Jewett sets world-best half-Ironman run record
Canadian now holds two of the fastest 70.3 half-marathon times
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
We hedged our bets yesterday by referring to it as “one of the fastest half-marathon run splits ever” in a triathlon, but it would appear that we could have got rid of the “one of” in front of that description as the Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) has put her name at the top of the “all-time” fastest splits for the half-distance triathlon.
We’ve deliberately chosen not to refer to these times as “world records” as courses and conditions can change so dramatically, and triathlon courses often aren’t certified. With that in mind we’ll stick with “world best” when it comes to acknowledging these performances. It’s probably also worth noting that both our research and the PTO standings are limited to splits available online. (OK, and our editor’s memory from over 35 years in the sport, but he’s the first to admit that is hardly a reliable source.)
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Jewett’s 1:13:08 at Ironman 70.3 Augusta is almost a minute faster than the previous-best time for the distance – German Anne Haug’s 1:14:07 from this year’s Challenge St. Polten in Austria. Haug also has the third-fastest time ever – her 1:14:11 from Ironman 70.3 Dubai in 2018. Jewett has the fourth-fastest time ever, too – her 1:14:19 from Ironman 70.3 Timberman earlier this year. The only other woman who appears in the top five is Switzerland’s Olympic gold and silver medalist, Nicola Spirig.
There’s a Canadian component to the fastest bike split on the list – American Heather Jackson’s 2:05:17 from Ironman 70.3 Calgary in 2017 is the top performance. All five of the fastest women’s swim times on the PTO list are from Ironman 70.3 Augusta, with Rachel Olson (19:35), Sonja Catano (19:57), Ellie Salthouse (19:59) and Grace Alexander (20:02) topping the list with their performances last weekend, while the fifth-fastest time belongs to Haley Chura (20:42) from the 2016 race in Augusta.
The fastest overall time for a half-distance event is Helle Frederiksen’s 3:55:50 from Challenge Bahrain in 2014. Earlier this year Daniela Ryf went 3:56:53 at Ironman 70.3 Dubai to post the second-fastest time ever, while Heather Jackson followed her record-setting bike in Calgary with the third-fastest time on record – 3:57:20.
Blummenfelt tops the men’s list
Olympic gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt leads thre Norwegians who sit at the top of the overall list for the men – Blummenfelt holds the “record” with his 3:29:04 from Ironman 70.3 Bahrain in 2018, his countryman Gustav Iden has the second-fastest time ever (3:29:25) from that same race, while their countryman Casper Stornes sits at fifth in the standings with his 3:33:31 from the same race.
All five of the top swim times for the men came from this year’s Augusta race, led by American Jason West (19:40).
Bart Aernouts went 1:52:34 in Dubai in 2020 for the fastest bike split, while Stornes ran 1:06:02 at Ironman 70.3 Nice earlier this year to top the run standings. Jan Frodeno is the only person to have a split in the top five ranking from a world championship – his 1:06:33 run from the 2018 Ironman 70.3 worlds in South Africa.
You can check out the PTO’s full list of records for half- and full-distance races here.
