Cameron Brown: Ironman World Championships Recap

Aloha from Hawaii -

“The 40th KONA Ironman World Championships turned out to be a record setting day with light winds and cooler temperatures on the bike ride, but as always, an extremely hot run!”

“The 3.8km swim is one of the best in the sport with 27°C temps, clear water and plenty of fish watching along the way! I knew I needed to get off the start line fast, but I struggled early on and found myself at the back of the 3rd pack. I swam comfortably, but it was not a nice feeling exiting the water some 6mins behind the leaders. Once onto the bike, I was in no-man’s-land for the first 20km and riding by myself, but I was eventually caught by Matt Hansen and we then moved up the field to join kiwi Callum Millward and Switzerland's Ronnie Schildknecht. The boys up the front were flying as Australian Cam Wurf surged to the front to hold a 5min lead off the bike. I came off in 44th place and with my favored leg [the run] still to come, I was hopeful I could gain some time and places back.” 

“The first stage of the run went well as I started picking off athletes in front of me one by one and was running at 2:44hr marathon pace. After 23km of running along the Queek K' highway, we made the turn into the Energy Lab. This is where the race really starts to heat up and temperatures were hovering around 40°C! Everyone was starting to fade and so was I! The hill out of the Energy Lab is not steep, but with the wind at your back it feels like a mountain. I had to stop to dunk my head in a bucket of ice as my core temperature was very high and it felt like I was about to explode if I didn't cool myself down quickly. After that I felt a little better and once we got onto the Queen K for the final 10km to town, I just gave it one last push. I was able to pass another 10 athletes and managed to finish in 22nd position overall. It was not a great day, but fairly good for a 46yr old and only 6mins slower than my fastest ever time on the island (8:19hr in 2005 when I finished 2nd). This day was so much faster than any I have ever experienced and I just need to keep working on my swim starts!

Hawaiian Ironman World Championships
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
October 13, 2018
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi

Pro Men:
1. Patrick Lange (DEU): 7:52:30 (52:42; 4:16:05; 2:41:32)
2. Bart Aernouts (BEL): 7:56:41 (54:07; 4:12:26; 2:45:42)
3. David McNamee (GBR): 8:01:09 (49:31; 4:21:19; 2:46:03)
4. Tim O'Donnell (USA): 8:03:17 (47:45; 4:18:46; 2:52:34)
5. Braden Currie (NZL): 8:04:41 (49:28; 4:17:18; 2:53:39)
6. Matt Russell (USA): 8:04:45 (2:52:57)
7. Joe Skipper (GBR): 8:05:54 (2:54:16)
8. Andy Potts (USA): 8:09:34 (2:56:27)
9. Cameron Wurf (AUS): 8:10:32 (3:06:19)
10. Michael Weiss (AUT): 8:11:04 (3:00:03)
...
22. Cameron Brown 8:25:30