I went up to Taupo to support BeanCycling mate Soren Hall in his IronMan event. Missed last year’s event and was looking forward to seeing what an IronMan event is really like!
We planned to get there in time to see the Transition from the swim to the bike, but a truck crash in the Desert Road had us detoured round the Ohakune side and when we got to Taupo Soren was already on the bike.
Conditions were good (mild temp and light winds), except for the pissing down rain… which lasted all day!
The Swim…
1:03:40 (1:40/100m)
Not much to say about that because I missed it!
The Bike Ride…
5:26:46 (33.1 km/h average, 180km)
Not much to see initially until the Elite entrants flashed by down Spa Rd. Then a wait to see a flash of Soren. He was gone before I could even get the camera focussed!
Then we went and waited on the other side of town part way into his second lap. Not long to wait and he came through looking pretty good… 
Thanks to Nev & Raewyn’s advance planning, we were able to sit in the comfort of their campervan right next to the end of the ride.
When he came through, we were waiting at the transition… Pretty impressed that he got off the bike and ran straight up the chute…
The Run…
3:32:48 (42km, average 12km/h)
He did a 2:30 transition and was so fast that we completely missed the start of the run… nothing to do with the wine Nev and Raewyn put on!
Supporting your mates is tough work!
Saw Ken Young come through the transition
With the online tracking system we could see that Soren was doing a scorcher, although he was slowing a bit with each split time
Nothing to do but wait…
Then he was into the last 100m
Come On Crowd!!!
I think someone else stole your chance to run thru the finish tape!!! Hands up anyway!!
“Soren Hall – You’re an IronMan”
Fantastic effort Soren!!! Overall 10:13:10
The elites were amazing… finishing 2 hours faster… how is that humanly possible?
I was surprised by the build of the faster IronMen, very big and strong upper body. I guess I’ve been hanging out at cycling events with the skinny boys too much!!!
Most interesting though, and most impressive were the “ordinary types” doing the IronMan in 15hours, 16hours or more. I saw people starting the marathon barely able to walk and grimacing in pain. When we left Taupo as the sun went down, there were people just starting the marathon. At the Mobil Station by the start of the Napier Taupo road, we stopped for petrol and were stunned to see a marathon runner, presumably starting the second half, call in and buy a pie!!! Whatever gets you there!!!
Soren HALL
| BIB | AGE | STATE/COUNTRY | PROFESSION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 623 | 38 | Palmerston North Taupo New Zealand | Army Medical Officer |
| SWIM | BIKE | RUN | OVERALL | RANK | DIV.POS. |
| 1:03:40 | 5:26:46 | 3:32:48 | 10:13:10 | 179 | 35 |
| LEG | DISTANCE | PACE | RANK | DIV.POS. |
| TOTAL SWIM | 2.4 mi. (1:03:40) | 1:40/100m | 420 | 90 |
| BIKE SPLIT 1: 28 mi | 28 mi (1:21:32) | 20.61 mph | ||
| BIKE SPLIT 2: 56 mi | 28 mi (1:11:21) | 23.55 mph | ||
| BIKE SPLIT 3: 84 mi | 28 mi (2:53:53) | 9.66 mph | ||
| TOTAL BIKE | 112 mi (5:26:46) | 20.57 mph | 283 | 59 |
| RUN SPLIT 1: 6.5 mi | 6.5 mi (47:05) | 8.28 mph | ||
| RUN SPLIT 2: 13 mi | 6.5 mi (49:50) | 7.83 mph | ||
| RUN SPLIT 3: 19.5 mi | 6.5 mi (56:15) | 6.93 mph | ||
| RUN SPLIT 4: 26.1 mi | 6.6 mi (59:38) | 6.64 mph | ||
| TOTAL RUN | 26.2 mi. (3:32:48) | 8:07/mile | 179 | 35 |
| TRANSITION | TIME | |||
| T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE | 7:26 | |||
| T2: BIKE-TO-RUN | 2:30 | |||