Faces From The Finish Line of the 2018 Ironman World Championship
After completing their journey that included a 2.4-mile/2.8km swim, 112-mile/180km bike, and 26.2-mile/42km marathon run in Kailua-Kona at the 2018 Ironman World Championship, both professional and age-group athletes crossed the iconic finish line on Ali'i Drive, celebrating their own personal
HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND: David McNamee of Great Britain celebrates finishing third with a time of 8:01:09 during the IRONMAN World Championship. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
After completing their journey that included a 2.4-mile/2.8km swim, 112-mile/180km bike, and 26.2-mile/42km marathon run in Kailua-Kona at the 2018 Ironman World Championship, both professional and age-group athletes crossed the iconic finish line on Ali’i Drive, celebrating their own personal victories. These athletes prove that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
POWERFUL PROPOSAL: After winning the race, IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange got down on one knee at the finish line and proposed to his girlfriend Julia Hoffman. She said yes! (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)MAKING HAWAIIAN HISTORY: With a finish time of 7:52:39, defending champion Patrick Lange (DEU) crossed the line on Ali’i Drive at the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship making history as the first athlete to finish under 8 hours at the IRONMAN World Championship (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)FOURTH TIME SHE TAKES IT HOME: Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf claims her fourth-consecutive IRONMAN World Championship win, adding to her collection of three IRONMAN 70.3 world titles. She set a new course best, finishing with a time of 8:26:18 breaking the previous course best she set in 2016 of 8:46:46. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)FIGHTING ON: Australian Leigh Chivers overcame a lot to get the finish line at the IRONMAN World Championship. Leigh’s wife, Sara, passed in January of this year to brain cancer. Tragically their 2-year-old son, who also was fighting brain cancer, passed this June. It was one of Sara’s final wishes that Leigh compete in the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawai’i and this year he got his chance, finishing in an absolute incredible time of 09:25:18. (Photo by Donald Miralle for IRONMAN)AGE IS JUST A NUMBER: 140.6 miles was not too much for Hiromu Inada (Japan) who at 85 years and 11 months became the oldest competitor to ever finish an IRONMAN (Photo by Tony Svensson for IRONMAN) )RUSSELL TAKES A ROLL: American Matt Russell returned to the Island of Hawai`i on a mission and completed his remarkable comeback finishing sixth place in the pro finish on Saturday. Russell did the iconic Blazeman Roll at the finish line, which got its name from Jon Blais, who finished the IRONMAN World Championship while suffering from ALS and rolled across the finish line. Russell’s mother passed away from the disease when Russell was 13 years old (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND: David McNamee of Great Britain celebrates finishing third with a time of 8:01:09 during the IRONMAN World Championship. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)THAT FINISH LINE FEELING: Great Britain’s Tim Don is all smiles as he crossed the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship finish line with a time of 8:45:17 – one year after a pre-race accident left him with a broken neck just days before the event. He proved this year that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)A PEASE OF CAKE: Two remarkable brothers, Brent along with Kyle Pease, who lives with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, together continue to defy the odds by becoming just the second special team to ever finish the IRONMAN World Championship in a time of 14:29:00. Dick and Rick Hoyt were the last to complete the race back in 1999 with a final time of 16:14:19 (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for IRONMAN)BRENKE MEANS BUSINESS: Inspirational age-group athlete Rachel Brenke completed the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship brought to you by Amazon in 14:28:19 and was greeted by her husband and five kids at the finish line. The 34-year-old is also a 11-year cancer survivor, lawyer and a successful businesswoman and now mentors young entrepreneurs as they make their own way in the corporate world. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)BACK FOR MORE: American Sarah Reinertsen was the first above-the-knee amputee to finish the IRONMAN World Championship in 2005, and in 2018 the paratriathlete returned to Kona. She celebrated her place in history and IRONMAN’s “40 Years of Dreams,” after crossing the finish line with a time of 14:41:05 (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)HALF THE WEIGHT, AND NOW AN IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPION FINISHER: American Marcus Cook lost over half his body weight going from 489lbs/221kg to 233lbs/105kg. After the death of his close friend, he was inspired to get his health together and finished his first IRONMAN in 2017. Marcus is also an IRONMAN Foundation Ambassador Athlete and through his journey to Kailu-Kona has raised over $100,000. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)GOOD FOR GOODALL: Three years ago, then 29-year-old Elle Goodall tipped the scales at 405lbs/183kg and had just been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and severe sleep apnea. She decided it was enough and started setting some goals. It wasn’t until she finished IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns in 2017 that she realised she had done it. She beat her fast-food addiction and now weighing around 152 lbs, completed an incredible journey finishing the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship in a time of 16:02:47. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)DEFYING THE ODDS: American Isabella de la Houssa is a mother of five that was recently diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Her original life expectancy was 2-4 months but with new drugs and positive results, she may have as much as 18 months. She had a goal to run 50 marathons in 50 states and as she crossed the finish line at the IRONMAN World Championship she checked off that 50th state. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for IRONMAN)AFTER 17 HOURS OF GLORY, ANOTHER 40 YEARS ON THE HORIZON: A Hawaiian tribal dancer signified the end of the 2018 IRONMAN World Championship following the official 17-hour cut off in Kailua-Kona. Flanked by giant images of elite athlete world champions Daniela Ryf and Patrick Lange, the performer wowed the spirited spectators who had stayed until the end to cheer the final athletes over the finish line. (Photo by Tony Svensson for IRONMAN)A LIVING LEGACY: Forty years after his parents organized the first IRONMAN triathlon, Michael Collins finished the 140.6 mile race that has continued to grow since 1978. His parents and IRONMAN co-founders, John and Judy Collins, were there to meet Michael at the finish line as the family helped celebrate IRONMAN’s 40th Anniversay. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
