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With the award ceremony, which is at the day after the race, the Ironman World Championships 2009 are finished. For many athletes it was the last race of this year’s season.

As for Faris Al-Sultan who was so far not very happy with his results 2009. He came to Hawaii to finish at least top 10. He had some muscular problems, which he tried to get rite of together with the team doctor Dr. Andreas Kreutz. Still not all of them were gone.

Under these circumstances he started the race. After a good swim Faris showed courage and pushed very hard on the bike till he was at front. Like so many other Ironman races Hawaii turned almost to a runners race. Many of the athletes try to stay hidden in a group of circlers to save energy for the run. Triathletes like Faris who try to do races from the front you don’t see very often at the moment. But it is the way he is competing. In this way he came of the bike as third. Now there was the big question mark if he could deal with the fast runners who were behind but still quite fresh. Many were doubtfully. But he fought a great battle on the marathon. 10 kilometers before the finish he was still on 5^th place. On the last meters it got really tough for him. But he still crossed the finish line as 10^th. Faris has reached his goal.

Perhaps he was not 100 percent happy but really motivated because he has seen that if he has a preparation without any problems he could be on the podium again.

Andrea Steinbecher knew that for a lightweight like her it could be a hard race in Hawaii. The bike course with its rolling hills requires a lot of power. Unfortunately Andrea had not a good day. Even so he fought herself through and finished the race as 30^th in the women’s pro field.

Swen Sundberg, who did 3 long distance triathlons just within 12 weeks, had to notice that such a force does not pass without any trace. Already on the bike he got some with his knees, which got worse on the run. In the end he had to drop out of the race to prevent an injury.