This Saturday, Kiwi triathletes Hannah Berry and former Saint Kentigern College and Macleans College student Rebecca Clarke will go head-to-head in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i for the women’s edition of the 2023 VinFast Ironman World Championship alongside an impressive line-up of professional women.
For the first time in the event’s 40-plus year history, the spotlight will exclusively shine on female triathletes as Kona welcomes the first all-women’s race day at the Ironman World Championship.
The most iconic endurance event in the world will bring together over 50 of the world’s top professional female triathletes who will fight for a piece of the US$375,000 [$622,706] female professional prize purse and the title of Ironman World Champion.
Along with the professional field, more than 2200 age group athletes are registered for this historic event.
Clarke returns to Kona after making her Ironman World Championship debut last year.
In preparation for this Saturday’s race she has spent the past six weeks training in Cairns, Australia, to get used to the heat and humidity athletes will face in Kona.
“I’m feeling excited, nervous of course but also grateful to be lining up at the World Championship with the best women in the world feeling healthy, fit and ready to go,” said Clarke.
“Race preparations and training have gone well. I had a six-week block of training in Cairns which was great to be settled in one place and get a big volume of training done without disruptions.
“It was quite windy there which was good practice for Kona, had humidity and warm temperatures, not quite as hot as Kona, but meant I was able to push workouts without too much heat stress.
“I’ve arrived in Kona just under two weeks out to acclimate to the specific conditions here and have time to ride the whole bike course.”
After securing 17th place at the World Championship in 2022, Clarke will be hoping she can put into practice the learnings she took from that race to put together an even better performance this time around and elevate herself further up the placings.
“I learnt a lot from last year, different athletes and likely different conditions means you can’t predict how the race will unfold but knowing how to manage myself in the heat with hydration and pacing I think is an advantage.
“Small mistakes from last year’s race means I can put in strategies to avoid these, for example losing a front bottle early,” she said.
“I had a drafting penalty last year which affected my race so I will ensure, especially with the large field, that I don’t ride into that zone when the group surges or slows.
“Last year there was always the concern of going too hard and risk blowing up so I’m more conscious and knowledgeable of where that line is and being strong towards the end of the run.
“A successful race this year would firstly have a strong performance across all three disciplines and making good race decisions.
“There are time targets to beat from last year, but conditions play a factor, so success isn’t directly tied to a certain time. Results wise, improving on 17th place from last year is obviously a goal too, a top 15 I would be really happy with.”
Clarke heads into this weekend’s race feeling confident, hot off the back of last month’s victory at the Qatar Airways Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast – her maiden Ironman 70.3 title.
“Winning Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast was really satisfying to finally get that win and just have a strong overall performance across all three disciplines.
“Being in a big block of training I wasn’t sure what to expect so it was a great confidence boost and to know training was on the right track for Kona,” said Clarke.
