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Alexandre Ribeiro began the third day of the 25th Ultraman World Championship with a 23-minute lead over rookie Mike LeRoux of Australia, 38 minutes over Ultraman veteran and excellent runner Miro Kregar of Slovenia, and 40 minutes over the Peter Kotland. Twelve years ago, Kotland unleashed a beast of a run, a 5:33:27 double marathon, that won him the title and affixed his name in Ultraman legend. One year ago, Ribeiro posted a personal best Day 3 run of 6:15:32 on his way to his third Ultraman win. That run was 42:05 slower than Kotland’s 12-year-old record run mark. So, if both men were at their theoretical best, Kotland would eke out a 2-minute win.

While both were far from their best in 2009, Ribeiro took his fourth overall crown with a second-best final day double marathon of 6:38:59. Kregar passed LeRoux and Kotland for second overall with a race-best 6:20:07 run, and Kotland found the first two days of hard cycling left him with just enough gas in the tank to run a 6:47:49, which placed him third overall.

The true hero of the third day was Madison, Wisconsin psychologist and ultra running star Ann Heaslett, whose stunning 7:12:07 marathon smashed Tina Bischoff’s 20-year-old Ultraman Day 3 record by 37 minutes and 30 seconds. The run advanced Heaslett, the 2007 runner-up, to third place behind Kathy Winkler of Mill Valley, California, who also broke the Bischoff run mark with her 7:45:46 double marathon.

But don’t kid yourself. There is nothing easy about a double marathon after two days of a 10k swim and 260.4 miles of biking. So a hearty toast to the last man, Giorgio Alessi, who trotted home with a cutoff-beating 11:47:00 for a 33rd place finish just two weeks after completing a 1,406-mile Deca Ironman.

Related galleries

Ultraman 09 day 1

Ultraman 09 day 2

Photo Gallery ® Timothy Carlson