Joyce and Blatchford take silver and bronze in Hawaii
Great British success in the women's pro race, won by Mirinda Carfrae
Updated: Great Britain’s Rachel Joyce and Liz Blatchford came second and third respectively in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii a few hours ago, while Australia’s Mirinda Carfrae won it in a new course record.
Carfrae, 32, finished in 8:52:14 – nearly two minutes faster than Chrissie Wellington’s best-ever time of 8:54:02. The Australian entered T2 eight minutes behind race leader Meredith Kessler, before setting off at a blistering pace to achieve a run new course record of 2:50:38.
Joyce came second with an overall time of 8:57:28, becoming only the fourth woman ever to post a sub-nine hours time in Hawaii. “I’m delighted with second because I gave it everything, and when you do that you can’t ask for any more,” she said at the finish line.
Blatchford came in third with a time of 9:03:35, while defending champion and fellow Brit Leanda Cave came 13th in 9:25:07. Jodie Swallow did not finish. Blatchford said in her post-race interview that it was “probably the deepest I ever had to dig in any race”.
The men’s race was won by Belgium’s Frederik Van Lierde in 8:12:29, followed by Luke McKenzie (AUS) in 8:15:19. Germany’s Sebastian Kienle came third in 8:19:25.
The top-placing British male pro was Paul Amey who came in 18th in 8:39:20, while Dan Halksworth placed 31st in his first visit to Kona with 8:49:33.
What were your favourite moments of this year’s race? Tell us in the comments box below!
Jamie Beach
Former digital editor 
