Women

While four-time Ironman World Champion Daniela Ryf was expected to win yet another race, plenty of excitement at the Ironman North America Championship at the Woodlands was provided by still-rising star Jocelyn McCauley of Eagle, Idaho.

After exiting the water 7 seconds behind swim leader Ryf and 1 second ahead of top contender Jeanni Seymour of South Africa, McCauley ticked close behind the Swiss champion on the bike varying from 18 to 2 seconds back through 100 miles, then taking a turn at the front at Mile 104. After a women’s-best 4:40:21 bike split – 19 seconds better than Ryf – McCauley entered T2 with an 8 seconds lead on Ryf and 11 seconds on Kimberley Morrison of Great Britain.

While Morrison blitzed through T2 into the lead, McCauley jetted into a 1:04 lead on Morrison and 1:42 lead on Ryf after 2 miles. By the 8 mile mark, McCauley opened a 2:08 gap on Ryf and maintained that margin for the next 8 miles.

While the excitement level was amplified by the superstar-status of Ryf, triathlon aficionados had reason to see it coming. McCauley won Ironman Mallorca in 2016 and won Ironman New Zealand and Ironman 70.3 Vichy in 2017. Last year, McCauley showed her true grit by riding 40 miles with a flat tire to finish at Kona. And in March, she smashed the women's race record at Ironman New Zealand with a 8:53:11 time.

So taking down McCauley, no flash in the pan, was a task fit for an Ironman goddess and no sure thing. By Mile 17, Ryf sliced her deficit to 1:39. Gradually, Ryf narrowed the margin to just under a minute with six miles left. In the next mile, McCauley could hear Ryf’s footfall - within 30 seconds. With 4 miles left, Ryf summoned her superchargers and made the pass.

After a women’s-best 2:57:24 marathon, Ryf finished in 8:37:48 with a 1:53 margin of victory over McCauley, who fought to the end with a 2:59:33 run. Ryf’s effort fell 6:43 short of Melissa Hauschildt’s 2018 race record.

Men

Alexander Berggren led the men's swim with a 49:03 clocking that gave him a 15 seconds lead on Patrick Nilsson of Sweden, 1:36 over Andrew Starykowicz of the U.S., 1:38 over Mauricio Mendez of Mexico, 3:06 over David Plese of Slovenia, and 4 and a half minutes on Pedro Gomes, Kyle Buckingham, Joe Skipper and last year’s winner Matt Hanson.

After 40 miles, America’s überbiker Starykowicz took the lead by the throat with a 2:39 margin over Nilsson, 6:37 over Plese and 10:20 over Hanson, Buckingham and Skipper.

After 83 miles Starykowicz expanded that lead Starky proportions - 6:38 over Nilsson, 14:13 over Plese, 16:07 over Will Clarke, and 17-plus minutes over Michael Weiss, Joe Skipper , Matt Hanson and Kyle Buckingham.

After a near-record 4:02:56 bike split, Starky led Nilsson by 8:54, Plese by 16:10, 18:54 over Weiss, 18:59 over Clarke, 20:30 over Hanson and Buckingham, and 21:04 over Joe Skipper.

After 6 miles of the run, Nilsson cut Starykowicz’s lead to 5:50 and 12:42 on Plese. After 11 miles, Nilsson ran to within 2:30 on Starky. By the half-marathon mark, Nilsson chopped that deficit to an inevitable 30 seconds.

After 16 miles, Nilsson disposed of Starykowicz and led by 3:20. After 22 miles, Starky hung stubbornly to second place, 3:20 arrears. After 23 miles, David Plese eased past Starykowicz for second place and held that to the finish. After a race-best 2:42:21 marathon, Nilsson broke the tape in 7:50:55 with a 10:55 margin of victory over Plese. Starykowicz ground out a 3:04:39 marathon to finish 3rd, 12:54 behind the winner.

Ironman North America Championship
The Woodlands, Texas
April 27, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Women

1. Daniela Ryf (SUI) 8:37:48 S 54:03 T1 2:40 B 4:40:40 T2 3:03 R 2:57:24 race
2. Jocelyn McCauley (USA) 8:39:41 S 54:09 T1 2:46 B 4:40:21 T2 2:55 R 2:59:33
3. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) 8:58:03 S 54:10 T1 2:26 B 4:57:47 T2 2:53 R 3:00:48
4. Lesley Smith (USA) 9:03:17 S 56:41 T1 2:49 B 5:00:07 T2 3:38 R 3:00:04
5. Kimberley Morrison (GBR) 9:03:45 S 58:20 T1 2:23 B 4:36:42 T2 2:43 R 3:23:38
6. Dimity-Lee Duke (AUS) 9:22:56 S 1:01:47 T1 3:12 B 4:53:58 T2 3:00 R 3:21:02
7. Jennie Hansen (USA) 9:37:25 S 1:09:28 T1 3:12 B 4:57:49 T2 4:45 R 3:22:13
8. Natasha Van Der Merwe (RSA) 9:38:19 S 1:05:31 T1 2:56 B 4:58:12 T2 3:17 R 3:28:26
9. Hilary Fenton (USA) 9:48:00 S 1:03:41 T1 3:08 B 5:05:30 T2 3:02 R 3:32:40

Men

1. Patrik Nilsson (SWE) 7:50:55 S 49:18 T1 2:31 B 4:13:18 T2 3:29 R 2:42:21
2. David Plese (SLO) 8:01:50 S 52:08 T1 2:30 B 4:17:45 T2 3:07 R 2:46:23
3. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 8:03:49 S 50:39 T1 2:33 B 4:03:02 T2 3:03 R 3:04:39
4. Joe Skipper (GBR) 8:05:03 S 53:33 T1 2:21 B 4:21:24 T2 3:09 R 2:44:39
5. Matt Hanson (USA) 8:09:28 S 53:39 T1 2:17 B 4:20:48 T2 2:38 R 2:50:09
6. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 8:11:21 S 53:30 T1 2:19 B 4:20:57 T2 2:44 R 2:51:54
7. Michael Weiss (AUT) 8:13:05 S 56:15 T1 2:53 B 4:15:59 T2 2:42 R 2:55:17
8. Sam Proctor (GBR) 8:14:17 S 52:12 T1 2:12 B 4:26:43 T2 2:54 R 2:50:18
9. Mauricio Mendez (MEX) 8:15:44 S 50:41 T1 2:21 B 4:30:31 T2 3:11 R 2:49:01
10. Pedro Gomes (PRT) 8:18:19 S 53:30 T1 2:37 B 4:27:14 T2 2:56 R 2:52:03