McMahon wins Ironman Arizona

Brent McMahon crushed the course today winning Ironman Arizona in 7:55:48, five minutes ahead of Spain’s Clemente Alonso Mckernan in second and eight minutes ahead of Jordan Rapp in third. This makes McMahon just the 26th person to ever go sub eight hours and the first one to do it in his debut Ironman. The two-time Olympian was supposed to debut at the distance in Lake Tahoe two months ago when the race was cancelled. Clearly McMahon had a chance to get more than ready for Arizona. Coming off the bike in 4:21 in very windy conditions, McMahon used a 2:43 marathon to secure his lead. Rapp and Maik Twelsiek threatened on the bike riding 4:14 and 4:15 respectively, but McMahon’s second fastest swim (47:25) and fastest run of the day helped him make history.

American Meredith Kessler won the women’s race after twice finishing second before. Taking five minutes off her best time, Kessler posted 8:50 today. Her race fastest swim(50:22) among some of the best swimmers in the sport combined with a steady charge on the bike (4:48:06) and run kept Kessler in front. Lisa Huetthaler took second in 8:58:46 and Heather Jackson took third in 9:08:57.