Just three weeks after strong finishes at the Ironman World Championship at Kona, Joe Skipper of Great Britain smashed the Ironman Florida race record with a 7:46:28 performance that gave him a 2:01 margin of victory over Ben Hoffman of the U.S.

Skipper’s finish was 5:45 under Victor Del Corral’s 2013 race record of 7:52:13.

Skipper’s win comes three weeks after his 6th place finish at Kona and Hoffman’s runner-up at Panama City Beach comes after a 4th place finish at Kona.

Ironman Florida was a Pro Men only race with a $50,000 total purse. Ironman Arizona will hold a Pro Women only race with a $50,000 purse later this month.

In a day of multiple records, Andrew Starykowicz of the U.S. rode a record 4:01:19 bike split on his way to third place, 10:04 behind the winner and 3:26 under the 8-hour mark.

Hoffman broke the race run record with a sizzling 2:36:09 marathon, which was 1:20 under the Ironman Florida record. Skipper also posted an impressive 2:39:01 marathon.

Race Recap

Skipper started his day with a 19th-best swim that put him 6:21 behind swim leader Alexander Berggren of Sweden and 6 minutes behind eventual race rival Hoffman.

After 12.5 miles, of the bike leg, Berggren held an 8 seconds lead on Jesper Svensson of Sweden, 9 seconds on Johan Ackermann of New Zealand, 13 seconds on Hoffman, and 32 seconds on Starykowicz.

After 30 miles, Svensson and Starykowicz broke away by 1:48 over Ackermann, 2:58 on Hoffman, 5:02 on Denis Chevrot of France, 5:05 on Berggren, 5:16 on Justin Metzler of the U.S., 5:18 on Ruedi Wild of Switzerland and 5:34 on Skipper.

By 68 miles into the bike leg, Starykowicz turned on his usual afterburners and opened a 42 seconds lead on Svensson, 5:08 on Skipper, 6:59 on Ackermann, 9:14 on Metzler, and 9:16 to 8:25 on a group that including Metzler, Hoffman, Chevrot and Wild.

After 100 miles, Starykowicz increased his lead to 4:37 on Svensson, 7:04 on Skipper, 12:45 to 12:53 on Chevrot, Metzler, Wild and Hoffman.

After a race record 4:01:19 bike split, Starykowicz led the field into T2 by 6:13 on Svensson and 9:17 on Skipper.

While his lead was substantial, Starykowicz’s personal best Ironman marathon of 2:55 looked doomed when trying to fend off the onslaught of low 2:40 Ironman marathoners Skipper and Hoffmann.

After 9 miles of the run, Jesper Svensson sliced his deficit to Starykowicz to 5:27, followed by Skipper (+5:28), Hoffman (+7:59), Metzler (+10:22), Chevrot (+11:21) and Ruedi Wild (+13:41).

Through 14 miles, Starykowicz hung stubbornly to a 2:17 lead on Skipper, 4:45 on Hoffman, 6:58 on Svensson and 9:36 on Metzler and Chevrot.

At Mile 17, Skipper made the pass on Starykowicz while Hoffman slowly reduced his deficit to 2:26. By Mile 19.4, Skipper opened a 2:11 lead on Hoffman, who passed and led Starky by 34 seconds.

After a second-best 2:39:01 run, Skipper finished in 7:46:28 with a 2:01 margin of victory over Hoffman, who posted the race record 2:36:09 marathon. Starykowicz held in to 3rd place with an estimable 2:58:36 run split that brought him to the line in 7:56:32.

Denis Chevrot ran 2:49:50 to take 4th place, 5:50 behind Starykowicz. Ruedi Wild ran 2:49:09 to finish 5th, 59 seconds behind Chevrot. Justin Metzler of the U.S. ran 2:51:26 to finish 6th, 1:32 behind Wild and Tyler Butterfield of Bermuda ran 2:42:58 to finish 7th, 1:45 behind Metzler.

Ironman Florida
Panama City Beach, Florida
November 2, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Joe Skipper (GBR) 7:46:28 S 54:18 T1 4:32 B 4:05:51 T2 2:48 R 2:39:01
2. Ben Hoffman (USA) 7:48:29 S 49:08 T1 3:43 B 4:17:15 T2 2:15 R 2:36:09
3. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 7:56:32 S 50:55 T2 3:10 B 4:01:19 T2 2:34 R 2:58:36
4. Denis Chevrot (FRA) 8:02:22 S 50:42 T1 3:14 B 4:16:13 T2 2:25 R 2:49:50
5. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 8:03:21 S 51:35 T1 2:54 B 4:17:15 T2 2:30 R 2:49:09
6. Justin Metzler (USA) 8:03:53 S 50:36 T1 2:51 B 4:16:49 T2 2:14 R 2:51:26
7. Tyler Butterfield (BER) 53:00 T1 3:18 B 4:21:42 T2 4:42 R 2:42:58
8. Jesper Svensson (SWE) 8:07:02 S 49:05 T1 3:13 B 4:09:18 T2 2:14 R 3:03:14
9. Raul Tejada (GUA) 8:08:55 S 53:37 T1 3:36 B 4:22:51 T2 2:22 R 2:46:31
10. Pedro Gomes (POR) 8:11:06 S 53:02 T1 3:12 B 4:23:42 T2 2:12 R 2:49:00