Mathias Hecht of Switzerland won his first Ironman and Heather Wurtele of Canada won her third Ironman and defended her title at Ford Ironman St. George Saturday.

Hecht took over from fellow Commerzbank Team member and bike leader Maik Twelsiek at Mile 15 of the run. Hecht, whose previous best finishes include a second place at Ironman Switzerland and third places at Ironman New Zealand and Ironman Lake Placid, finished off with a race-best 2:56:50 run and a final time of 8:32:03 which gave him a 1:43 margin of victory over Twelsiek and broke 2010 winner Michael Weiss’s course record by 8 minutes 5 seconds. Twelsiek’s race-best 4:36:20 ride gave him a 3-minute lead over Hecht starting the run, but his 4th-best 3:01:36 marathon left him in second place. Fearsome cyclist TJ Tollakson inexplicably fell behind with a 4:49:25 bike but charged hard with a 2nd-best 2:58:02 run to take third place in 8:40:20, 1:19 ahead of 4th place Ben Hoffman.

Defending champion Michael Weiss of Austria dropped out with back spasms.

In the women’s race, Wurtele (55:00 swim and 5:17:00 bike) trailed swim and bike leader Jodie Swallow (49:29 swim and 5:17:44 bike) by 4:45 starting the run. But when Swallow, the 2010 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, started to fade at Mile 5 due to an injured foot, Wurtele charged and had a 2:45 lead at Mile 6.75. After Swallow pulled out on the run, Wurtele obliterated the surviving field with a race-best 3:14:50 marathon which gave her a 36:03 margin of victory over race runner-up and Jackie Arendt of Madison, Wisconsin. Wurtele’s 9:30:33 finish broke her own 2010 course record by 4 minutes 52 seconds.

Boulder, Colorado pro Uli Bromme finished 3rd, her best Ironman finish ever, 4 minutes 12 seconds behind Arendt and 9:57 ahead of 4th place Jessica Smith, of Stanford , California, the top overall age group woman.

Ford Ironman St. George
St. George, Utah
May 7, 2011
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Mathias Hecht (SUI) 8:32:03 * Course record
2. Maik Twelsiek (GER) 8:33:46
3. TJ Tollakson (USA) 8:40:20
4. Ben Hoffman (USA) 8:41:39
5. Mike Aigroz (SUI) 8:42:06
6. Paul Ambrose (AUS) 8:51:41
7. Alejandro Santamaria (ESP) 9:04:38
8. Christian Brader (GER) 9:08:19
9. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 9:11:11
10. Bevan McKinnon (NZL) 9:12:37

Women

1. Heather Wurtele (CAN) 9:30:33 * Course record
2. Jackie Arendt (USA) 10:06:36
3. Uli Bromme (GER/USA) 10:10:48
4. Jessica Smith (USA) 10:20:45 * F30-34
5. Liis Toomingas (EST) 10:36:36
6. Tamara Kozulina (UKR) 10:43:37
7. Danielle Kehoe (USA) 10:46:44 * F18-24
8. Ali Black (USA) 10:47:54 * F35-39
9. Katharina Grohmann (GER) 10:53:27 *F18-24
10. Jeanne Debonis (USA) 10:59:50 * F45-49