The winners at Israman: "We just love to compete in this great competition"
After no competitions were held in Israel and around the world last year due to the coronary epidemic, the Israman, Israel's Iron Man competition returned to the competition calendar and took place on a sunny weekend in Eilat. When the cold wave across the country caused people to shut themselves in their homes, nearly 1,500 male and female athletes filled the competition track in a variety of allotments.
The first jump was set for 6:20 on Friday morning, when it was still dark outside, but towards the beach the athletes in suits and swimming hats in different colors flowed according to the different allotments. Despite the fears of cold and winds, the weather was excellent and there was no sign of the wind and temperatures that were here only last Wednesday. What all the winners at Israman have in common at full distance and half distance is that everyone praised and told at the end how much they love this special competition, even though perhaps precisely because it is no small physical challenge for them.
Israman at full distance
At the full distance of the Iron Man in men, Dan Alterman won for the second time after winning this track already in 2017. Alterman won in a time of 9:52:28 hours and was 6:51 minutes ahead of Dan Connie who finished in a time of 9:59:19 hours 'And was a competition for him along the entire bike path along 180 km. The podium was closed by Amit Shaked who arrived 11:27 minutes after Alterman and finished the competition in a time of 10:03:55 hours.
In the full distance in the women, Limor Hagani won, which for her is the first time she has won the long distance in Ishraman in a time of 11:48:49 hours. In second place came Irena Mazin, a veteran athlete at Bishraman who also won several times in the long distance in a time of 12:05:16 hours.
Half Israel
At a distance of half an iron man in Bishraman, Olympic triathlete Ran Sagiv was also expected to compete, but due to becoming a Corona national last week, he was forced to give up the competition. The winner in the half distance is Roi Zoarz who came first in a time of 4:38:12 hours. Itamar Eshed, who came in second place, competed shoulder to shoulder in considerable parts of the competition against Zoarz and reached the finish line only 9 seconds later in a time of 4:38:21 hours. The podium was closed by Udi Elhanati, who arrived 6:25 minutes after Zoarz and finished in a time of 4:44:37 hours.
In the women's Israman semi-final, Antonina Reznikov won, who was registered for the full distance, but moved to the half distance due to the World Championship at Ultraman, where she competes in about two weeks. Reznikov has won 4 times to date at full distance and this was for her the first time she has won the half distance in this competition. Reznikov arrived in a time of 5:14:43 hours and said after the victory that she really likes the competition and for her this is the home field as a resident of Eilat. In second place came Hadas Mazar in a time of 5:31:59 hours with a big gap from Reznikov who stood at 17:16 min. In third place was Roni Zevlik, who arrived in 5:51:35.
The first jump was set for 6:20 on Friday morning, when it was still dark outside, but towards the beach the athletes in suits and swimming hats in different colors flowed according to the different allotments. Despite the fears of cold and winds, the weather was excellent and there was no sign of the wind and temperatures that were here only last Wednesday. What all the winners at Israman have in common at full distance and half distance is that everyone praised and told at the end how much they love this special competition, even though perhaps precisely because it is no small physical challenge for them.
Israman at full distance
At the full distance of the Iron Man in men, Dan Alterman won for the second time after winning this track already in 2017. Alterman won in a time of 9:52:28 hours and was 6:51 minutes ahead of Dan Connie who finished in a time of 9:59:19 hours 'And was a competition for him along the entire bike path along 180 km. The podium was closed by Amit Shaked who arrived 11:27 minutes after Alterman and finished the competition in a time of 10:03:55 hours.
In the full distance in the women, Limor Hagani won, which for her is the first time she has won the long distance in Ishraman in a time of 11:48:49 hours. In second place came Irena Mazin, a veteran athlete at Bishraman who also won several times in the long distance in a time of 12:05:16 hours.
Half Israel
At a distance of half an iron man in Bishraman, Olympic triathlete Ran Sagiv was also expected to compete, but due to becoming a Corona national last week, he was forced to give up the competition. The winner in the half distance is Roi Zoarz who came first in a time of 4:38:12 hours. Itamar Eshed, who came in second place, competed shoulder to shoulder in considerable parts of the competition against Zoarz and reached the finish line only 9 seconds later in a time of 4:38:21 hours. The podium was closed by Udi Elhanati, who arrived 6:25 minutes after Zoarz and finished in a time of 4:44:37 hours.
In the women's Israman semi-final, Antonina Reznikov won, who was registered for the full distance, but moved to the half distance due to the World Championship at Ultraman, where she competes in about two weeks. Reznikov has won 4 times to date at full distance and this was for her the first time she has won the half distance in this competition. Reznikov arrived in a time of 5:14:43 hours and said after the victory that she really likes the competition and for her this is the home field as a resident of Eilat. In second place came Hadas Mazar in a time of 5:31:59 hours with a big gap from Reznikov who stood at 17:16 min. In third place was Roni Zevlik, who arrived in 5:51:35.
The Israeli pro competitors at the full distance restored the Israman crown by dominating with a wire-to-wire performance in both the men’s and women’s race at a record breaking day in the Israman
Israeli Omri Gazit (9:47:27) won the race with an impressive wire-to-wire lead over the field. The defending Israeli champion Dan Alterman (9:55:44) was second after a thrilling chase followed by one of the best run splits in Israman history. Israeli Amit Shaked (10:00:53) rounded up the podium with a stealth and steady performance.
In the women's race the defending champion and 3 time Israman winner from Israel Antonina Reznikov (10:29:30) defended her crown successfully and broke the race record that was held by her once again.
In second place was previous Israman champion Irena Mazin (12:30:23) from Israel in her 11th appearance at the race.
In the half distance, it was belgian Diego Van looy half distance three-peat (4:30:33) who blasted his way to the finish line with a men's best bike and run closing a swim deficit. In second Erik-Simon Strijk of Netherlands (4:37:25) with a stellar performance and in third Eilat based Roee Zo-Arets (4:42:40) which rounded up the podium once again with an improvement over last year.
In the women’s race the Olympic Triathlon world champion Nicola Spirig from Swiss in a one-woman show wire-to-wire dominating performance (4:47:26). Nicola broke the previous record held by Alice Hector of Great Britain by 16 minutes. Katharina Grohmann ( 5:23:29) from Germany had not many options left and finished second. Hadas Mazar (5:37:33) from Israel finished third.
Stormy weather the day before the race gave way to another sunny day, with strong winds as the tradition in the ISRAMAN.
German Till Schramm (9:39:20) with an impressive debut in ISRAMAN led from an early stage and broke the record of the new track (which changed in 2013) in 3 minutes. Czech David Jilek (9:59:21) was second before UK's Hywel Davies (10:02:03) who restored his achievement from 2016 and finished again in third place after a close fight with Israeli Bar Redansky (10:02:57).
In the women's race, the course record was also broken by Israeli Antonina Reznikov (10:50:41), who also held the previous record from two years ago. Simona Krivankova of Czech (11:13:27) finished second before Cyprus's Carmen Macheriotou (11:19:02).
In the half distance, it was Diego van Looy of Belgium (4:41:46) who won thanks to the fastest bike and run splits of the day, before Dutchman Diederik Scheltinga (4:47:27) who advanced one stage after two years in third place. Eilat based Roee Zo-Arets (4:50:37) closed the podium returning the Israelis to the general podium after two years of absence.
British Alice Hector (5:03:58) once again led from the beginning and left no chance for the British Tara Grosvenor (5:30:17) and the Israeli Irina Mazin(5:53:59) with a guest appearance at half distance after 6 years in full distance
Another extremely cold day for the ISRAMAN's pantheon… In the absence of leading athletes from abroad, the control in the full distance returned back to the Israelis.
Dan Alterman (10:09:00) burned the course with a new run record time and opened a 17 minutes gap on Dan Kony (10:26:03), who led most of the day. Ohad Sinai (10:40:13) Closeed a blue & white podium for the first time in the past five years.
In the women's field, just the opposite – for the first time the competition was dominated by female athletes from abroad. American twins Laurel (11:13:43) and Rebeccah (11:37:37) Wessner, in their first appearance at the ISRAMAN, enjoyed the DNF of favorite Antonina Reznikov due to a virus after leading the way throughout the day. Israel's veteran Irena Mazin (12:23:49) was third.
In the half distance USA's Ben Collins (4:24:50) defended his title while breaking his course record set last year. Italy's Massimo Cigana (4:35:43) and Dutchman Diederik Scheltinga (4:37:27), both of them in third straight ISRAMAN, closed the podium before Shachar Sagiv (4:42:24) who was the first Israeli. In the women's fields Canadian Jenny Fletcher (5:24:12) finished first before Italy's Martina Dogana (5:28:41). Israel's Hadas Mazor (5:48:27) was third.
On a very cold day, more than 1900 athletes from 25 countries in ISRAMAN Garmin continued to break the number of participants record of a triathlon in Israel.
Dutch Bart Candel (9:46:17) defended his 2015 title the full distance, after catching Czech Petr Vabrousek (9:57:56) on the run. UK's Hywel Davies (10:00:32) in his ISRAMAN debut completed the men's podium. Bar Redansky (10:01:59) who finished fourth was the first Israeli.
In the women's field, Israel's Antonina Reznikov (10:59:19) in an impressive performance at her first ISRAMAN 226 smashed the course record. Vanessa Pereira (11:31:53) from Portugal took second and Israel's Inbar Zahavi (12:02:12) was third.
In the half distance USA's Ben Collins (4:27:13) with a new course record managed to overtake the Scheltinga brothers Evert (4:36:38) and Diederik (4:41:39) from the Netherlands. Alon Feder (5:09:18) in sixth place was the first Israeli. In the women's fields it was a battle between the champions of the last 2 years, with British Alice Hector (5:14:59) finishing first before defending champion Martina Dogana (5:26:00) from Italy. Israel's Dore Heller (5:42:04) was third.
1630 participants from 26 countries earned ISRAMAN Negev 2015 the prestigious title of 'Israel's largest triathlon ever'.
Together with the quantity also came the quality and the start line featured the deepest field seen in Israel.
Dutch Bart Candel, who was second on his first iron distance attempt back in 2013, dominated the race with a strong ride and impressive run, finishing in 9:42:24 (new course record). Portuguese Sergio Marques (9:57:35) was second and the defending champion Petr Vabrousek from the Czech Republic (10:15:31) finished third, after being ill the days before the race. Lior Zach Maor (10:21:20) was the first Israeli (4th overall) after a tight race with Amit Fein(10:32:30).
In the women field, Israel's Irena Mazin (11:53:54) returned the top of the podium after 2 years in second place. Inbar Zahavi (12:00:45) from Israel took second and Hungarian Dr. Zsuzsanna Harsanyi (12:14:45) was third for the second year in a row.
In the half distance we saw Italian dominance with both Massimo Cigana (4:33:20) and Martina Dogana (5:16:37) winning the race. Defending champion Dutch Edo Van Der Meer (4:38:54) had to settle for second before Israeli Dima Grabovskyy (4:41:39) in his first attempt at this distance. Israeli Nina Pekerman(5:18:58) and Antonina Reznikov (5:35:30) completed the women's podium.
Petr Vabrousek from the Czech Republic defended his title with a time of 9:55:31 on a day with perfect weather condition. Israeli Tom Marmarelli (10:01:13) finished second in a battle which lasted until the late stages of the run. Israeli Nir Menachem (10:04:23) was third in his first attempt at this distance.
In the women field, Israeli Nina Pekerman remained undefeated with a 11:17:43 finish before Irena Mazin (11:33:32) and Hungarian Dr. Zsuzsanna Harsanyi(12:16:29).
In the half distance, Dutch Edo Van Der Meer (4:35:29) lead the race from start to finish, before Hungarian Gergo Molnar (4:45:41) and Israeli Ran Alterman(4:52:58).
Great Britain's Alice Hector, in her first race as a pro triathlete, smashed the course with a 5:00:47 finishing 5th overall, leaving Israelis Antonina Reznikov(5:41:20) and Ayelet Ben David (6:04:43) to fight for second place.
1200 athletes from 26 countries raced in 2014 ISRAMAN Negev.
With an increase of more than 40% in the number of participants, 1100 athletes from 17 countries stood at the starting line of the 2013 ISRAMAN Samsung.
As in past events, the weather conditions were once again a major factor, with strong south wind challenging the athletes in the swim and on the bike.
Petr Vabrousek from the Czech Republic won on the new course with a time of 10:22:37, before the Dutch Bart Candel (10:23:31) and Israeli Tom Marmarelli(11:27:14), the defending champion.
In the women field, we we got to see a replay of the 2012 battle, but this time Dora Heller (12:41:41) finished before Irena Mazin (13:01:11). Keren Meretz(13:06:57) was third.
In the half distance, Nina Pekerman (5:43:44) continued to dominate the race, followed by Oriane Hertz (6:38:33) and Lilach Bar-Natan (6:40:25).
In the men, Israeli Lior Zach Maor (5:12:19) finished first before the Danish Anders Stampe (5:19:15), who suffered a technical problem on the bike and had to run the last few Kilometers of the bike, and Dutch Maarten van Kooij (05:20:17).
No doubt that ISRAMAN Samsung 2012 will be remembered as the race that took place during the hardest and coldest conditions to have occurred in Eilat so far. Despite the bitter cold weather, many of the participants crossed the finish line with fantastic times. The 2012 ISRAMAN champion was Tom Marmarelliwho finished the race after 10:26:36 hours before Lior Zach Maor (10:30:20) and Amir Bachar (11:17:54). The 2012 ISRAMAN women champion was Irena Mazin who finished after 11:48:14 hours before Dora Heller (11:48:14) and Miriam Bar On (13:04:02).
Irish Rory Maguire (5:01:28) and Nina Pekerman (5:28:22) won the half distance race.
Mark Pschebizin (Germany) crossed the finish line first after 9:49 h, and said the " it was great to race in Israel, There is a great atmosphere and I guess I get to compete next year with joy. The Israeli winner was Matan Kassif finishing with a great time of 10:06 h. Dora Heller (11:44h) was the female winner.
Gilad Rotem (4:28:14) and Nina Pekerman (5:18:43) won the half distance race.
This year's ISRAMAN will surely be rememberd in the long distance racing world.
Several foreign triathletes joined the race and Israel's Gilad Rotem, who participated in the race for the first time, won and set a new record, finishing with a time of 9:24 h. 2nd came in Konrad , the 2009 winner. Nina Pekerman (10:35) was the female winner.
In the half distance it was Stav Bassan (4:52) and Dora Heller (5:53).
The 2009 edition of Isrman Eilat is the one that gave it its international reputation after Triathlete Magazine chose to include the race in the list of the top-10 best races in the world.
The race conditions were very difficult, with side wind of 100 km\h, rain, hail, sand storms, that all made the race one of the toughest in the world.
Konrad von Allmen (Switzerland) won the race (9:54:43) and said it's the toughest course in the world. Second was Lior Zach Maor (10:28:45) before Vadim Surayev (10:30:43). Shani Zilberman (14:06:56) was the female winner.
The half distance winners were Gonen Harpaz (5:17:23) and Nina Pekerman (5:24:27).
Only a half iron distance race this year.
The winners was Avner Shimron (5:19:09) before Michael Gatlan (5:26:01) and Ran Shilon (5:27:08), and in the Women Ariela Dantziger (6:33:11) before Dvora Golan (8:12:11).
After a 4 year break, ISRAMAN returned to Eilat with a new and challenging course on road 12.
The winners was Shay Pipman (10:52:05) before Nir Boim(12:07:02) and Ofer Eitan (12:56:10). Hanna Ben Shoan (16:59:02) was the only female finisher.
In the half distance race Gavin Canning (5:30:25) won before Avner Shimron (5:35:48) and Michael Gatlan (5:42:25), and in the Women Orit Bar (7:29:08) before Tal Heller (12:13:35).
On this year the race was relocated to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in a limited format of half iron distance race only.
Shay Pipman (4:14:13) was the winner, before Yanai Cohen (4:41:02) and Golan Uliel (4:44:32). In the Women it was Hadas Jacobi (5:34:35) before Dalit Shiff (5:39:08) and Tali Ben Yaacov (7:23:58).
The 2nd edition of the ISRAMAN race, with only 20 athletes participating in the full distance race, and 40 for the half distance. The race winner was Mair Kanner, the 36 year old athlete who crossed the finish line after 10:26 h. John Klain came in 2nd with the time of 11:11h.
In December, the first edition of a long distance triathlon in Israel took place, with only 26 athletes standing on the start line. Scott Willett from the U.S. finished first (10:16:52). His wife Julie was the first female finisher (11:35:19). First Israeli, and forth overall, was Ido Lotker (11:30:38).
