Jordan Rapp and Mary Beth Ellis win inaugural Ironman New York

Jordan Rapp won the inaugural Ironman New York with a dominating bike /run combo. The New York run was tough and only Rapp went under three hours. This run saw many of the athletes falter and some like Trevor Wurtle capitalise on others struggles. Wurtle ran past a number of guys on his way to [&hel

Jordan Rapp and Mary Beth Ellis win inaugural Ironman New York
Jordan Rapp – Photo Credit: Zoot Sports

Jordan Rapp won the inaugural Ironman New York with a dominating bike /run combo. The New York run was tough and only Rapp went under three hours. This run saw many of the athletes falter and some like Trevor Wurtle capitalise on others struggles. Wurtle ran past a number of guys on his way to a great finish.

Results and splits below article…

Jordan Rapp trailed Australia Paul Ambrose for a majority of the bike leg and made his move with around 32kms to go. Once he was away there was going to be no stopping him today. Like he did in Texas in May his bike / run combo got him the win. He had the fastest run at Texas with a 2:46 and his 2:59 today was also the fastest. Unlike Texas today Rapp was right up there on the swim with just under two minutes separating him from the leaders. Texas saw him almost 5min back after the swim.

Maxim Kriat was second and Jozsef Major was third. Although Jordan Rapp finished almost 14 minute ahead of second placed Kriat.

Paul Ambrose raced hard as he always does and may have paid for it on the run today. He knows that a big gap at the end of the bike is needed and he never fails to give it a crack. It worked at Ironman Australia this year when he put himself in to an unbeatable position by the start of the run with a faster Tim Berkel chasing him. Ambrose finished 16th in New York with a very fast swim / bike combo but on the run lost some ground coming in with a 3:44 marathon.

Ambrose liked the new course even though it was a ‘logistical nightmare’. “Though we had some assistance from the current, the swim was bang on 3.8km and we didn’t swim it easy. The swim started with a dive off a 4 foot pontoon straight into the Hudson River which was surprisingly clean.” Ambrose posted one of the fastest ever swim times with a 39:12 along with Luke Bell, Timothy Marr and Michael Lovato.

The bike course was liked by most and Ambrose relished the speed of the course. “It was a fast undulating course that was completely closed off to traffic.   The bike / run were both extremely hot due mostly to the humidity. The run especially was really hilly for the first 14 miles then flattened out for a straight shot to Manhattan from New Jersey where most of the race was held. ”

Kona has not been on Ambrose’s radar this year ‘as I can’t think of another Ironman before doing an Ironman, too much to comprehend’. At the moment he sits just outside the top 50 but could get a roll down spot. “Kona was more a goal for me in 2013 as three Ironman races in one year is a big ask.”

Ambrose is back in Boulder Colorado until October.   “I will now rest for a few weeks, and try and have a quick turn around for the 70.3 world champs in Vegas. With the Australian 70.3 pro champs in Mandurah I may turn my focus on that.” If Ambrose has a crack at Mandurah he could become the dual Australian 70.3 and Ironman champion.

Luke Bell was the best placed Australian male in New York in 9th place. He was the early leader out of the water and put n a solid bike leg but couldn’t match the likes of Tollakson and Rapp who were 6 and 11 mins faster repsectively. His swim time of 39:08 was officially the fastest on the day and he followed it up with a 5:37 bike and 3:18 run.

Chris McDonald finished right behind Bell with a 5min faster run getting him to within almost two minutes behind Bell.

In the women’s race Mary Beth Ellis hit the run behind Amy Marsh after Marsh put the pressure on at the end of the bike and got out on to the run around a minute ahead of Ellis. Although today 1min was nowhere near enough. Ellis ran a 3:14 marathon almost 14 minutes faster than Marsh.

The big news for Australia was that Rebekah Keat finished 2nd overall after she lost quite a bit of ground to the two initial leaders on the bike. At one stage Keat was catching Marsh and Ellis but lost time in the later stages of the bike. “I had an ok swim but exited a little under 1min down in 5th. I tried to pull Amy (Marsh) and MB (Mary Beth Ellis) back on the bike and got within 30seconds on the first 45km but realised it was a little too hard so backed off.”

Keat started the run over nine minutes down on the two leaders and set about putting in a great run to get past Marsh but could not catch Ellis who was over one minute faster for the marathon. “I felt okay coming off the bike with a deficit I knew I had to run well. Catching MB was going to be very hard but I thought maybe a chance I would run into 2nd”

“It was a very tough run! Extremely hilly and undulating and to make it tougher the heat and humidity meant very slow run times.”

Keat had not originally planned to race NY but after Cairns she had to find another race to qualify for Kona. “I was hoping to have a great race at IM Cairns, possibly win and qualify early for Kona. I tore my calf leading that race and had to pull out. This meant I had only 4 weeks of running undery belt!.”

Keat heads back to Santa Monica in LA to train with ‘my amazing coach Siri Lindley’ and has no more races until Hawaii. “I will prepare in LA and get everything right for Kona.”

New Zealand’s Michelle Bremer was 6th overall and had a consistent race across all three stages.

Ironman Australia champion Michelle Mitchell had mechanical issues on her bike for most for the day but hung in there to run a 3:22 and place well at 8th in the women’s field. “I was disappointed to have mechanical issues in the race as I have been focusing on riding. It was mentally draining to deal with that so I had to wait for the run to have a crack.

As mentioned previously the run was tough and Mitchell felt it as well. “The run was the hardest marathon I have done, not a step of flat ground for about 25km, then when it was flat into a headwind which was a bit demoralising.” It seems one of the only puses on the run was the the massive crowds. “The atmosphere coming off the bridge meant my ‘smile’ was bigger than ever. The race itself on paper looked like a logistical nightmare but Ironman did it really well and everything ran very smoothly”

Michelle now heads back to Boulder to focus back on training.

Disappointment for two Australians today as Christie Sym crashed on the bike and was pulled out of the run by race officials with suspected concussion and a dislocated shoulder. Sym was well placed after the bike though but was not going to finish due to her injuries. Sym was gutted as this was her first Ironman where everything felt perfect. Under coach Brett Sutton she finally feels that things are starting to come together. After struggling to over come fatigue type issues in the last two years and having her gall bladder removed earlier this year her performances are starting to show her potential.

Kate Bevilaqua also did not finish. After the race she was very disappointed. “Totally gutted!! DNF IMNNY! My body hates me at the moment, maybe it’s time I listened to it! Tough to admit there maybe something wrong!” Kate had a solid swim and a good bike.

Div. Overall Name Country Swim Bike Run Finish
1 1 Rapp, Jordan USA 0:41:45 4:26:34 2:59:21 8:11:18
2 2 Kriat, Maxim USA 0:41:04 4:35:55 3:04:15 8:24:32
3 3 Major, Jozsef USA 0:43:47 4:33:09 3:06:12 8:27:00
4 4 Wurtele, Trevor CAN 0:43:38 4:40:03 3:01:21 8:29:20
5 5 Thomschke, Markus GER 0:42:40 4:33:52 3:09:20 8:30:02
6 6 Tollakson, Tj USA 0:39:15 4:31:54 3:18:16 8:33:01
7 7 Jammaer, Bert BEL 0:41:02 4:36:03 3:14:25 8:34:59
8 8 Gomes, Pedro PRT 0:42:37 4:41:05 3:11:01 8:38:40
9 9 Bell, Luke AUS 0:39:08 4:37:54 3:18:52 8:39:20
10 10 Mcdonald, Chris AUS 0:43:34 4:40:37 3:13:39 8:41:30
11 11 Brader, Christian GER 0:43:44 4:32:44 3:23:58 8:42:08
12 12 Schifferle, Mike SWI 0:45:48 4:45:40 3:06:56 8:45:02
13 13 Lovato, Michael USA 0:40:02 4:55:11 3:06:15 8:46:32
14 14 Wetzel, Michael GER 0:45:07 4:52:58 3:09:40 8:51:26
15 15 Twelsiek, Maik USA 0:41:01 4:35:46 3:33:12 8:54:20
16 16 Ambrose, Paul AUS 0:39:12 4:31:56 3:44:31 8:58:59
17 18 Taddonio, Kevin USA 0:47:53 4:47:58 3:22:00 9:02:52
18 19 Marr, Timothy USA 0:39:11 4:37:59 3:44:42 9:05:27
1 20 Hovda, Allan NOR 0:44:22 4:55:12 3:28:10 9:12:37
Div. Overall Name Country Swim Bike Run Finish
1 17 Ellis, Mary Beth USA 0:40:33 5:04:03 3:14:32 9:02:48
2 21 Keat, Rebekah AUS 0:41:34 5:11:41 3:15:43 9:13:24
3 23 Marsh, Amy USA 0:40:35 5:03:01 3:28:25 9:15:57
4 34 Piampiano, Sarah USA 0:47:14 5:10:49 3:28:29 9:30:29
5 36 Kozulina, Tamara USA 0:47:23 5:19:02 3:22:27 9:33:23
6 43 Bremer, Michelle NZL 0:45:10 5:13:54 3:32:35 9:36:11
7 50 Cooper-Scott, Haley USA 0:47:17 5:11:11 3:41:53 9:44:17
8 51 Mitchell, Michelle AUS 0:42:59 5:35:24 3:22:50 9:45:42
9 57 Gordon, Jacqui USA 0:45:33 5:23:28 3:35:50 9:48:58
10 58 Wassner, Laurel USA 0:40:36 5:45:28 3:16:32 9:49:24
1 60 Goffredo, Kendra USA 0:47:08 5:24:19 3:31:52 9:50:00
11 64 Andrews, Kristin USA 0:47:26 5:35:37 3:22:52 9:50:40
12 72 Gollnick, Heather USA 0:43:18 5:24:40 3:43:03 9:57:44
13 81 Pekerman, Nina ISR 0:45:37 5:28:52 3:42:33 10:01:47
14 83 Newcomer, Meghan USA 0:45:13 5:34:48 3:38:58 10:03:14
15 102 biscay, hillary USA 0:41:33 5:33:11 3:51:56 10:11:40
2 117 Roberts, Leah USA 0:44:22 5:44:46 3:44:55 10:19:47
3 119 Sass, Kirsten USA 0:44:23 5:25:37 4:05:24 10:20:28
1 127 Grosse, Carmen SWI 0:41:00 5:40:09 3:56:34 10:24:02
1 139 Komaromy, Suzanne USA 0:52:03 5:25:31 4:02:34 10:28:27