Marino Vanhoenacker of Belgium took over the lead halfway through the 116-mile bike leg and ran a 2nd-fastest marathon to finish in 8:12:22 with a 7:05 margin of victory over Jeff Symonds of Canada and 12:30 over 3rd -place finisher Matt Russell of the U.S.

Vanhoenacker garnered $20,000 for the win in a men pro only race that paralleled the women pro-only contest at Ironman 70.3 Augusta earlier in the day.

The performance was Vanhoenacker’s 14th career Ironman victory and second in 2016 after his 8th win at Ironman Austria.

Race recap

Barrett Brandon led the swim with a 41:23 split that gave him a 3 seconds lead on Eric Limkemann of the U/S., 3:44 on Matt Hanson, 3:45 on Vanhoenacker and Clint Kimmins of Australia, 3:47 on Jeff Symonds of Canada, 3:49 on Justin Daerr of the U.S., 3:50 on Viktor Zyemtsev of Ukraine and 3:52 on Matt Russell of the U/S.

Venturing into high heat and humidity and a strong dose of climbing on the bike leg, Brandon held the lead for 32 miles until Eric Limkemann of the U.S. passed him. Vanhoenacker followed Limkemann past Brandon at Mile 38 and Matt Russell of the U.S. made the leading trio at Mile 50.

Between Mile 60 and 70, Vanhoenacker sailed out front. By Mile 80, the Belgian achieved a 50 seconds lead on Russell, 54 on Limkemann, 6:53 on Matt Hanson, 6:59 on Zyemtsev, and 7 and a half on Justin Daerr, Brandon and Symonds.

After a race-best 4:27:28 bike split, Vanhoenacker had a 3:35 lead on Russell, 4:25 on Limkemann, 10:47 on Daerr, 11:45 on Matt Hanson, 11:51 on Symonds and 12:04 on Zyemtsev.

While history indicates that Zyemtsev and his sub-2:40 Ironman marathon capability remained a threat for the overall despite his deficit, the Ukrainian was devastated by the heat and started walking soon into the run.

After 6.4 miles, Vanhoenacker seemed secure as he improved his lead over Russell to 6:05, over Limkemann to 8:40, and 10 minutes-plus over Daerr, Hanson and Symonds.

Halfway through the run, Vanhoenacker increased his lead to 9:33 over Russell while Symonds trimmed his deficit to 9:49. Unless disaster hit the Belgian, Symonds, Hanson and Daerr remained out of picture for the win at more than 10 minutes back. At about 15 miles into the run, Symonds, on his way to a race-best 2:50:13 marathon, passed Russell for second place while Hanson and Daerr held steady at 4th and 5th.

Vanhoenacker finished in 8:12:22 with a 7:05 margin on Symonds, 12:31 on Matt Russell, 13:14 on Matt Hanson and 17:26 on Justin Daerr.

Little Debbie Ironman Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
September 25, 2016
S 2.4 mi. / B 116 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Pro Men

1. Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 8:12:22 - $20,000
2. Jeff Symonds (CAN) 8:19:27 - $10,000
3. Matt Russell (USA) 8:24:53 - $6,500
4. Matt Hanson (USA) 8:25:36 - $5,000
5. Justin Daerr (USA) 8:29:47 - $3,500
6. Esben Hovgaard (DEN) 8:44:55 - $2,500
7. Jozsef Major (HUN) 8:45:44 - $1,500
8. Eric Limkemann (USA) 8:49:30 - $1,000
9. Chad Holderbaum (USA) 8:54:24
10. Clint Kimmins (AUS) 9:01:36