From the gun German pride violently asserted itself. Nina Kraft, winner of the race in Roth the past two years and second in Hawaii last year, paced over the 3.8k swim in 49:29, the only woman under 50 minutes and over two minutes ahead of the next woman, fellow German Nina Fischer. This was not a good sign for Canadian Lori Bowden, winner of every ironman she has entered for the last five years except the world championships, as Kraft is known for a strong bike. Bowden left the lake fourth, over six minutes behind Kraft and two minutes down on defending champion Schumacher of Germany.
The bike course takes in much of urban Frankfurt at the ends of each loop, with the bulk of the 180 kilometers rolling through small towns and countryside, as well as the industrial belt, on the outskirts of the city. The course is somewhat technical and fast, and gains nearly 1,000 meters in altitude over the twin loops. Free of her wetsuit and onto the roads, Kraft refused to give anything back to her pursuers. Behind her the leaderboard was in flux, but ahead the open roads teemed with spectators, cheerleaders, bands, and curious onlookers caught up in the excitement. (Interesting sidenote: Race director Kurt Denk apparently likes to play with the spectator estimates; initial guesses of around 100,000 people had ballooned to 300,000 by the conclusion of the event - given that greater Frankfurt has fewer than a million people, one might find this a curious number.)
By the halfway dip through old-town Frankfurt, Kraft's lead had swelled to ten minutes over Bowden, who had recovered from an early pass by Schumacher. Fischer had also gone by the fading Schumacher, and was riding steadily a few minutes back of Bowden.
On the second loop Kraft would continue to stamp through the kilometers and pad her lead. Fischer ran into some difficulties and began dropping back. The biggest surprise of the day, however, was in the midst of a phenomenal ride of her own and gradually overcoming the worst swim split of the pro women (1:01). German Tina Baker, a mother of four and this year's Powerman Germany champ, came through with the second-swiftest bike to vault her into third, within sight of Bowden.
Would Bowden be able to reel in Kraft? If anyone in the sport could, it would be the fleet-footed Canadian, owner of several sub-3 hour marathons in ironman competition. But in the first ten kilometers the unthinkable occurred - Bowden was passed by Baker and Kraft actually increased her lead! Take heart, gentle readers, the world was not falling off its axis; Bowden picked up the legs and reclaimed second position half a kilometer later. But Kraft's runspeed was real - the time back to Bowden grew to 17 minutes halfway through the 42k and topped at 19 minutes by the finish.
The overwhelming German swept into the packed square in the old town of Frankfurt to the absolute delight of thousands of triathlon fans; amongst the ghosts of kings and emperors she crossed the line in 9:03:11, fastest women's ironman thus far this year. The dominance was total: fastest in the swim (49:29), bike (5:03:20), and run (3:07:17) against some of the strongest competition in the world.
"I am happy with today's result, and I am looking forward to going faster in Hawaii," said Kraft, already looking ahead to a showdown with Switzerland's Natascha Badmann in Kona. Bowden was diplomatic but disappointed: "I knew Nina would have great speed because she's a fantastic athlete, but today was a lot slower for me than I thought. I figured I'd be faster than I was."
Bowden came across the line with the second-fastest run in 3:10 to hold off upstart Walter, third in 9:27:48. Walter had turned in a blazing bike to claw her way from seventh to nearly second, splitting 5:06 which, when compared to Kraft's 5:03, becomes even more impressive. Schumacher stroked to a third out of the water but struggled on the bike and faded badly on the run, crossing the line fifth in 9:51.
Lining up to challenge the Germans were the second and third finishers in Hawaii from last year, Peter Reid of Canada and Cameron Brown of New Zealand. Brown already had a win under his belt from Ironman New Zealand in March, his second in a row, and Reid arrived with a new bike and hopes that his pre-Hawaii frustrations were behind him. Would Thomas Hellriegel win his first ironman in Germany to complement his May victory in Lanzarote? Would Jürgen Zäck will his 37-year-old body to the finish line as champion for the sixth time of Ironman Europe/Germany? We were set for a showdown.
But before the bicycle boys would get busy the massive crowd was treated to a swim clinic put on by Jan Sibbersen of Germany. Sibbersen, a cum laude economics graduate of Harvard University and holder of the swim course record from last year, set his sights on a new record this year and left everyone else behind. Sibbersen breathes every stroke and has somewhat of a lopsided freestyle, but the non-textbook style didn't prevent him from exiting the Langener Waldsee in 44:29, good for a new record and four and a half minutes ahead of #2, Ralf Eggert of Germany.
Were the swim a more substantial part of ironman competition, we might be lauding the German as winner Sunday because it took the big names 80 kilometers to pull him back. Sibbersen would finish the day 20th, holding his own through the bike (4:55) but fading on the run (3:30).
But with names like Hellriegel, Reid, and Zäck in the field you have some horsepower on display for 180k. By the time Sibbersen was caught a group of five had formed at the front of the course: Germans Stefan Holzner and Hellriegel took the helm and Brown, Reid, and Steffen Liebetrau of Germany took their turns in third, fourth, and fifth. Over the three climbs they rolled, Hellriegel unable to pull away as is his custom and Holzner showing surprising strength in the lead. Hellriegel appeared frustrated and rumors of tiredness following Lanzarote may have been true.
On the first climb over "The Hell," a rumbling stretch of cobbles spanning one kilometer through the town of Hochstadt, disaster befell Cameron Brown; his cache of food aboard the bike couldn't withstand the jouncing and everything fell to the ground. Choosing not to stop, Brown would continue without nourishment into T2 and it would play a large role in his energy throughout the marathon.
The front five danced in step until the second climb up "The Beast," where a German attacked. Was it Hellriegel finally ready to shed the field? Unbelievably it was Holzner, the '95 and '96 winner of IM New Zealand and '98 champion of IM Austria. At the top of "The Hell" he had already gained 31 seconds; by T2 the gap was more than five minutes. Brown dropped off the express train with 18k to go, possibly a result of gnawing hunger, and would come into transition a minute back of Hellriegel, Reid, and Liebetrau. Zäck had come out of the lake 11th but commenced a steady progression upwards; by T2 he was accompanying countryman Normann Stadler five minutes behind Brown.
Holzner is a solid athlete but Brown is a consistent force on the run; with eight minutes separating him from the front there was reason to believe he might be able to dethrone the Germans. A television crew from TV3 in New Zealand was nearly wetting its pants with glee; their boy was in position and poised to strike.
The first to throw down a challenge would be Reid, however--a man who outran the Germans in Hawaii in 1998 to win his first world title and outran Brown in Hawaii last year to take second. Reid had the gap down below three minutes by 10k, and Brown was just seven seconds behind Hellriegel. The Germans were lined up for toppling... or so it appeared.
Through the final 32k Holzner found a rhythm and thwarted the heat, completing the day's fifth-fastest marathon (2:54) for his first Ironman Germany victory. Reid perhaps pushed too hard in the early going; he would hold on for fourth, just 33 seconds ahead of Hellriegel. Brown's vaunted run was subdued by the loss of his food stash on the bike, and he would later admit to being obliterated over the final 10k. Still, he heroically managed the second-fastest split (2:49) and passed Hellriegel, Reid, and Liebetrau to take second, 3:22 behind Holzner. He would say that the recent birth of his second child, Joshua, had kept him going.
Who galloped his way to the fastest marathon of the day? None other than Zäck, looking as svelte and swift as ever in 2:48. The man with the crushing bike had made the podium on the run. Behind the Big Five Stadler finally found the finish line after four consecutive DNFs, taking sixth but disappointed with the effort - his first words upon crossing the tape are not printable in a family publication.
Late in the day at the concluding press conference, Reid confirmed that he had spent his ammunition early in the run but was quick to credit Holzner for a worthy victory. "I gave it a good shot, I definitely attacked for the win today, but it backfired," he recalled. "I had a lot of trouble the last 12 km on the run... I wanted to win, I raced to win, it didn't happen. There was someone out there who was on fire today, and no one was going to beat him. I congratulate Stefan on a great race."
The race itself was widely criticized for poor organization and attempts to cripple Germany's other major ironman distance race, the Quelle Challenge Roth, held a week earlier. The pre-race press conference was scheduled in Frankfurt for the same time and date as the pre-race press conference in Roth, more than a week ahead of the competition. According to Annette Schenk, media liaison, this was done intentionally to woo the German press to the exclusion of the international media gathered in Roth. Additionally, some of the 1,300 competitors just barely made it to the start on time, as logistical planning had failed to take into account the limited access to the lake for the buses of athletes arriving from Frankfurt, 12 kilometers to the north.
Thankfully, inspiring athletes took the focus away from the organizational mess and put it back on the competition. The Germans have defended Roth and IM Germany for another year. The challengers keep coming, but so far no key has gotten them in the door.