This year’s race gave us a faster swim and a faster run, but was balanced with a slightly slower bike. So the overall distribution is similar to that of the previous two years of racing. If anything is notable in the results here it’s that there’s a particularly large spike in finishers in the 11:30-12:00 range.

DNF rates remain consistent with previous years. As well as being faster the swim saw a drop off in DNFs. Bike and run DNF rates are mid-range for the course.

Medians for individual age groups reflect the trends of the distributions. As changes are relatively small we also see variance across the age groups rather than a consistent pattern. Not every bike is slower and how much slower varies for example.

As we’d expect Santa Rosa is predominantly a US race with a selection of other nationalities present. Kona slots mainly stay at home, but a third went outside the US.

The changes in age group times for specific positions show modest variations over the three years for the major age groups (M35 through to M50). Front of pack athletes show smaller variation over the three years than those towards the back.

I’ve estimated the allocation of Kona slots to age groups in the above table and from that calculated the automatic Kona qualifying times. The exact allocation may vary slightly although I believe the algorithm I’m using currently matches the method used by Ironman. Roll down is not taken into account in these times. You can compare with other races at my Kona Qualification page.

There’s some variation in top twenty age group performances, but broadly 2019 isn’t too dissimilar to 2018 times. Age groups vary whether this was faster or slower than average. That variance and the fact many tried close to average suggest that for the most part this years Kona race was comparable with the last. There are exceptions: a particular fast M45-49 or a flat M40-44.

You can access a spreadsheet of the full results from Ironman Santa Rosa 2019 on my Google Drive.

The original version of this post used incorrect run data, this has now been corrected.

This years race trended faster at the front (top 10% of the field), but the overall median finishing time is very close to the year before. The bike distribution trends slower from the middle of the pack back, the median bike split is much slower this year, but the front is unaffected by the course change. The run distribution sees the largest change – faster across the field, but most significantly towards the front of the race. The field at this race is very widely spread with a fast front-of-pack, but also large numbers in the back-of-pack too.

The DNF rate increased slightly for this year’s race. Mostly from bike and swim. Run conditions appear to have been particularly favourable – both giving faster times and a lower DNF rate at that stage.

Individual age group medians vary for swim and bike aren’t too dissimilar to the previous year, with the bike tending to be a touch slower. Run medians are faster as we’d expect from the distribution chart.

Santa Rosa pulls in a number of nationalities. Slots tended to be taken in line with athlete numbers.

Fitting with the pattern from the distribution we see that times for given places in age groups have generally improved this year, but that this change is most significant towards the front. In some age groups, as we’re further back in the field the times drop back. This could come from the reduction in athlete numbers this year, with fewer athletes 100th place may be further back in the field.

Based on the athlete list I’ve estimated the distribution of slots at this race and from that automatic qualifying times before roll outs take place. Final numbers and times might vary a little. You can check and compare with other races on my Kona qualification page.

The top twenty in each age group give the clearest indication of the much faster front of pack race this year. For the women’s age divisions times don’t shift too far from the previous year’s results, but for the major male age groups the top twenty is consistently faster.

You can access a spreadsheet of the full results from Ironman Santa Rosa 2018 on my Google Drive.

The lack of historical results limits the analysis a little, but I’ve chosen to use Ironman Texas 2017 as a comparator. In theory, as the US Championship race, it should draw a good quality and consistent field for comparison. Practically I’m not sure how much difference a championship title and extra Kona slots makes to the age group race. It gives a point of reference though.

Santa Rosa did have a faster swim than Texas, but otherwise it was a slower race. This is particularly true at the front, the different in the 5th percentile times between the two is larger than at the median. Probably a reflection that Texas does attract more fast athletes for Kona slots. At the median the time are only slightly slower in comparison.

Comparing DNF rates against all the championship races of 2017 puts Santa Rosa at the higher end of the numbers. This appears to be largely due to run DNFs. Although it’s on the high side in this comparisons, these figures are far from extreme for an Ironman.

As with the distributions, median splits for age groups tend to be slower in Santa Rosa.

As you’d expect this was a largely US dominated race with a small mix of other nationalities present. The majority of slots went to the US competitors in proportion to their number.

For the majority of age groups the top twenty times in Santa Rosa are much slower than those in Texas. A few age groups buck this trend, but it’s consistent across the biggest divisions. The drop off in times for the top twenty is generally steeper too, suggesting a shallower field at Santa Rosa. Clearly the championship race attracts a stronger field with its additional Kona slots.

I’ll finish with the table of Kona qualifying times. Based on the results list I’ve estimated the slot allocation in Santa Rosa and what that would predict for automatic qualifying times. In practice this may vary and roll downs will impact the final qualifying times. You can compare these with other races on my Kona qualification page.

You can access a spreadsheet of the full results from Ironman Santa Rosa 2017 on my Google Drive.