Uli Bromme claims first Ironman victory at Ironman Canada

Uli Bromme (USA) came-from-behind to capture her first-ever IRONMAN title in the postcard beautiful setting of Subaru IRONMAN Canada.

Wurtele a British Columbia native won in front of his home crowd with a finish time of 8:39:33 while Bromme earned her first win with a time of 9:28:13.

In the women’s race, Christina Jackson (USA), Christine Anderson (USA) and Keiko Tanaka (JPN) exited the swim and headed to their bike within six seconds of each other. Race favorites Uli Bromme (USA) and Lisa Ribes (USA) dug themselves an early hole as both were sitting almost eight minutes back of the leading trio of women.

Early on the bike, Anderson and Tanaka exchanged leads as Bromme was storming towards the front of the race. Bromme powered her way to the lead before the first half of the bike was completed and managed to carry a seven minute advantage over Anderson and Fletcher at the conclusion of the 112 mile ride.

Out on the run, Bromme dominated the field as she powered her way over the gorgeous two-loop run course. Bromme was never pressured over the 26 miles as she ran her way to win the Subaru IRONMAN Canada title with a time of 9:28:13. Ribes ran her way into second and recorded a 09:38:34 finish time, while Gillian Moody (USA) finished on the podium with a 9:49:09 clocking.

Top five professional women’s results are below:

1.     Uli Bromme                          USA                   09:28:13
2.     Lisa Ribes                            USA                   09:38:34
3.     Gillian Moody                       CAN                   09:49:09
4.     Christine Fletcher                  CAN                   09:56:45
5.     Christine Anderson                USA                   10:01:59

One of more than 30 events in the global IRONMAN Series, Subaru IRONMAN Canada featured a two-loop, 2.4-mile swim in the clean shallow waters of Alta Lake at Rainbow Park. Athletes enjoyed a lakeside transition before starting a one-loop 112-mile bike course that traveled south on the Sea-to-Sky Highway before climbing into the Callaghan Valley, site of the Nordic skiing events during the 2010 Winter Olympics. After descending back to the highway, athletes passed through Whistler on their way north to Pemberton. An out-and-back section allowed athletes breathtakingly beautiful views of glaciated peaks, while racing on a completely flat section of road. Athletes returned to Whistler via the Sea-to-Sky Highway over rolling terrain. The two-loop run course followed the Valley Trail past Lost Lake and Green Lake allowing an enthusiastic crowd of spectators to reinvigorate athletes at Whistler Village before finishing adjacent to the Olympic Plaza. The event offered a total professional prize purse of $75,000 and 100 coveted slots to the 2013 IRONMAN World Championship, taking place on Oct. 12 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i.