Episode 148: WTCS World Champions, Kona Chaos and the Countdown to the Big Island
Send us Fan Mail This week on Another Triathlon Podcast, Jenna-Caer (@jennacaer) and Josh (@joshmvernon) are back with plenty to unpack as Kona race week gets closer. Josh is finally home after a massive September that included Supertri Jersey, the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, training through Europe and finishing it all with the Berlin Marathon. He breaks down going for sub-three, setting some big intermediate PRs, securing another Boston qualifying time, and what he learned heading into a dedicated marathon build. Jenna-Caer is preparing to head to Kona while simultaneously training for a potential mystery competition later in October, meaning plenty of running, strength work and a whole lot of waiting. Then it’s into the racing, with the WTCS Grand Final delivering two very different but equally dramatic championship races, Ironman 70.3 New York getting cancelled at the last minute, a huge performance at Augusta, a new women’s initiative from Ironman, and plenty of Kona news already coming out of the Big Island. Highlights • Josh’s Berlin Marathon recap • Chasing sub-three after 70.3 Worlds • A Boston qualifying buffer and another future Boston build • Jan Frodeno racing his first standalone marathon • Jenna-Caer preparing for Kona and a potential mystery competition • Cassandre Beaugrand completing a perfect WTCS season • Georgia Taylor-Brown continuing her resurgence • Kate Waugh podiuming after getting the call only 10 days before the race • Marta Kropko’s heartbreaking disqualification • Matt Hauser and Vasco Vilaça’s photo finish • Alex Yee running 28:46 and still finishing third • Vasco taking his first world title • Hayden Wilde finishing fifth after an insane month of racing • Ironman 70.3 New York getting cancelled • Pros scrambling to get to Augusta • Lydia Russell’s huge 1:16 run • Jackson Laundry taking the men’s win • Ironman launching Woven to support and grow women’s participation • Casper Stornes ruled out of Kona after a crash • Gustav Iden’s short-lived Kona mohawk • Lucy Charles-Barclay leaving Kona temporarily because of the storm threat • Kona race-week gossip officially beginning WTCS Grand Final: Women Cassandre Beaugrand capped an incredible year with a perfect WTCS season. Five starts. Five wins. Another world title. The bike played a major role in Pontevedra, with crashes and the repeated climb breaking up the field. Georgia Taylor-Brown helped drive the front group clear, and by T2 the main chase was almost two minutes behind. Then Cassandre did what she has done all season. She exploded onto the run, dropped GTB, ran 32:35 and won by more than a minute. Georgia finished second, while Kate Waugh produced an incredible third-place performance after only finding out 10 days before the race that she had a spot on the start line. Beth Potter recovered to fourth and finished second in the overall championship standings. The heartbreak of the race belonged to Marta Kropko. She was having one of the best races of her career before being disqualified for mounting her bike several metres before the official mount line after apparently mistaking another line for the correct marker. Final Championship Standings Cassandre Beaugrand Beth Potter Georgia Taylor-Brown Lisa Tertsch Léonie Périault WTCS Grand Final: Men The men gave us one of the finishes of the season. After some chaos during the Aussie exit when the swim ramp partially failed, Matt Hauser pushed the swim and helped establish the front of the race while Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee were left chasing. Hauser, Vasco Vilaça and Ricardo Batista hit the run near the front, while Yee and Wilde started hunting them down. Yee eventually reached the leaders after an incredible chase, but the effort caught up with him late. Vasco attacked, Hauser responded, and the two came flying down the blue carpet shoulder to shoulder. There was contact, some movement across the finish chute and plenty of debate afterward, but Hauser narrowly took the race in a photo finish. Vasco may have lost the race by the smallest of margins, but he secured his first world championship title. Alex Yee finished third after running an incredible 28:46, while Hayden Wilde still managed fifth after four straight weeks of racing. Final Championship Standings Vasco Vilaça Matt Hauser Ricardo Batista Dorian Coninx Miguel Hidalgo Ironman 70.3 New York Cancellation Ironman 70.3 New York was cancelled on Friday before race day because of the approaching storm, leaving the professional men scrambling for another option. Ironman opened up spots at 70.3 Augusta and offered travel support, but Augusta was roughly a 15-hour drive away, making it anything but a simple solution. Twenty-eight professional men ultimately made the start. Jackson Laundry took the win, Ari Klau finished second and Nicholas Chase rounded out the podium. On the women’s side, Lydia Russell delivered one of the performances of the weekend. She took the win and ran 1:16:29, only a few minutes slower than Jackson Laundry’s run split in the men’s race. Ironman Woven Ironman also announced Woven, a new initiative aimed at increasing women’s participation and creating more community and support around the sport. The program will include a Strava-based community, educational content, webinars and ambassadors, alongside activations at selected races in 2027. Ironman has also been exploring ways to address some of the barriers women identified through previous surveys, including the difficulty of committing to races far enough in advance when events are selling out quickly. Kona Countdown And now the Kona news begins. Defending champion Casper Stornes is officially out after crashing while riding in high winds on the Big Island. He suffered a broken collarbone and an L3 vertebra fracture, ending his title defence before race week even began. Gustav Iden narrowly avoided the same incident, then created slightly less serious controversy by asking fans whether he should keep his freshly cut mohawk. Eighty-five percent voted to keep it. He shaved it anyway. Meanwhile, Lucy Charles-Barclay temporarily left Kona for Los Angeles as the storm approached Hawaii, allowing her to continue training without risking interruptions to her final World Championship build. With the weather clearing, athletes arriving and race-week interviews beginning, the countdown to the Ironman World Championship is officially on. Quickfire Q&A Performance of the weekend? Cassandre Beaugrand finishing a perfect WTCS season with another dominant win. Best finish? Matt Hauser and Vasco Vilaça going shoulder to shoulder in a photo finish. Most brutal race moment? Marta Kropko being disqualified during a career-best performance. Biggest Augusta performance? Lydia Russell running 1:16:29 after also producing the fastest women’s bike split. Biggest Kona news? Defending champion Casper Stornes is out after breaking his collarbone and suffering an L3 fracture. Most important Kona controversy? Gustav Iden ignoring democracy and shaving the mohawk. Follow the show 📸 @anothertriathlonpodcast Host, Jenna-Caer Seefried, @jennacaer Josh, @joshmvernon Fede, @fedemultisport Presented by @maunaapparel Support the show Stay connected with us! Follow us on social media - @anothertriathlonpodcast with hosts Jenna-Caer, Fede and Josh to keep up with the latest. And if you have any burning questions for the coaches, feel free to shoot them over to Jennacaer@maunaendurance.com https://www.instagram.com/anothertriathlonpodcast/

