Luke McKenzie chatted to Yourironguide before the recent IM Cairns event. we covered how his mindset had changed since the record breaking sub-8hour Ironman Western Australia and how he coped with last minute issues leading in to the big day. Great advice and viewing!

Tim Van Berkel Pre-Cairns IM interview

Tim Van Berkel, 2016 IM Cairns champion, took time just before the event to chat with us. He did not have the Kona event he had hoped for in 2015. He was solid on the swim/bike but hip and back issues stalled his run to the top 10. Here, we talk to Tim about post Kona, getting a new mindset for the future and the one key ingredient he believes has helped his recovery.

First Ironman series #3

IM Cairns is almost here for 2016. Unfortunately Liz Blatchford, a multiple winner here previously and podium finisher at the World Championships in Hawaii will not be competing this year. We were lucky enough to get her story from her very first Iron Distance event last year. Follow her journey with the ups and downs of the day.

Gina Crawford has won Iron distance events around the world with huge success in her native New Zealand. The final interview in our series looks at the highs and lows (including tears) that made her very first attempt at an Ironman. Learn from her day.

My first Ironman series #2

Luke McKenzie has won 8 ironman events and been on the podium at the Ironman World Championships. Here he talks about the very first Ironman he competed in back in  Busselton 2004 at IMWA. Pete Jacobs and Jason Shortis were both their and Luke talks about his competition against the two of them.

Liz Blatchford has won IM Cairns 3 years in a row and she also shared her first attempt at an Iron distance event. Hear her highs and lows on the day and get the picture of what it feels like to go on that roller coaster ride.

My first Ironman series

Ironman Switzerland champ Beth Gerdes shared her first Ironman story before the Cairns Ironman Asia Pacific Championship last year. Thanks Beth!!

James Cunnama finished 4th at the Ironman World Championships. Here he tells his story of the first Ironman he attempted - in South Africa, and the issues he had on the day.

Cairns Ironman AG records

The Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns is almost ready to start for another year. The weather always plays a role in this race with very hot, windy and humid conditions beating the field in to submission in 2013. This was followed in 2014 with 24 hours of constant rain soaking the track and making the transitions mud pools. Last year, more wet conditions greeted the athletes with a late afternoon energy sapping dose of humidity. What can be expected this year? Who knows but Mother Nature will play her part in the results - that' for sure.

2014 rainy days

In case you wanted to know what speeds athletes in your age group are capable of, Yourironguide has the AG records. Some of these times are truly amazing and inspiring. A quick mention has to be made for the only two new records from last year. Liz Blatchford bettered her previous record time to an eye catching 9:11. Levi Maxwell won the 25-29 AG with 8:36:57! That time missed out on the OVERALL podium (including all pro athletes) by just 2 seconds - amazing effort.

	Male
AG	Name	Time	Year
Pro	David Dellow	8:15:04	2012
18-24	Amos Gollach	9:06:21	2013
25-29	Levi Maxwell	8:36:57	2015
30-34	Brett Carter	8:44:03	2012
35-39	Ben Bell	9:03:23	2013
40-44	Paul Walton	9:05:24	2014
45-49	Allan Jefferson	9:18:23	2014
50-54	Tobias Neale	9:19:48	2014
55-59	Kevin Fergusson	9:37:15	2014
60-64	Colin Clarke	10:27:56	2014
65-69	Muranaka Shinichi	12:40:56	2014
70-74	Dieter Rethmeier	13:11:32	2014
75-79	Kamei Yoshitaka	15:54:40	2014
80+	Hiromu Inada	16:34:19	2014
	Female
AG	Name	Time	Year
Pro	Liz Blatchford	9:11:49	2015
18-24	Tan Burge	11:30:40	2014
25-29	Zoe Williams	10:18:17	2014
30-34	Marina Jurjevic	10:00:14	2013
35-39	Julianne Schliebs	10:02:48	2014
40-44	Sue Crowe	10:04:15	2013
45-49	Aline Palloure	10:52:57	2014
50-54	Maria Ross	11:02:48	2014
55-59	Nancy Cullen	11:09:57	2014
60-64	Lynne Pattle	12:37:10	2014
65-69	Valerie Gonzales	14:38:35	2014