Ironman champion and “super mom” steps up to Ultraman racing with huge overall win in Arizona
Denmark's Michelle Vesterby took the overall title at Ultraman Arizona by over 2 hours
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
Ironman champion Michelle Vesterby (pictured above competing at the Ironman World Championship last year) took on her first Ultraman race last weekend and didn’t just win the women’s race – she dominated the overall event, crossing the finish line over two hours ahead of the men’s winner, Justin Hollman.
We featured Vesterby, 40, in our feature “The Rise of Triathlon’s Super Moms” in 2019. That year she celebrated the birth of son Marcus in May, 2019, then made her return to full-distance racing at Ironman Copenhagen, just three months after giving birth, where she finished fifth. Vesterby wasn’t just determined to get back to racing for herself.
“I want to show Marcus and myself and the women around me that we are capable of doing a lot of stuff,” she said. “We’ve already seen super-moms like Radka, Nicola Spirig, Mirinda Carfrae, Caroline Steffen, Meredith Kessler … I think that it’s great that we have a community that is showing that you can be a mother and an elite athlete at the same time. That’s something that I want to give to Marcus – to show him that you can balance all parts of life and be good at all parts of life. That me being an elite mom will not affect him.”
Vesterby gave birth to her second son, Hektor, on Sept. 23, 2022. She would return to professional racing once again, ending her career in Kona last year.
Vesterby began the three day Ultraman Arizona event with a 2:41:03 time for the 6.2 mile (10 km) swim. She was second out of the water, behind American Maggie Walsh, but quickly rode away from the rest of the competition with a 4:46:05 bike split for the 90 mile (144.8 km) bike that rounded out the first day of racing. Day 2 saw more domination from the Danish super-mom as she rode 8:50:12 for the 171.4 mile (275.8 km) bike. That was over 34 mins faster than Hollman would clock for the ride. Vesterby wasn’t the fastest on Day 3’s double marathon (52.4 miles/ 84.4 km) – she would complete the run in 7:45:49, while Fernando Lopez would post a 7:31:30 split. Vesterby’s total time was an impressive 24:03:09.
You can see the full results below.
“I can feel this weekend all into my bones…. (Don’t know if it’s a saying but you know what I mean 😅😂)….,” Vesterby wrote on Instagram after the race. “The biggest struggle was to get out of bed this morning 😅…Ultraman Arizona was tough physically but even more demanding mentally. Luckily I was surrounded by the best people and everything is just easier with a smile and a positive mindset 🥰 So I tried to smile my way through it and just to Keep On Moving (knowing that I would get home to my boys faster❤️) “
