Completely shattered, exhausted, and barely able to take another step; the images of Sam Laidlow, just six kilometers from the finish of Challenge Roth, are etched into the memory of many. The Frenchman was on his way to winning the iconic race for the second time, holding a lead of several minutes over both his closest pursuers and the world-record pace, yet in Büchenbach, he doubted whether he would even make it to the finish line.
Laidlow raced at the front all day long; during the swim, he was in a leading group of five, on the bike, he was left with only Rico Bogen, and early on in the marathon, he went on a solo adventure. The pace was insanely high all day; so high, in fact, that Laidlow seemed on track to smash the world record (7:21:24) by several minutes.
However, ten kilometers from the end, the tank suddenly ran empty, and Laidlow quickly began losing time against the world-record schedule. A few grueling kilometers uphill toward Büchenbach followed, where he even took a moment to walk a few steps. It was exactly at that moment, as he would share after the race, that Laidlow doubted whether he would even reach the finish. He undoubtedly had visions of the Ironman World Championship in Kona, where he surrendered a near-certain victory, ultimately finishing by stumbling and staggering across the seemingly endless roads.
This time, Laidlow managed to park the fatigue, as well as the doubts in his mind. Blummenfelt did get quite a bit closer in the final stages, but Laidlow composed himself, managed to find his rhythm again, and limited the damage on the grueling but descending kilometers toward the finish.
Grit teeth and all, he didn’t smash the world record, but he did manage to break it: 7:21:04.
