podium

Kona Records: Overall Time, Per Discipline, And Over The Years

Every year, I look forward to watch the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii (a.k.a. Kona). As the course is quite similar year after year, I wanted to analyze in more detail the times the pros need to complete the distance of this iconic race.

METHODOLOGY

  • I excluded the times if someone did not finish or got disqualified.
  • I did not consider the 2021 World Championship as it was in St George, with a completely different course.

FASTEST TIMES IN KONA – MEN

This race follows the standard Ironman distance. Therefore, the swim portion is 3.8 km (or 2.4 mi), the bike is 180 km (or 112 mi), and the run is 42.2 km (or 26.2mi).

NameOverallYear
Jan Frodeno7:51:132019
Patrick Lange7:52:392018
Bart Aernouts7:56:412018
Tim O'Donnell7:59:412019
David Mcnamee8:01:092018
Patrick Lange8:01:402017
Sebastian Kienle8:02:042019
Ben Hoffman8:02:522019
Tim O'Donnell8:03:172018
Craig Alexander8:03:562011

Jan Frodeno currently holds the fastest time in Kona, with 7:51:13 established in 2019. Here are his splits:

  • 47:31 swim (1:15 min/100m)
  • 4:16:02 bike (26.2 mph or 42.2 km/h)
  • 2:42:43 run (6:13 min/mi or 3:51 min/km)

FASTEST TIMES IN KONA – WOMEN

NameOverallYear
Daniela Ryf8:26:182018
Lucy Charles-Barclay8:36:342018
Anne Haug8:40:102019
Anne Haug8:41:582018
Sarah True8:43:432018
Lucy Charles-Barclay8:46:442019
Daniela Ryf8:46:462016
Sarah Crowley8:48:132019
Mirinda Carfrae8:50:452018
Daniela Ryf8:50:472017

On the women’s side, Daniela Ryf currently holds the fastest time in Kona, with 8:26:18 established in 2018. Here are her splits:

  • 57:27 swim (1:31 min/100m)
  • 4:26:07 bike (25.3 mph or 40.6 km/h)
  • 2:57:05 run (6:46 min/mi or 4:12 min/km)

I was surprised to see her swim so slow (well, for her level). It turned out she was stung by a jellyfish early on the swim. Despite that, she still managed to break the record that year. Incredible!

FASTEST SWIM TIMES IN KONA

Below are the top 5 swim times for the men and women in Kona. If only I could reach those pace during 100m 😉

Men

NameSwimmin/100mYear
Josh Amberger47:091:142017
Josh Amberger47:281:152019
Jan Frodeno47:311:152019
Alistair Brownlee47:331:152019
Daniel Bakkegard47:351:152019

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I looked only at the pro field. However, it is good to know that an age grouper, Jan Sibbersen, managed to swim even faster in Kona in 2018 with a time of 46:29. Respect!

Women

NameSwimmin/100mYear
Lucy Charles-Barclay48:141:162018
Lucy Charles-Barclay48:481:172017
Lauren Brandon48:531:172017
Lucy Charles-Barclay49:021:172019
Lauren Brandon49:081:182019

FASTEST BIKE TIMES IN KONA

Below are the top 5 bike times for the men and women in Kona. And if you wonder, no, I didn’t filter only on the year 2018 😉

Men

NameBikemphkm/hYear
Cameron Wurf4:09:0627.043.42018
Michael Weiss4:11:2726.743.02018
Andrew Starykowicz4:12:1826.642.82018
Bart Aernouts4:12:2526.642.82018
David Plese4:12:2726.642.82018

Women

NameBikemphkm/hYear
Daniela Ryf4:26:0725.340.62018
Lucy Charles-Barclay4:38:1024.238.82018
Corinne Abraham4:38:1624.138.82018
Angela Naeth4:42:2523.838.22018
Sarah Crowley4:43:0923.738.12018

FASTEST RUN TIMES IN KONA

Below are the top 5 run times for the men and women in Kona. Contrary to the swim and bike, where the best times are all from recent years, the run times seem harder to break. Amazing to see that the famous battle between Mark Allen and Dave Scott in 1989 still keeps them in the top 5!

Men

NameRunmin/mimin/kmYear
Patrick Lange2:39:456:063:472016
Patrick Lange2:39:596:063:472017
Mark Allen2:40:046:073:481989
Dave Scott2:41:036:093:491989
Pete Jacobs2:41:056:093:492010

Women

NameRunmin/mimin/kmYear
Mirinda Carfrae2:50:266:304:022014
Mirinda Carfrae2:50:386:314:032013
Anne Haug2:51:076:324:032019
Mirinda Carfrae2:52:096:344:052011
Wellington Chrissie2:52:416:354:062011

ATHLETES WITH THE MOST WINS IN KONA

Men

NameWins
Mark Allen6
Dave Scott6
Peter Reid3
Jan Frodeno3
Craig Alexander3

Women

NameWins
Paula Newby-Fraser8
Natascha Badmann6
Wellington Chrissie4
Daniela Ryf4
Mirinda Carfrae3

AVERAGE TOP 5 TIMES OVER THE YEARS

I was really curious to see how much faster triathletes have become over time. With more focused training, better equipment, and more precise nutrition strategies, I had no doubt the times would get faster, but by how much?

The best way I could think of was to look at the average times of the top 5 triathletes each year (exceptions with 1979, where there was only one woman, and 1980 with two women).

I would not really look at each year separately but more at the trend over time. The weather could be exceptionally good (or bad) on one day, or we could miss some of the best triathletes in one particular year.

Average Top 5 Times In Kona Over The Years (1978-2019)

So looking at the trend, it is not surprising that the average time drops massively in the first 10 years or so. The event (and triathlon in general) gained much popularity, and Kona was home to some incredible battles.

After this massive drop, the times stayed within the same range between 1988 and 2004. After 2005, both men and women consistently broke the 8:20 and 9:20 barriers. In recent years, we can assist in another massive improvement in times.

What is the reason for such improvements: better gear, better training, or more professionalization of the sport? It’s probably a mix of all of those.

I can’t wait to see how the next Kona will unfold!

If you are interested in learning more about the Ironman times of amateur triathletes, look at this article: Average Ironman Time Per Age Group And Gender.