Ben Kanute and His Ventum Tempus Take on Marbella / IRONMAN Arizona Double

November 7, 2025

Ben Kanute has a pair of runner-up finishes to his name at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship – he took second in Chattanooga in 2017 and was runner-up again in St. George in 2022. The American arrives in Marbella to round out his season with a couple of big events – just a week after racing here in Spain he’ll be on the start line at IRONMAN Arizona.

“It’s a good way to end the season,” he says. “I had a big move early in the year from one state to another (Arizona to Colorado – he’s now living just outside of Boulder), change of coach and adjusting to altitude. So, just a lot going on. And I had a fairly ambitious race schedule for, I guess, the lack of base that I was able to get over the winter. So, it’s been progressively building throughout the year, but I just haven’t quite had the racing that I wanted. And, in the last six weeks or so, I really feel like things have clicked. And this double seemed kind of exciting. Obviously, the world champs is the priority.
But, being able to race in Arizona, where I did my first IRONMAN, seeing it off for the last year,
just was also pretty motivating as well.”

Even though it’s been a slow start to the year, Kanute feels that he’s managed to round himself into decent shape for these final two races. After a couple of tough full-distance efforts in Texas and Frankfurt, he managed a couple of third-place finishes at 70.3s in Louisville and Santa Cruz, and was sixth at IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta at the end of September. Now that he’s nearing the end of the season, he feels that steady build continuing.

“I’ve only done one IRONMAN world champs, but I love the 70.3 world champs,” he says. “I’ve been racing it since 2017. And, on hilly courses, I tend to fare pretty well. I think my fitness is at an all-time high, at least for the year, if not ever. So, I’m just really looking forward to going out, testing that fitness against the best in the world at this distance.”

Kanute also feels that working on the speed required for a good race here in Marbella will do him well once he gets to Tempe for the race in Arizona.

“I think that working on the speed, the variability, is really good for IRONMAN racing nowadays with how the dynamics are and that volume, I always absorb it really well,” he says. “So, I think it’ll be interesting because it’s just a week apart. But, back in 2022, when I did Ironman Arizona, it was just two or three weeks post 70.3 worlds. So I recognize that I can handle it and can do it. And I think it’ll just be about racing smart that weekend (in Arizona) and not trying to blow the doors off too early on the bike.”

First things first, though – there’s a teeny-tiny world championship to take care of. Here’s a look at Kanute’s ride for the next two Sundays.