What a run by Germany’s Laura Zimmermann. She awaited her moment at Ironman Hamburg and attacked on the marathon, eventually running to a strong win in an impressive time of 8:54:31 hour. Australia’s Renee Kiley took second (+2:16) and with America’s Lauren Brandon the podium was complete (+6:19).
Brandon had a perfect start to her day. With a gap bigger than eight minutes to her first chasers, she got out of the water, clocking a 47:46-minute swim time. In the saddle, she saw her lead shrink, though. Lehrieder and Kiley – who got out of the water in second and third respectively – started to hit the gas on this discipline. After 180 km of cycling, there were only four minutes left of Brandon’s advantage.
On the run, it was done for Brandon. While she slowed down, Lehrieder, Kiley and Zimmermann picked up the pace. After about ten km, Lehrieder managed to pass Brandon. In the meanwhile, Kiley was becoming a threat too. With approximately 15 km in the legs, she was two minutes down to Brandon, but she was moving at a noticeably higher speed. From outside the top three, Zimmermann made a strong move too, eventually overtaking all three ladies and running to first place.
That spot she didn’t give away anymore until the finish. Therefor, it was Zimmerman who got to break the tape after a marathon of 3:05:43 hour. Kiley took second and Brandon settled for third, as Lehrieder dropped back in the final kilometers.
