Ironman Lanzarote – pro athletes gather before race’s 25th edition
Ironman officials hailed the 52-strong pro athlete field as “the strongest ever assembled” in Lanzarote, with the men’s course record holder Timo Bracht also racing. British hopes will lie with David McNamee, the quickest runner in Kona last year, and Caroline Livesey, who came 3rd in Lanzarote in 2015. There will also be considerable interest in super-swimmer Lucy Charles (GBR), who some are tipping to be first overall out of the water.
At the press conference in Puerto del Carmen the athletes were keen to highlight the difficulty of the course, and it was clear no one was taking the notoriously windy conditions and steep gradients for granted.
World Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion Jan Frodeno is racing despite recently recovering from a calf injury, and although not fully fit was relishing the challenge:
“I’ve trained at Club la Santa and around Lanzarote for years and it’s great to be back, it’s going to be a tough race but one I think I can handle. I’m not in 100% my best shape there’s no doubt about that, but this race requires patience and mental toughness and I think I have plenty of those, so we’ll see what happens.”
