Jesse Thomas Wins Debut at Ironman Wales, Beranek Chicks Men

Poor little Ironman Wales. This close to Kona, no one really had their eyes on any other 140.6.

Except for Jesse Thomas. After dropping numerous hints that he would be taking on his first full Ironman soon (and a disappointing finish at 70.3 Worlds), the aviator-wearing fan favorite finally made the official announcement just 5 days ago, and suddenly we were all like “OMG WALES!”.

The infamously challenging bike and run course takes athletes through Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and the medieval town walls and beaches of Tenby, but is countered by the enthusiastic crowd support typical of European events and a picture-perfect 2-lap sea swim in Carmarthen Bay – which kicks off with a mass start on the beach.

Notable names toeing the line: Emma Pooley, Eleanor Haresign, Anja Beranek, first-timer Jesse Thomas, Harry Wiltshire

Swim Like A Fish, Transition Like a Pro

Harry Wiltshire was the first to take the lead in the men’s swim, opening up a large 1:38 gap on 2^nd place Jesse Thomas by 1.9km, with Nick Baldwin another few seconds back on Thomas. Wiltshire won the swim in 51:55, while Pembrokeshire athlete Oliver Simon followed in 2^nd, Thomas 3^rd in 54:20, and Baldwin another minute back in 55:16. As the women rounded lap 1 of Carmarthen Bay, Anja Beranek and Carol Bridge had the lead over 3^rd place Katja Konschak 54 seconds back. Beranek couldn’t drop Bridge; the pair exited lap 2 in 54:26 and 54:27, with Konschak 2.5 minutes back in 3^rd place. A long T1, including a 1km run, allowed Beranek to open up a 1:02 lead coming onto the bike, while Wiltshire also dropped Simon in T1, exiting with a 46 second lead. And that’s why transitions matter…

Beranek Beats a Lot of Pro Men on the Bike

A 20mph southeast wind had racers flying down the coast early on, allowing some big moves in the men’s field. By 38km, Thomas was 2^nd to Wiltshire by only 22 seconds, while Markus Thomschke had cycled all the way up to just two seconds behind Thomas. Thomschke took over the lead, going through 60km in 2:34 with Thomas on his shoulder, and Wiltshire now following in 3^rd 45 seconds back. While the men’s field closed in on the leaders, Beranek used the wind to open up a massive gap on her competitors, with 13:24 separating her from 2^nd place Konschak and Bridge back 15:42 in 3^rd. Pretty soon Beranek was mixing it up with the pro men’s field, blowing through 60km at 2:41, now 25 minutes ahead of her competition and amongst the top 10 men. Way back the women’s field was shifting, with Emma Pooley now in 2^nd – making her way up after a 23 minute swim deficit – Eleanor Haresign 3^rd, Konschak 4^th, Leslie Dimichele 5^th, and Bridge falling to 6^th.

Through 125km, Beranek was holding her lead among the men, while Haresign had moved into 2^nd (+29:47) and Tineke Van Den Berg had taken over 3^rd. Up the road, Thomas had taken over the lead, but Thomschke remained just 2 seconds away. Andrej Vistica of Croatia had biked up into 3^rd 7 minutes back from the lead pair, with Wiltshire falling further back to 5^th. Thomschke managed to separate himself from Thomas before the end of the ride, coming into T2 at 6:00:10, with Thomas arriving 3 minutes later at 6:03:08. Visticaa followed +8:41, then Gumund Snilstveit (Norway) +11:46, and Wiltshire +16:58. Beranek finished the bike at the 6:31:05 mark, and in 9^th place overall, with a 32 minute gap to the 2^nd place woman.

It’s a Full Marathon, Jesse

Jesse Thomas came off the bike and took off like it ain’t no thang, despite the fact that he’s never run a marathon before. Thomas made up 40 seconds on Thomschke’s 3 minute lead in the first 4km, and was only down by 50 seconds at 8km. Thomas made the pass at 13.5km and only continued to extend his lead as the sun came out in Wales. Thomschke looked to be suffering after posting the fastest bike split of the day (4:57:15) on this tough course; Vistica passed him on the run, putting him in 2^nd at 29k, 5:37 behind Thomas. Vistica wasn’t able to come within 5 minutes of Thomas as Jesse ran to the win in his Ironman debut, breaking the tape in 8:57:33.

Beranek was virtually uncatchable going into the run, although the women continued to shift behind her – Tineke Van Der Berg held on to 2^nd place, while Tine Holst had moved into 3^rd by 25km – but Katja Konschak would make one last move to pass Tine Holst for 3^rd place in the end. Beranek grabbed the win in a final time of 9:56:31, and was the 9^th pro athlete across the line. The Ironman Wales course apparently separates the men from the boys, but not the men from the women.

Men’s Results

Women’s Results

photo credit: The Devil’s Quoit nr Stackpole via photopin (license)