“I can’t believe it. It’s crazy,” she said just after crossing the finish line. Nobody else can believe it either. If there was ever a race that proves anything can happen in an Ironman, this was that race.

For the second year in a row, Daniela Ryf appeared done. Finished. Spent. All in. Except, this year, all kidding aside, no way she can win.

The normally solid swimmer exited the water 9-plus minutes behind her chief rival and with no spring in her step. In the early miles of the bike ride the celebrated Swiss ubercyclist lost time on her rivals.

And for the second year in a row… she won. And boy did she win.

The race began with Lucy Charles, last year’s runner-up at the Hawaiian Ironman World Championships sponsored by Amazon, swimming immediately away from everyone. Even Lauren Brandon was expected to stick to the Englishwoman’s feet for some distance. No way. Charles’ 48:13 left everyone well back, most notably including Ryf, who was 9 minutes and more behind after getting stung multiple times by jellyfish. Ryf was “close to quitting” as she got on dry land, and looked just as mortal over the early miles of the bike ride as her 4th consecutive win seemed well beyond reach.

Brandon had a great swim, finishing in 51:06, but was still almost 3 minutes behind Charles. By mile-20 Charles had bolted to a 7-minute lead on her closest challenger and Putting minutes more into her lead on Ryf.

But then the Swiss freight train’s wheels started to spin up. By mile-30 Ryf had made up the time she’d lost, back to even on elapsed bike time, but still trailing by 9 minutes. After 40 miles Charles was still way out there, but Ryf had ridden through everyone else and had only Charles in front, but still 8 minutes separated them.

After 60 miles of riding Charles still held a 6-minute lead on Ryf but veteran Kona racers will tell you this race doesn’t even start until mile-70.

Ryf was back, and chopping big blocks out of Charles’ lead, even outsplitting many of the top men over the last 40 miles of the bike ride. By mile-90 Ryf was only 2 minutes out of the lead, and she could see the vehicle train.

The pass was made even earlier than it last year, which Ryf could not have guessed at any time during the first half of the bike ride. Her 4:26:07 not only blew the old bike course record apart (by 18 minutes), it is arguably the best bike performance of the day based on the delta between the men’s and women’s bike splits.

But Charles wasn’t out of it. She rolled into T2 only 1:40 arrears of Ryf.

Australian accountant Sarah Crowley gamely hung with Ryf for much of the ride, and remained in 3rd place through the first 10 miles of the run.

Ryf’s pace was steady, and Charles gave up a few seconds every mile. By the run’s halfway point Charles trailed by about 6 minutes. Sarah True’s move to long course was looking good, as the American finally reeled in Crowley and had a place on the podium. Anne Haug, another short courser moving up had gotten herself into 4th by the halfway point, and multiple Ironman winner Mirinda Carfrae moved through the field to 6th.

That’s about how it stayed for the rest of the race, with Ryf pulling just a little more away with every step, and Carfrae’s rush toward the lead stalling out at 5th, a nice comeback to racing after a year off to become a mother.

Ryf’s finish time of 8:26:18 would have been very respectable as a top male time in the eras of Tim DeBoom, Peter Reid, Normann Stadler and Faris Al-Sultan. To be only 34 minutes behind the top male places her in rarified company, along with the likes of Erin Baker, Paula Newby-Fraser and few others. Indeed, if you must just choose one then Ryf, and not Patrick Lange, probably had the best overall race of the day even though Lange smashed the men’s course record by almost 10 minutes himself.

Yes, the fast times were in part due to a Madame Pele who decided, after a year of wreaking volcanic havoc on this island, chose to grace the athletes with a calm and relatively cool day. Still, no one – Ryf included – could have predicted this.

Hawaiian Ironman World Championships
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
October 13, 2018
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi

Pro Women:
1. Daniela Ryf (CHE): 8:26:16 (57:26; 4:26:07; 2:57:05)
2. Lucy Charles (GBR): 8:36:32 (48:13; 4:38:11; 3:05:50)
3. Anne Haug (DEU): 8:41:57 (54:19; 4:47:45; 2:55:22)
4. Sarah True (USA): 8:43:32 (52:04; 4:49:19; 2:57:38)
5. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS): 8:50:44 (58:16; 4:46:05; 3:01:41)
6. Sarah Crowley (AUS): 8:52:29 (3:10:30)
7. Kaisa Sali (FIN): 8:54:26 (3:06:06)
8. Angela Naeth (CAN): 8:57:34 (3:16:27)
9. Corinne Abraham (GBR): 8:58:57 (3:16:15)
10. Lindsay Corbin (USA): 9:01:55 (2:59:26)

[Photos: Timothy Carlson]