The 31st running of Ironman Lanzarote, or as it is now called Club La Santa Ironman Lanzarote 2023, served up some of the best conditions ever for this epic event – a very flat ocean and fairly light winds, although the temperature climbed into the 30’s during the marathon. Records were expected to be broken, and they were.
As always, there are effectively two races going on side by side – a group of professional athletes duelling it out for prize money and titles, while the vast majority of the 1,000 or so competitors, from 54 countries, are amateurs, or in Ironman parlance, “Age groupers.”
Ironman Lanzarote 2023 was started at 7AM by Canarian President Angel Victor Torres, who was accompanied by Cabildo President Lori Corujo and the ever present Kenneth Gasque, the man who brought Ironman to Lanzarote.
A team of around 2,000 volunteers swung into action, working on traffic control, race support, sun cream application, providing food and drink at the aid stations and hundreds of other jobs needed to support the event.
The event consists of a 3.8 KM swim, a 180 KM bike ride, taking in most of the island, and a 42 KM marathon, run along the ocean front from Puerto del Carmen to Arrecife and back.
Here are the top three male and female finishers and their times:
MEN:
1. ARTHUR HORSEAU (FRA) – 08:22:31
2. NIEK HELDOORN (NL) – +2:17
3. CAMERON WURF (AU) – +7:46
WOMEN:
1. LYDIA DANT (UK) – 09:59:13
2. LIESBETH VERBIEST (BEL) – +6:57
3. JEANNE COLLONGE (FRA) – +21:39
But of course, that’s much less than half the story. While the professionals were resting their legs, a thousand private battles with fatigue, heat, nutrition and hydration were still taking place. And as darkness began to fall, there were still many running, and some shuffling along the marathon course. The final competitor crossed the line a few minutes before the cut off time of midnight, and those still on course faced the heartache of getting so close, but not close enough, to the coveted Ironman Lanzarote finisher’s medal.
Here’s a selection of images taken for Club La Santa at Ironman Lanzarote 2023 by our good friend James Mitchell Click any image to open the gallery.
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Courtesy of Lanzarote Information
