Ironman St George; the best fun you can have without racing…

I spent the weekend in St George UT watching the Ironman St George…what an amazing experience! In case you didn’t hear the conditions were crazy, shortly after the AG swim start the winds picked up…this set the tone for the day; winds gusted up to 40 mph. I borrowed this picture below, the top is the ad, the bottom the reality! Hundreds of athletes DNFd the swim or missed the cutoff of 2:20, most were allowed to continue without a chip to at least finish.

Ben Hoffman won overall in 9:07 the first 9:+ Ironman finish in 110 Ironman races according to “Iron” Mike Reilly, he also said that due to conditions this was the hardest Ironman race in 20 years! Meredith Kessler, the female Champions bike speeds varied from 6-52mph…more people were pulled at the run split cutoff or missed the 5:30pm cut time! The run by comparison was easier although for many age groupers the late heat was troublesome with temperatures in the upper 80s early 90s! There were still plenty of runners on the course at Midnight.

I stayed in the finish chute almost to Midnight, having been at the swim to see the Pros go at 7am, it was a long day for me and an excruciatingly long one for the competitors. For me it was really magical, the excitement, energy and atmosphere were beyond what I could have ever imagined, I have watched them on TV but to be there in person cheering people on was an amazing experience and one I highly recommend!

I took a ton of photos here are a few…

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This weekend I am heading out to Phoenix to check out my Ironman race course!