Great Britain’s Chrissie Wellington celebrated a first-place title at the 30th anniversary of the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Defending her current World Championship title, Wellington finished more than ten minutes ahead of her fellow competitors at 9:06:23.
Despite mechanical trouble, Wellington took the women’s lead approximately 30 miles into the bike and eclipsed the current women’s run course record with a blistering marathon time of 2:57:44. Today’s third-place female, Sandra Wollenhorst, also broke the women’s run course record with a time of 2:58:35.
The top ten professional women’s results are as follows:
1. Chrissie Wellington, GBR 9:06:23
2. Yvonne Van Vlerken, NLD 9:21:20
3. Sandra Wallenhorst, DEU 9:22:52
4. Erika Csomor, HUN 9:24:49
5. Linsey Corbin, USA 9:28:51
6. Virginia Berasategui, ESP 9:29:15
7. Bella Comerford, GBR 9:34:08
8. Gina Ferguson, NZL 9:36:53
9. Gina Kehr, USA 9:37:06
10. Dede Griesbauer, USA 9:39:53
This year’s Timex Ironman Watch Bonuses, totaling $20,000, were awarded to:
Bike – Torbjorn Sindballe and Chrissie Wellington
Run – Normann Stadler and Chrissie Wellington
The event saw 1,731 athletes officially start the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run on the Big Island of Hawaii. NBC will air the 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship on December 13, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST. Please check your local listings for specific details.
