Humble and fast age grouper Daniel Stubleski completely destroyed the field at the 2015 Ironman Florida and crossed the line in 8:36:06. Jessica Demello from New Orleans, LA was the top female in Panama City Beach in 9:54:44.

In 2014 Stubleski was the top overall age grouper at the GoPro Ironman World Championship in Kona in a time of 8:50:22, and has had other similar success stories along the way. This year in Kona he was bested by German Malte Bruns, Aussie Levi Maxwell and Belgian Timothy Van Houtem, but still captured the win in his age group in 9:01:38 and got his return ticket to the big dance.

The men

The day started for all athletes with a self-seeded swim start, and American Marcus Duval recorded the top time of 54:13. Next was American Michael Schultz in 54:52 and Brazilian Leo Hobi was third in 55:07. But with the rolling start, it is not clear who was close to whom or if all three of these fast fish were actually swimming close together.

Dan Stubleski had a 1:06:10 swim time but he then quickly went on the hunt on the bike. His 4:21:17 split was race best and no one else who was competing for the overall title came close. Brazilian Virgilio De Castilho and American American Aaron Gray had started their days with solid 57:12 and 58:46 efforts, and their 4:50:31 and 4:43:27 bike splits kept them in the podium chase and age group win positions, but Stubleski was well up the road. German Jens Muller was also ahead of these two athletes after a 1:04:48 swim and a 4:38:43 bike time.

Stubleski then ran a race best 3:02:55 and crossed the finish in first place and with a fantastic time of 8:36:06.

“It was a tough day, believe it or not! I might not have been fully recovered from Kona. It feels great to be the overall winner and actually get to cross the line first and raise the banner! Usually the pros or age-groupers who started in earlier waves get to do it,” said Stubleski to slowtwitch. “I want to thank the guys at Fraser Bike, especially Ron, Paul, and Taylor who always make sure I have what I need and my bike is ready to race. One more thank you to my family, Team Green teammates and their families for all the cheering and support during the race.”

Muller finished in second place 18.5 minutes behind Stubleski, and De Castilho ran past Gray to finish 3rd in 9:15:36, but almost 30 minutes behind the race champion.

The women

Jessica Demello put on a show in the women's race. Her 1:04:46 swim time was only good enough for 12th female, but she stepped on the gas in the bike segment and her 5:10:34 was the second best female split. Demello then ran 3:30:45 and that gave her the win with a 20 minute edge over Atlanta, GA based Lindsey Amerson who swam 1:14:37, biked 5:05:59 and ran 3:45:49 to finish second in her F30-34 age group, and second overall. Carmen Brahim who is from Spain but resides in Roswell, GA finished 3rd in 10:16:56 and led a trio of F40-44 age groupers across the line.

“That win brought me back to life. I had a big year in 2012 but was sidelined in 2013 due to injury. And my 3rd place in AG at CDA in 2014 left me feeling pretty defeated. I was at a point in my training and racing where I felt I needed to decide which way to go. I could step back and train to enjoy the training or I could push myself further than I have before and strive for better,” said Demello to slowtwitch. “I felt as if I couldn't top what I did back in 2011 at IMFL but yesterday's race proved that I'm far from done. It made me realize there's an entire surface I haven't scratched and I look forward to a year full of pushing my limits in 2016.”

2015 Ironman Florida
Panama City Beach, FL / November 7, 2015
2.4m swim / 112m bike / 26.2m run

Top men

1. Dan Stubleski (USA) 8:36:06 (M35-39)
2. Jens Muller (GER) 8:54:51 (M30-34)
3. Virgilio De Castilho (BRA) 9:15:36 (M40-44)
4. Aaron Gray (USA) 9:18:21 (M25-29)
5. Florian Wildgruber (GER) 9:19:56 (M18-24)

Top women

1. Jessica Demello (USA) 9:54:55 (F30-34)
2. Lindsey Amerson (USA) 10:14:42 (F30-34)
3. Carmen Brahim (ESP) 10:16:56 (F40-44)
4. Marialuz Arellano (ECU) 10:25:03 (F40-44)
5. Vikki D'Arcy (GBR) 10:26:24 (F40-44)


Image is a stock photo of Stubleski at the 2015 IM Kona