Ironman Cairns 2025: Age Group Stats and Qualification Times
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EmailI tend to think of Cairns as a new race, having arrived the calendar after I stepped back from Ironman racing. But it now has a long history of results to look over and is well established as a key race on the calendar. The course profile is flat and in theory fast, but hot and humid conditions can put pay to that. This year’s race looks to have been windy and times reflect that.
Result Distributions
Both swim and bike splits trend slower this year compared with the amalgamated results from the last five years. It’s quite significant – around 10-15 minutes difference on the bike and not far off that on the swim. The run trends closer to the past norms. The overall result is a slower than normal year for Cairns, times shifted by 20-30 minutes.
DNF Rates
The DNF rates at this year’s event are towards the higher end for Ironman Cairns. The third highest level of DNFs for this race. This is spread across all 3 disciplines, although individually none of them are that significantly higher than past results.
Median Splits
As always the median splits mirror the distribution, showing slower swim and bike times than results from the previous 5 years. Run times not varying by as much.
Competitor Origins
For a race that can involve a lot of travel Cairns draws quite a wide field. The majority from the Asia-Pacific region. Most slots are likely to be claimed by Australians at this race.
Performance Changes
With the exception of 2020 times at Cairns have been relatively consistent over the years. Focussing on 2025 it’s clear that in many of the largest age groups there’s a slowing of times compared to previous years. While not the outright slowest, performances were slower than recent results.
Qualification
Slot allocations and from that final qualifying times have been calculated based on the number of starters in each age group. Roll down has not been factored into this table. You can adjust slots numbers and see the impact of changes on the Ironman Cairns qualification page.
Age Group Top 20
For the majority of age groups the top twenty times trend slower than average for this race. There are exceptions – men under 30 for example – but the pattern is clearly one of a slower than average race year.
Conclusion
In this instance things are quite clear cut: Ironman Cairns 2025 was a slower year on the course. The impact being most obvious on swim and bike. Changes affected the whole field, with a slower front-of-pack as well as mid and back-of-pack athletes too.
