That things are getting faster and faster in triathlon races is a well-known phenomenon and in recent years we have seen this in both the biggest and smaller races. Records are being broken on a pretty regular basis, and last weekend it happened once again at The Championship. The course records set by Kyle Smith (3:27:10) and India Lee (3:56:45) already captured the imagination, but perhaps even more so was the bike course record set by Frederic Funk, who also recorded the world’s fastest bike time ever at a Middle Distance: 1:48:48.
These are splits that mortals can hardly imagine: riding a Middle Distance in 1:48:48 means an average pace of 49.6 kilometers per hour. It should be noted that The Championship’s bike course was possibly a kilometer too short – i.e., about 89 kilometers – but that is well within the allowable margins and means a still almost unimaginable pace that Funk achieved.
Funk did not ultimately win the race, as he was thus overtaken by Kyle Smith during the run. Funk ended up finishing second.
