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Norton and Bryden make it a Canadian double at the Ultraman World Championship

December 2, 2019
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Tara Norton dug deep to defend her title by just eight minutes, while Jordan Bryden claimed the men’s crown at this weekend’s Ultraman World Championship in Hawaii.

Tara Norton on the Queen K Hawaii during the double marathon at the 2019 Ultraman World Championship. Photo: Ultraman Facebook Page

The Ultraman World Championship includes 10 km of swimming, 421 km of cycling, and 84 km of running, all completed on the Big Island of Hawaii. The three days of competition include:

  • Day one: 10 km swim, 145 km bike
  • Day two: 276 km bike
  • Day three: 84 km run

Related: 5 Things you need to know about the Ultraman Triathlon

Norton hangs on

Tara Norton, the women’s defending champion, was second at the Ultraman World Championship in 2016, running on a broken leg. She came back two years later to win the race, and did it again this year, but had to pull out all the stops to successfully defend her title.

Norton led the way out of the water after the 10 km swim in 3:17:25, enjoying a 30-minute lead over 2002 Ultraman world champ, Germany’s Conny Dauben. The 48-year-old Canadian would pad her lead by another 30 mins on Day 1’s 145 km bike.

Related: Norton driven by personal challenge

Norton got through Day 2’s rainy and windy conditions with an even bigger lead – gaining another 23 minutes on the German.

Dauben made things considerably closer during the 84-km run on Day 3, which she completed in an impressive 8:17:04, the fifth-fastest run split of the day. Norton knew exactly what she had to do, though, with 12 km to go, and paced herself to the line with a cushion of just under eight minutes to earn her second-straight win.

Norton’s overall time was 28:22:09, which put her in sixth-place overall in the race. Dauben would follow one spot later in the overall standings with her 28:30:02.

Bob Babbitt caught up with Norton shortly after her win:

 

Bryden nails the day

Ultraman Canada winner Jordan Bryden, 33, led the race from the start, finishing the day 1 swim in 2:40 and staying out in front to finish the first day’s swim and bike in 7:57:19. Sitting in second after day one was South African Rob Gray, the 2017 Ultraman world champion, who was just over 14 minutes down.

Day 2 featured a brutal day of rain and wind for the 276 km bike and ended with Jordan padding his lead by 10 minutes. On the third day’s double marathon, Bryden made sure to keep Gray at bay, running 14 minutes faster to ensure he would nail the win. In the end Spain’s Marc Puig Amiel would post the day’s fastest double-marathon (6:52) to run his way to second ahead of Gray.

Bob Babbitt caught up with Bryden after his win:

2019 Ultraman World Championship Results