Sam Long, Paralympic Champ Chris Hammer Among Pros Racing Final Edition of IRONMAN Arizona
An athlete races during IRONMAN Arizona in 2023. (Donald Miralle for IRONMAN)
Sunday will mark the end of IRONMAN Arizona, an event that has been a staple of the North American race calendar since 2005. Many pros are in Tempe for the race’s final go around, including Americans Sam Long, Matt Hanson and Ben Kanute on the men’s side. American Paralympic triathlon champion, Chris Hammer, is also in the field, making his IRONMAN debut. On the women’s side of things, Britons Stephanie Clutterbuck and Jodie Stimpson are racing (like Hammer, Sunday’s race will be Stimpson’s first IRONMAN), along with American Alice Alberts and more.
The Men’s Race
Coming into November, Long was slated to race the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, Spain (which took place last weekend), but he withdrew last-minute as he was awaiting the birth of his second child with his wife, Lara Gruden.
Long said he didn’t want to travel to Europe to race if the baby had yet to be born, and so he had to alter his plans and shift focus to IRONMAN Arizona (a race that is much more local for him, as he lives in Tucson). Gruden has yet to give birth, but Long will be on the start line on Sunday morning (unless, of course, Gruden were to go into labor overnight).
Kanute and Hanson are in the men’s field as well, but unlike Long, they did race in Marbella last weekend. It’s a quick turnaround (especially with the jet lag of a trip from Spain to Arizona), but both men could be threats to have big results in Tempe. They will be joined by several other Americans including Trevor Foley, Matt McElroy and Colin Szuch, among others. Great Britain’s Joe Skipper is also on the start list, as well as Switzerland’s Andrea Salvisberg and Dutchman Menno Koolhaas.
Hammer said on Instagram that tomorrow’s race could be a one-off.
“This will be my first, and maybe my last, race of this distance,” he wrote, adding that after this foray into long-distance racing he will be back to focusing on short-course events as he looks to qualify for the L.A. Paralympics. Born with just one hand, Hammer normally competes in the PTS5 division of Paratriathlon, an event in which he won gold at the Paris Games in 2024.
The Women’s Race
Clutterbuck and Alberts both raced in in Hawaii just over a month ago, but they are clearly eager to race again. IRONMAN Arizona presents an opportunity to qualify for Kona quite early, with three spots available for the world champs in both the men’s and women’s races.
Clutterbuck finished 34th in Hawaii, but she had a strong performance at IRONMAN Texas earlier in the year, finishing eighth. Alberts was 23rd in Kona and, like Clutterbuck, she also raced in Texas this year, where she finished fourth. Both women will be favorites for big results on Sunday.
Clutterbuck will be in Arizona just over a month after competing in Kona. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
Another woman who could have a strong showing is Stimpson. A Commonwealth Games champion and former World Triathlon standout, Stimpson has had some great results in her career. She hasn’t raced an IRONMAN yet, but she finished third at 70.3 Boise earlier this year, and she could surprise people with a big race on Sunday.
Slowtwitch will be on site in Tempe, so be sure to follow along on Instagram for race updates all day long.
I’ll be there too. I suppose we can make this the “Race Day Thread”.
I’m here volunteering and like everybody else, watching the weather forecast go from very rainy three days out, to just a slight chance of rain and temps in the mid to upper 60s and cloudy this morning. High in the low 70s later today and not a lot of wind. What wind there will be looks to be a tailwind going uphill on the Beeline and headwind coming back.
So, looks like some of the best conditions here for the age groupers and pros.
I’ll be out watching the swim (and rolling my eyes as my friends who are racing say they plan to line up with the 1:10 swimmers, when they know they will be swimming 1:30+) and the first loops of the bike, then in T2 catching and racking many many thousands of dollars of bikes.
I’ll have my Garmin set to see how many miles I can stack up between noon and 4:30 this afternoon. Looks like we have lots of volunteer slots left in “bike handling” so any other folks who want to practice running bikes by holding onto the seat (like REAL triathletes do) head over to the volunteer tent and get your pink shirt to join us.
Then, I’ll be out on the run course cheering our athletes. I know some just want nice encouragement, but when it’s me racing, I need to know what place I’m in, have I moved up in the standings since the last time you saw me, and how far in front is the next person I need to pass.
Thanks for Volunteering!! Maybe it’ll be my bike you catch
I’ll be the guy with the big yellow Team Zoot flag!
Getting lined up!
Looks like absolutely perfect weather. Pros gonna have to go low today.
Koolhaus leading out the swim with 8 within 10 seconds out of the water. First pack includes Kanute and McElroy. Next group over 3 minutes back. Sam and Skipper only 4 min down on the swim is a solid position and Foley another minute back of them.
Skipper lost a minute to Long in T1 and foley lost another 30 seconds so those 3 won’t be riding together at least to start. Foley and Skipper may team up later but looks like Long is far clear already making up 8 spots in T1.
That’s a great swim for SL less than 4’ down out of the swim.
16 miles in and the lead group has been shaved to 7 with Koolhaas leading followed by Savisburg, Kanute, Lewis, T Davis, Hoel and McElroy. Long has moved into 11th but lost 15 seconds, Skipper has moved to 16th and holding 5 min back, Foley has also lost about 15 seconds. Ari is 10 minutes back for the TTH fans.
Clutterbuck appears to be out of the women’s race. She started but is showing as a DNF. Hope she is OK.
Is there a way to watch the race or are you all on a tracker? And link please if there is one, thanks..
Skipper said his ticket to the front was Rasmus Svenningsson, looks like he got his wish and they’re riding together.
27M/44k into the bike and the lead group has been cut to 4 with Kanute, Koolhaas, Solvisburg and Lewis. Matt Mc is a minute back. Next a big group of 7 is 4 minutes back with Shi, Davis, Long, Hoel, Szuch, Guilloux, Jones. Skipper & Svenningsson are a minute down to them and Hanson and Foley 45 secondsish back of them.
Just using the app with no broadcast. Also following socials to see if we get an update on Clutterbuck.
Thanks guys, I will follow the race here on the thread then, so keep the stats and excellent commentary coming!!