Barkley Marathon winner John Kelly clocks fastest amateur marathon at 2017 Ironman World Championship

The 15th finisher of the Barkley Marathons competed at the Ironman World Championship on Saturday.

John Kelly, who in April became one of 15 people (on 18 occasions) to complete the 100-mile ultramarathon in Frozen Head State Park, Tenn., posted the fastest marathon time among amateurs (those competing in age groups) in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on Saturday. The American finished 61st overall in 9:13:13 including a 42.2K run split of 3:00:42.

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Thank you everyone so much for your support. It's really awesome to see and means a lot, especially coming off of such a big, tough race at the Ironman World Championship in Kona. And of course competing wouldn't have even been possible without @jessilailkelly, the rest of my family, and my triathlon family @emjtriteam and its sponsors. A race report should be up in a week or two, but here's the basic rundown: – 9:13 for 26th amateur and 60th overall – 2nd fastest amateur run (3:00:42) on a hot, humid, cloudless Kona day – Top 10 American (including pros) – I still can't swim (came out of the water in 858th place) Photos: @irionman, @mvulanich, and @talbotcox EDIT: thanks to @slake707, just found out I actually had the 2nd fastest amateur run. Bib #2472 beat me. . . . #kona #imwc #ironman #worldchampionship #triathlon #swimbikerun ("swim") #feltathlete #builtwithenve #garminfitness #beatyesterday #garneau #cobbcycling #bicycleplace #bocogear #roka #findfaster #teamemj #cleanupnice

A post shared by John Kelly (@randomforestrunner) on Oct 15, 2017 at 9:43am PDT

When asked on Instagram what’s harder between the Barkley and the Ironman World Championship, Kelly had the following to say:

“There’s not even a comparison. This was a tough one due to the heat and other factors, but nothing like five loops at Barkley. Finishing an Ironman ~= one Barkley loop in any amount of time; qualifying for Kona ~= Barkley Fun Run.”