McMahon began his day with a 5th place 50:12 swim that was 12 seconds behind swim leader James Capparell, 7 seconds behind TJ Tollakson and 2 seconds behind Potts. After 100 miles of the bike leg, McMahon took over the lead from Tollakson. McMahon then hit T2 after a race-best 4:35:25 bike split which gave him a 1:06 lead on Tollakson and 1:42 on Potts.

McMahon took off like a streak and by mile 3 of the run had a 4 minutes lead on Potts and 5 minutes on Tollakson. Halfway through the marathon, McMahon had a 6:54 lead on Potts and a 26:14 lead on Justin Daerr as Tollakson fell out of the top 10.

After 20 miles, Potts was 14 minutes off the pace and falling. After a race-best 2:43:40 run, McMahon finished in 8:13:53 with his remaining rivals a virtual time zone behind.

While McMahon's overall time may not compare with his four sub-8 hour performances, considering the difficulty of the course, his performance at Lake Placid is revealed to be an extraordinary achievement.

Still at the peak of his powers in 2004, five-time ITU World Champion Simon Lessing set the Ironman Lake Placid race record of 8:23:12 and the run record of 2:46:39. In the intervening 12 years, no one has come close. On Sunday, McMahon broke Lessing's race record by 9 minutes and 19 seconds. On a rather hilly run course, McMahon topped Lessing's impressive marathon by precisely 3 minutes.

McMahon’s stated goal was to cinch a Kona qualifying spot, which he did handily. After two Olympic appearances, a Pan Am Games silver and bronze, and four sub-8 hour Ironman performances highlighted by his 7:46:10 at the 2016 Ironman Brazil, McMahon’s prime goal is to finally perform to his ability on the Big Island.