The second analysis of the week is for Ironman Gurye. This is the second year for the mid-sized Korean race which offers just 30 Kona slots to age groupers. This year’s race appears to be slightly faster than the year before.
Comparing distributions for the two years, the 2018 race had a faster swim and slightly faster run which carries through to the overall results. The bike distribution has more weight in the back half, but seems to be balanced out by some of the faster athletes to give a similar median split. Overall this sees a slightly faster distribution of finishers, with the biggest gains at the front of the race.
DNF numbers were higher for this year’s race with notable increases in DNF numbers on both swim and run.
We can see some of the changes from the distributions reflected in age group medians. At the median the differences in times aren’t too large though and there’s quite a bit of variance between age groups. We do see faster swim times and in some cases run times though.
Gurye draw a wide ranging field of athletes and distributes the slots widely among them.
Tracking the times for specific age group positions over the two years shows a varied pattern. A few age groups slowed this year, but the majority saw times improve. This was mainly at the positions further forward in the race, although the reduction in athlete numbers will have some influence on this.
Based on the start numbers I’ve estimated the Kona slot allocation. I will emphasise that this is an estimate as I’m currently trying to identify the changes Ironman has made to the algorithm they use. Exact numbers may vary and roll down will influence the final qualifying times. You can compare with other races on my Kona qualification page.
Comparing the top twenty in each age group we can see that for most this year’s race was faster. It’s not universal, but it it happens in enough of the larger age groups to ensure this year’s race trends faster overall.
You can access a spreadsheet of the full results from Ironman Gurye 2018 on my Google Drive.
