AS he picked off his rivals one by one, David McNamee could hardly pause to contemplate the growing scale of his accomplishment.
When he crossed through the line of Ironman’s world championship in Hawaii yesterday to secure a bronze medal that was beyond his wildest hopes, the 29-year-old required time to let it sink in that he had become the first British male in the 40-year history of this triathlon showpiece to reach the podium.
Completing 2.4 miles of swimming in the Pacific in a shade over 48 minutes, Irvine’s man of steel left himself well-positioned in 16th place following 112 miles of cycling polished off in just under four and a half fours.
However the marathon run leg has always been his forte and he had more reserves of energy than most. The threat of defending champion Jan Frodeno extinguished when the Olympic gold medallist pulled up before ambling toward the end. Yet his Scottish training partner surged onwards, eventually passing 2014 winner Sebastian Kienle with three miles remaining before finishing in eight hours, seven minutes and 11 seconds, trailing only Germany’s Patrick Lange, who secured a maiden victory in a course record of 8:01:40, with Canada’s Lionel Sanders taking silver.
“It was truly an overwhelming experience and one I never thought would happen,” said McNamee. “My race plan went as I had hoped. However I feel I rode the second half of the bike much better especially compared to recent years. However you never know how the run legs will be until you hit the marathon no matter how good the bike has went.
“I knew it was going to be a good day after 5k but just not how good a day. To pass Kienle so close to the end was insane, I still can't believe it. Even as I was catching him, in my head I was saying: 'But that's Sebi Kienle - he's awesome!'”
Switzerland's Daniela Ryf took her third consecutive women’s title in 8:50.47 but there was a surprise silver for 24-year-old Londoner Lucy Charles who was less than nine minutes back on her debut at the race. "At the start of the year, I didn't think I'd be on the start line of this race," Charles said. "If anyone told me I'd come in second, I would have laughed.”
Fellow Briton Susie Cheetham was sixth while Edinburgh’s Ali Rowatt snatched victory in the women’s F35-39 age group category, finishing 28th overall in 9:58:16 after a astutely-judged late burst that saw her overtake Danish rival Katrine Nielsen.
“I was getting splits throughout the run to the girls ahead and the last split I got was 2mins to 1st place with 2 miles to go,” the former Scotland hockey internationalist revealed. “So it led to a fairly uncomfortable last 1.8 miles. And when I finally caught her, it was a very uncomfortable last 0.2miles with a full-on sprint and constant checking over my shoulder. The finish line was a very welcome sight.”
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