Some people run a marathon in a constant agony. Anne Haug ran it according to his own statement "in a trance". There were already 3.8 kilometers swimming and 180 kilometers on the bike behind her at the Ironman in Hawaii. Haug was on the road for seven and a half hours, then overtook Lucy Charles-Barclay on the marathon route. For a moment, she paid tribute to her rival before taking the lead. She should not give it up until the end.
In the finish Haug clapped with the fans left and right along the track, with the plugged Germany flag she knew but nothing to start, until she could hide her face in disbelief. Haug is the first German winner in Hawaii, in 8:40:10 hours, she was the third fastest woman in the history of this competition.
Anne Haug is your 2019 @VegaTeam IRONMAN World Champion in 8:40:10! #IMWC #AnythingisPossible pic.twitter.com/22woeYloDB
- IRONMAN Triathlon (@IRONMANtri) October 13, 2019With this outstanding performance and her age of 36 years, it seems almost bizarre that Haug is actually still a newcomer in the long-distance scene. Almost her entire career was Haug in the shorter Olympic triathlon distance at the start, so 1.5 kilometers swimming, 40 kilometers cycling and ten kilometers running. Only in 2017 she moved to the middle, 2018 on the Ironman distance.
Weakness overcome while swimming
Her great weakness in the trinity of disciplines has always been swimming. When Haug became a professional at the age of only 27 in 2011, she moved to Australia specifically to work on her technique in Canberra with coach Darren Smith. Haug improved, but she still did not reach the top of the world permanently. That's why she switched to long-distance racing, where she can make up for her swimming problems on the bike and in the marathon.
She was also supported by her longtime coach Dan Lorang. As a coach to lead two athletes to victory in Hawaii, it has not been there before. Lorang and Haug are still familiar with their combined study time in sports science in Munich. The German Ironman star Jan Frodeno is also trained by Lorang. The German double success this year is therefore also a victory of the coach. "I'm a bit speechless, I used to dream about it and got goose bumps back then, but I did not expect that to happen, I'm overwhelmed," Lorang told ZDF.
Surprised by himself
In 2018 he had Haug already accompanied to third place in Hawaii, in August this year the German record on the Ironmandistanz. That Haug now celebrated the biggest success of her career, was also due to a strong swimming performance. After 54:09 minutes, she came out of the water just five minutes after the top swimmers. "I was very surprised that I was really at the top of the league," Haug told Triathlon magazine: "You can actively shape the race, you have different tactical options and do not have to pant from back to front."
These options took advantage of Haug. On the bike, the Bayreuth held in the top group, after 4:50:18 hours for the second discipline, she moved as the third athlete on the running track. Here she could play her great strength. First she overtook Daniela Bleymehl, then the leader Charles-Barkley. "To overtake someone does not mean anything," said Haug after the race. The famous "man with the hammer" could strike a few kilometers before the finish.
Haug did not hit the hammer. In 2:51:07 hours she ran the second fastest women's marathon in the history of the Ironman in Hawaii.
Marco Garcia / AP / dpa
Anne Haug (M) celebrated with her rivals Lucy Charles Barclay (l.) And Sarah Crowley (r.)
The Swiss Daniely Ryf was completely different. After winning the Ironman four times in a row since 2015, she was only thirteenth after a poor performance on the bike. Hard to say if Haug would have beaten a Ryf in the form of the past few years. Modest Haug said, even "good luck" have helped her to the title.
Haug does not hope that her life will change fundamentally, that she might become as prominent as her colleague Frodeno. The new attention in Germany is not yet appealing. "I hope Frodo catches all this for me," she said, "I hope it does not change much, I love my life the way it is." Now as an Ironman winner.
