Lionel Sanders stormed to an incredible victory at Ironman Arizona on Sunday 20th November, finishing in 7:44:29 to record the fastest ever time at an Ironman-branded event.
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Lionel Sanders sets new Ironman record at IM Arizona
His countryman Brent MacMahon was second in 7:50:15, the only other finisher to go under 8hrs, and also recorded the fastest run time of 2:40:17; however the day was all about Sanders, who broke Marino Vanhoenacker’s previous 7:45:58 Ironman record by over a minute.
Despite being known as ‘The Valley of the Sun’ temperatures were overcast and still for raceday in Arizona, which undoubtedly contributed to Sanders’ incredible 4:04:38 bike split. According to our records that’s the second fastest 180km by a competitor in an iron-distance event, only bettered by the 4:02:17 Andrew Starykowicz posted at Ironman Florida in 2013.