How two Wolfratshausers conquered Lanzarote by swimming, cycling and running

Two athletes from TSV Wolfratshausen have mastered the Ironman on Lanzarote - but with different results.

While Angelika Farnai-Nimmesgern won her age group W55 and thus qualified for Hawaii, Michael Schmüser struggled through the race with a calf injury.

Lanzarote / Wolfratshausen - The Ironman in Lanzarote is considered to be one of the most difficult competitions because it is notorious for its capricious weather and, due to the route, demands everything from the athletes. Angelika Fanai-Nimmesgern and Michael Schmüser from TSV Wolfratshausen also had to swim 3.8 kilometers, cycle 180 kilometers and run 42 kilometers there, as with all long distances, but there were still almost 2600 meters in altitude on the bike course and wind speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour. In addition, there were around 330 vertical meters to climb on the marathon route. In short: Anyone who conquers Lanzarote is prepared for the Ironman in Hawaii. And so Angelika Fanai-Nimmesgern can already look forward to it, as she got the ticket for the unofficial world championship.Unfortunately, her team-mate Schmüser was unable to do this due to an injury.

Some triathletes had taken on too much

In any case, the two wolf athletes had exciting things to report.

The sea was not quite so restless this year, but one had to fight against a strong current in the 20 degree warm Atlantic.

On the demanding bike course, all participants had to struggle with the stormy wind.

Here, the lightweight women in particular had to use a lot of strength to keep their bike on track.

"There were a few accidents and after some even pushed their bikes up the steep, stormy passages on foot, others had to realize that they had dared too much and gave up," reported Fanai-Nimmesgern.

Endurance athlete Schmüser, who started in the strong men's 50 class, also had to struggle with a mishap. “I injured my calf when climbing the mountain, which hindered me until the end,” said the Wolf Ultra. “That way you don't have any chances of getting to the top. Rather, I had to be happy that the injury did not get worse. ”Although both Wolfratshausers had prepared themselves well during the winter with their exercises on the bicycle roller and with two training camps on Madeira, they were still when they finally arrived on the running track were. Here Schmüser was making his calf strained by watching. All 864 finishers had to struggle with another difficulty: Because the Ironman had been postponed from May to July, it was now much hotter on Lanzarote than usual.This time some runners burned their feet on the scorching asphalt while walking barefoot in the transition area. For these athletes, tragically, the race and many a dream ended prematurely.

Ticket to Hawaii in your pocket

Since both Wolves athletes were spared this fate, Fanai-Nimmesgern mastered the run at a steady pace and finished around an hour and a half later than their club mate, who achieved a time of 14: 29.41 hours.

For the woman from Wolfratshausen, on the other hand, a fairy tale came true: As the oldest participant at the start and finish, she not only won her age group W55 (15: 37.49 hours), but also secured the ticket for the Hawaii Ironman, which took place on September 9th. October takes place.

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