21 down coming out of T2.
Starykowicz and Wurf wasted no time taking control of the ride, bringing along Frenchman Anthony Costes up to the turn at Kawaihae. The pair of leaders swapped the front position a handful of times on the climb up to the turnaround at Hawi, before Costes dropped off and Amberger moved into third. Wurf put in a big surge to take the lead as the trio started their descent, with the winds as still as they've ever been at the top of the course.
As the leaders made their way down to Kawaihae and then back onto the Queen K, it was clear that Starykowicz didn’t have the legs to attack the course record, but Wurf never wavered from riding a record pace for the second straight year. He flew into town with a four-minute lead after an incredible 4:09:06 bike split, shaving three minutes, 48 seconds off his record-setting ride from a year ago. Starykowicz was next into transition, but a large group of elite runners including Lange, Bart Aernouts, Braden Currie and Tim O’Donnell rolled into T2 just a few minutes later, ready to take control of the race from the super-cyclists.
Wurf ran strong for the opening 10K, as Lange, Currie and Aernouts ran in lockstep along Ali'i Drive giving chase. Lange finally broke away and overtook Wurf 10 miles in, with Aernouts also making his way past Wurf a few miles later. Currie and O'Donnell ran side-by-side as the five leaders climbed Palani Road and headed toward the Energy Lab. Aernouts kept the gap to Lange hovering around two minutes throughout the trip out to the Lab, but he couldn't make up any ground on the defending champion. The win was never in doubt for Lange as he turned the screws on the way back to town, running just off the pace of his record-setting marathon from 2016.
"After 8K I found my running legs and the mental part of it started to feel really good," said Lange in the post-race press conference. "Madame Pele was with us today and gave us the best conditions. She probably knew it was the 40th anniversary of the best race in the world."
The big mover over the final 10K was last year’s third-place finisher, David McNamee, who surged past O’Donnell and Currie to move into third. Lange broke the tape for his second record-setting win, this time becoming the first athlete in history to finish in under eight hours. His time of 7:52:39 carved nearly nine minutes off his record from a year ago. Aernouts was next across the line four minutes later, finishing on the Kona podium for the first time. McNamme closed with third-fastest marathon of the day to take third for the second year in a row. After trading blows throughout the entire marathon, O’Donnell and Currie finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Top 10 Pro Men
1 Lange, Patrick DEU 7:52:39
2 Aernouts, Bart BEL 7:56:41
3 McNamee, David GBR 8:01:09
4 O'Donnell, Tim USA 8:03:17
5 Currie, Braden NZL 8:04:41
6 Russell, Matt USA 8:04:45
7 Skipper, Joe GBR 8:05:54
8 Potts, Andy USA 8:09:34
9 Wurf, Cameron AUS 8:10:32
10 Weiss, Michael AUT 8:11:04