Third IRONMAN Pro Win for Regan Hollioake in New Zealand

After setting the world’s fastest women’s age-group time at IRONMAN Western Australia in 2023, Australia’s Regan Hollioake took fourth in her first pro race in Taupo last year. She followed that up with wins at IRONMAN Australia and IRONMAN Malaysia, adding a fifth at IRONMAN Lake Placid to her resume as well during what turned out to be an impressive professional rookie year. Today she built on that resume, running her way to the win at IRONMAN New Zealand in Taupo.

“It’s one of the best races in the world,” the champ said of Taupo after her big win. “It’s so incredible. To do my first pro race here last year and to come back this year and win is just amazing.”

Siffert Leads the Way, Then it’s McCauley’s Turn

Switzerland’s Alanis Siffert was first out of the water, with Brit Fenella Langridge three seconds back. Then it was two-time Taupo champion, American Jocelyn McCauley, who was next to run to transition, 2:18 behind, with Hollioake another 62 seconds behind in fourth.

Once out on the bike Langridge couldn’t stay with the Swiss swim leader, with McCauley quickly moving into second. By 30 km the American was in the lead – by the halfway point of the ride she was almost two minutes up on another Swiss athlete, Nina Derron. Hollioke was just a couple of seconds behind the Swiss athlete, and the two managed to keep the gap at about 2:30 through 137 km of riding. McCauley was able to use the long, gradual uphill (and headwind) on the second half of the bike loop to increase her lead to almost six minutes by the end of the ride, though.

Through the first 11 km of the run McCauley was able to hold off Derron’s charge for the front, but within a few km the Swiss athlete had surged into the lead, with Hollioake still over 90-seconds behind. By the halfway point, though, the Aussie had made her move and was in the lead, 38 seconds ahead of Derron, with McCauley just another nine seconds behind.

From there Hollioake was unstoppable, cruising through a 3:06:02 marathon to finish in 8:51:30. McCauley kept the pressure on Derron and would re-take second place with 10 km to go. Even though Derron ran just under five minutes faster than the American (3:12:42 vs 3:17:22), over the final 10 km the American ran almost a minute faster, getting her to the line in 8:56:52 for second, with Derron taking third in 8:57:48. Gabrielle Lumkes (USA) would take fourth (9:08:56) and Aussie Kate Gillespie-Jones would round out the top-five in 9:20:00.

It Doesn’t Start Until 20 K

“I didn’t have a great swim, but Nina and I worked together (legally) on the bike and rode really strongly,” Hollioake said after the race. “I came off the bike feeling good, so I knew I could run strong. It was a fairly consistent day all around.”

“I knew the girls were running really hard up front initially, and doing an IRONMAN, it really doesn’t start until 20 km,” Hollioake continued. “I’m really confident in my ability to hold strong, so I knew at 20 km that if I could hold it together I had a good chance of winning.”

You can find the full results through the IRONMAN Tracker.

Thanks to IRONMAN’s Ruth Bowerman for the post-race interview.

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