Soon-to-be dad, Tim O’Donnell, left no doubt this past Sunday that he will, once again, be a top contender in Kona in October. A hometown favorite at this year’s IRONMAN Boulder, O’Donnell was on fire from start to finish. He turned in the fastest swim, 49:20, fastest bike, 4:24:25, and fastest run, 2:53:55, to put together a magnificent winning time of 8:13:30.
Hanging tough all day was Colorado’s Matt Chrabot, who was out for redemption after IRONMAN Brazil did not go his way a couple of weeks ago. Chrabot wisely pulled himself out of the Brazil race very early on the bike and returned his focus to showing up strong for IRONMAN Boulder. The plan definitely paid off.
Chrabot challenged O’Donnell early on the bike, staying close for quite some time and turned in the second fastest bike split of the day in 4:30:33. Chrabot’s strong biking set him up to stay in second or third for the entire marathon. His run time of 3:07:42 helped him to a second place finish in a time of 8:34:36.
The dark horse of IRONMAN Boulder, Patrick McKeon, showed up big time for his first IRONMAN race as a professional, grabbing the final podium spot of the day in 8:42:24. McKeon’s day started off with a swim of 57:08, which put him in the middle of the men’s pro race. But he didn’t stay there for long. Thanks to a strong bike, 4:35:15, McKeon made his way up to sixth place by the start of the third bike loop. His efforts continued as he ran a steady 3:03:40 marathon, the third fastest run split of the day. I think it’s safe to say this was a breakthrough race for the young McKeon. His enormous, emotional smile as he crossed the finish line was a good indicator he was pleased with his day!
The rest of the Colorado pro men were nothing short of spectacular as they grinded out gutsy performances. In fourth was Jarrod Shoemaker, 8:45:38, in sixth was Tripp Hipple, 8:55:03, in seventh was Sam Long, 8:57:16, and in eighth was Colin Laughery, 8:58:45. Congrats to all of the Colorado pro men and everyone else who battled hard on Sunday!
