Lake Placid, one of Ironman’s most highly regarded full-distance venues and the 11th stop of this year’s Pro Series, delivered incredible racing this weekend. It was a special day for Canada (and a historic one for the sport!) as Paula Findlay took the win in her highly anticipated Ironman debut, while Belgian star Marten Van Riel dominated from start to finish, also claiming his first-ever full-distance win.

Here’s how the action unfolded.

Women’s Race

On the women’s side, much of the pre-race hype centred on this being Paula Findlay’s first-ever attempt at the full distance. Rumour has it that she previously said she would never do the full, yet at the pre-race pro panel she shared that training for this distance was actually a refreshing change that reinvigorated her love for the sport.

She also shared that her good friends Heather Jackson and Linsey Corbin had shared plenty of full-distance tips and tricks with her ahead of race day, but joked that she couldn’t share all their secrets with us.

To say this was an unforgettable and magical debut would be an understatement. The emotion was even more palpable in person as the crowds went wild for Findlay.

She exited the water 1:16 back, but worked her way to the front on the bike, posting the fastest bike split of the day (4:50:26) and entering T2 alongside Marta Sanchez, the pair having separated themselves from the rest of the field. While Sanchez made a move early in the run to take the lead, Findlay trusted her pacing and, around 10km, took over the lead and slowly put time into Sanchez.

Every time Findlay ran by, the cheers, passion, and support from the fans were indescribable. She was absolutely running her way into becoming the story of the day, with the crowd especially loud at the “Hot Corner,” where Mirror Lake Drive meets Main Street near the Olympic Oval.

Findlay rang the bell as she ran into the stadium, the race clearly hers. We’ve watched Findlay cross several finish lines, but none in recent memory as clearly emotional as this one. When interviewed post-race, she said with a smile, “I think I like this!” but joked that she would decide for sure later whether the full distance was really for her.

Either way, she’s now headed to Kona and is clearly a new name to watch over this distance at the highest level of our sport. Bravo Paula!

 

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A post shared by Paula Findlay (@paula_findlay)

Men’s Race

On the men’s side, Van Riel came in as the pre-race favourite, and he delivered. Exiting the water alongside Fraser Minnican, he quickly opened up a dominant lead on the bike, with the closest competitor, Matthew Marquardt (the 2025 defending champion), holding steady around two and a half minutes back while Van Riel extended his lead over the rest of the field.

The only moment when the outcome looked in question was the start of the run, where Van Riel shared post-race that he was having a bit of a rough patch compared to the rest of his day, while Marquardt decided to deliver a surge, dropping the gap to as little as 1:22.

However, Van Riel found his rhythm and once again began pulling away, ultimately finishing in 7:41:57 (a new course record by more than eight minutes) with a lead of just over four minutes over Marquardt, who took second. And he set a run course record of 2:34:49 in New York’s Adirondack Mountains while he was at it. But it’s worth commending Marquardt, who clearly fought as hard as he could to challenge Van Riel and still managed to take an impressive four minutes off his own course record from the year before (7:50:08), finishing in 7:46:11.

The real battle in the men’s race ended up being for third, between Trevor Foley, Ben Kanute, and Jason West. While Foley arrived at the race having won both Pro Series races he had contested this season, it was not his day today and he was passed in the latter stages of the run. He has shared that he will now head to Sweden to compete in Ironman Kalmar for another Pro Series score ahead of championship racing.

 

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A post shared by Trevor Foley (@tfoleyracing)

West, renowned for his running, looked in position for third, but late in the race Kanute made the pass, completing the podium in a moment that he and his family will always cherish. Pre-race, he had shared on Instagram that 27 years ago, his dad completed his first Ironman Lake Placid in 1999 while Ben was watching…and today, the positions were reversed, with his parents watching him, undoubtedly with pride.

 

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A post shared by Ben Kanute (@benkanute)