Viktor Zyemtsev of Ukraine won his 12th Ironman-distance title and Danielle Mack won her second Ironman with late race passes on a bracingly cool and rainy day at Ironman Canada in Whistler.

Zyemtsev overcame a 4:42 deficit on the swim and 6:15 after the bike leg with a race-best 2:54:29 run, to finish in 8:49:46 and edge out long-time race leader Kyle Buckingham of South Africa by 44 seconds. Zyemtsev ran up to Buckingham at 29 kilometers into the run, then the duo ran together until Zyemtsev surged away at with 3 kilometers to go and Buckingham could not respond. Justin Daerr of the U.S. took the final spot on the podium, 4:15 behind Buckingham.

In her first try at Ironman, three-time XTERRA World Champion Melanie McQuaid overcame a 3:38 deficit after the swim with a women’s best 5:22:43 bike split, giving her a 5 and a half minutes lead over Jessica Fleming of Australia and Danielle Mack of the U.S. at T2. On her way to a women’s 2nd-fastest 3:16:09 run, Mack trailed McQuaid by as much as 6:33 after 13km of the run. Then Mack, with the patience of an Ironman veteran, whittled down the deficit to the Ironman rookie to 4:40 at 25km and 3:08 at 33km.

On her way to a closing 3:23:44 run, McQuaid held on to her lead until 2km to go, when Mack powered past and established a 2:04 margin of victory at the finish. Canadian Jen Annett closed fast with a women's-best 3:16:03 run to take 3rd, 8:47 behind the winner.

Ironman Canada
Whistler, B.C., Canada
July 26, 2015
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 8:49:46
2. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 8:50:30
3. Justin Daerr (USA) 8:54:45
4. Derek Garcia (USA) 9:02:55
5. Chris McDonald (AUS) 9:08:45
6. Nathan Killam (CAN) 9:14:34
7. Matt Russell (USA) 9:22:39
8. Swen Sundberg (GER) 9:25:10
9. Cameron Wurf (AUS) 9:26:27) * M30-34
10. Christopher Coble (USA) 9:32:02 * M30-34

Women

1. Danielle Mack (USA) 9:46:19
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 9:48:23
3. Jen Annett (CAN) 9:55:06
4. Mackenzie Madison (USA) 9:59:34
5. Jessica Fleming (AUS) 10:00:18
6. Jessie Donavan (USA) 10:04:40
7. Cheryl Orlovsky (CAN) 10:07:07
8. Kelly Fillnow (USA) 10:11:17
9. Laurel Wassner (USA)10:12:52
10. Caitlin Snow (USA) 10:17:42