We Noticed: More from IRONMAN Lanzarote
Dylan Magnien takes his first IRONMAN title in Lanzarote. Photo: Club La Santa/ IRONMAN Lanzarote
In our race/ recap from IRONMAN Lanzarote we promised that we’d follow up with a few more stories and photos, so here you go. The exciting day of racing saw a spectacularly close men’s race (with Dylan Magnien taking his first IRONMAN title) and a dominating performance by Lucy Charles-Barclay, who posted the second fastest women’s time ever at IRONMAN Lanzarote, sitting between Anne Haug, who set a new course record last year, and Paula Newby-Fraser, who had held the course record for almost 30 years. So here’s what else we noticed from this year’s race:
Celebrating a Legend
Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
The man behind IRONMAN Lanzarote is Danish legend Kenneth Gasque. He was working at Club La Santa in the 80s and ended up competing at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona in 1985. He would return there in 1987. (He would eventually finish the race two more times.) He couldn’t help but think of how similar Kona and Lanzarote were, and was determined to put on an IRONMAN race in his new home. It took a few years, but in 1992 he managed to get an official IRONMAN race off and rolling, with 148 athletes taking to the water on May 30 of that year.
Over the years the race has become one of the most iconic IRONMAN events, and is now the third oldest existing race. Gasque’s contribution to the sport was honoured in 2019 when he was inducted into the IRONMAN Hall of Fame.
“Gasque’s personal touch became legendary as he made it a tradition to personally greet and congratulate every athlete who crossed the finish line, often staying well past 1 a.m,” IRONMAN wrote at the time. “His dedication and commitment to the sport have left an indelible mark, embodying the spirit of camaraderie and achievement that defines the IRONMAN community.”
The people of Lanzarote are equally as enamoured by Gasque’s contribution – earlier this year they erected a statue to celebrate his incredible achievements and contributions. Gasque is so popular that there was a long line up of athletes waiting to speak to him every day I walked by.
A Champ Returns
Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
The Netherlands Frank Heldoorn won IRONMAN Lanzarote twice (1994 and 1996). In 1995 and 1997 he took second – the first year behind German great Thomas Hellriegel, the second time behind three-time Kona champ Peter Reid. A couple of year’s ago Frank’s son Niek took second at IRONMAN Lanzarote. The elder Heldoorn decided that it would be fun to compete with Niek at the IRONMAN World Championship in France this year, so made a comeback to Lanzarote after not having competed in an IRONMAN for over 20 years.
The day turned out to be a bit of a struggle as Heldoorn was forced to walk the last 5 km of the run, but he still finished third in his age group, which was more than enough to nail a spot in Nice. We’ll look forward to the father-son team competing in France in September.
Charles-Barclay’s Kona Build
Photo: Club La Santa/ IRONMAN Lanzarote
Lucy Charles-Barclay certainly seemed to come out of the race in Lanzarote in good shape. She certainly didn’t appear to be much worse for wear after her impressive day, and now she appears set to spend the rest of the year honing her speed through T100 racing before she takes on another Kona build.
Charles-Barclay was the fastest in all three disciplines of Saturday’s race, including a 3:01 marathon split. Photo: Club La Santa/ IRONMAN Lanzarote
At the awards ceremony the 2023 IRONMAN world champ talked about how much fun she had out on the course on Saturday, which isn’t something you normally hear from people competing in what many consider the world’s toughest IRONMAN race. Now, she is a Club La Santa ambassador, so of course she’s going to say all that, but she has bounced back quickly from this race in year’s past, so it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to see this as a building block towards the rest of the season.
Merle Brunnee – Doctor/ Triathlete
Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
There were only three women in the pro race who swam under one hour. The next-closest to going under 60 minutes for the swim was Germany’s Merle Brunnee, who somehow manages to combine her career as a physician back in Germany with her pro triathlon gig. Brunnee finished the swim 13 minutes behind Charles-Barclay, but once she was on dry land last year’s Zofingen ( the World Long Distance Duathlon Championship) winner would come within 40 seconds of catching Jeanne Collonge for second.
Last year Brunnee managed to work her way from 32nd out of the water to 14th at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice and, after her finish on the weekend, she’ll have another shot at the worlds in Kona this October.
That is, of course, providing she can get more time off from her full-time gig in the neuro-radiology department of the University Hospital in Heidelberg. Brunnee started off as a runner, then got into cycling in 2018 and eventually took to triathlon as well, competing in her first pro race in 2023.
It Wouldn’t Be an IRONMAN Without …
Photo: Club La Santa/ IRONMAN Lanzarote
I didn’t get any names, but I can confirm that she said yes!
Finally … More Photos
We’ll round things out with a few more shots from Club La Santa/ IRONMAN Lanzarote:
The conditions were pretty good for the swim – the wind would really start to pick up once the athletes were out on the bike.
As always, there was lots of crowd support out on the run course to keep the athletes motivated.
OK – there wasn’t so much crowd support through the second half of the first loop of the run, which heads out by the airport, but at least there are some planes to keep things interesting.
Finish here, get this medal … and brag for the rest of your life.
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