The differences were very small between the two fastest women – Sarah Crowley and Rebecca Clarke – and that made Ironman Australia very interesting to watch. In the end, the win was for Crowley, who crossed the finish line after 9:06:04. Clarke followed 1:06 minute behind in second place.
It was clear right after the swim that the race – where only six women started anyway – would be made exciting by few ladies. Clarke recorded the fastest swim time with 53:00 and Crowley came out of the water second after 55:06 minutes. Courtney Gilfillan was then in her feet and came out of the water in third.
Both ladies set off in pursuit and after about forty kilometers they had caught up with Clarke. For a long time the three ladies stayed together, but halfway it turned out that the pace was too high for Gilfillan, who lost time quite quickly and was already almost two minutes behind. That gap would only get bigger after this point. Crowley and Clarke, however, kept biking together the whole time and also came back together in T2.
The first few kilometers of the marathon Crowley and Clarke ran very close to each other, but after about ten kilometers Crowley started to slowly but clearly run away from her competitor. Her lead was never big though; after twenty kilometers she was thirty seconds ahead and after thirty kilometers the lead had grown to only 1:16 minute. Gilfillan, meanwhile, was already more than twenty minutes behind.
Crowley took victory after 9:06:04. Clarke finished second in 9:07:11. Gilfillan finished third in 9:30:48.
