It wasn't that long ago when women never competed in the marathon. I ran my first marathon in 1977 and there were two women in the race. Over the next few years, I ran in several marathons that had no women in them at all.
Well, things have certainly changed. With the explosion of running in the early 80's women quickly established themselves as excellent endurance athletes and took the running and triathlon world by storm.
I fondly remember first laying eyes on the amazing Puntos twins from Canada when I competed in my first Ironman in 1984 in Kona. Sylviane and Patricia were at the top of the heap as far as women went in the early days of the Ironman. Like many of the very best women triathletes, they were came in a compact package that was very deceiving. It seemed that they couldn't possibly be strong enough for the rigors of the Ironman, but 25 years ago, nobody really knew any different. They were simply incredible athletes. The unique thing about the twins was their ability to perform at an equal level through-out the length of Ironman race-day.
In 1984 Sylviane had a swim time of 1:00:45 and Patricia was right with her at 1:00:51.
Sylviane had a bike time of 5:50:36 and Patricia was 5:50:31. I guess they couldn't come into the pit together(the bike transition)without drafting, so that explains the 5 second gap I guess.
They ran pretty well the entire marathon together and within the last 5 km. or so I guess the sisterly love dissipated and Sylviane began to pull away. I had met this girl(that's another story)who was a volunteer at one of the last marathon aid stations and she said that Sylviane came through and took a cup of water, drank half and poured the rest over her head. A minute later Patricia came through and took a cup of water, drank half and poured the rest over her head.
I guess it's true when they say identical twins are on the same wave-length whether they can see each other or not.
Sylviane was the first woman with a time of 10:25 and Patricia was second with a 10:27.
That might seem like really slow times, but consider the crappy equipment that was available back then, at least compared to what there is now. Plus, there were no real triathlon coaches or triathlon books to call on for advice and direction. Basically the twins were runners who happened to take up triathlon. At one time they had hopes of making the qualifying time for the women's Olympic Marathon.
Dave Scott won in Hawaii 1984 with a swim of 50:21, bike of 5:10:59 and a run of 2:53:02.
As you can see, his swim time was on par with today's pros, his bike was way slower and that would be explained by the lack of the state-of-the-art equipment that is available today. For instance, back in 1984 aero-bars were not quite invented yet. Titanium was nowhere to be seen, and snap-in pedals were not in vogue for another year or so. Dave's run was truly remarkable in the 110 degree heat of that particular day that rates as one of the hottest Ironman races in history. To put it in prospective, Scott Tinley had the second fastest marathon with a 3:03:57.
The top woman's swim time in 1984 was Jennifer Hinshaw's 50:31,
The top bike for women was Julie olsen's 5:37.
The top two run times belonged to the the twins. 3:33:31 for Sylviane and 3:36:05 for Patricia. They were 11 and 9 minutes ahead of the 3rd fastest woman in the marathon.
What transpired that day is much like what is happening now in the Ironman. The women are right there in the swim, about 30 minutes behind on the bike(on average)and within 15-30 minutes back in the marathon depending on the women who are entered in the race. Of course over the past decade or so, there have been amazing women Ironman dynamos who would run sub 3 hours and beat most of the pro men. Well, like Paula Newby-Fraser or Erin Baker for instance. Erin Baker ran a 2:49:53 marathon in Ironman Canada in 1990. The top male time was Scott Molina with 2:47:47. It simply stunned the triathlon world at the time. It was an incredible performance by Erin. The nearest woman was,(you guessed it)28 minutes behind Scott Molina's run. The fastest bike time for women set by Paula Newby-Fraser was 27 minutes behind the fastest man.
So it seems that for the most part, it's very difficult for women to bridge that 30 minute gap in both the bike and the run(in the same race)and as a result never manage to be the overall winner of an Ironman. It was like that 25 years ago, and really, nothing has changed in a quarter of a century.
For a great example, look at the 2008 Hawaii Ironman results..........
Craig Alexander won with times of 51:43(swim).......4:37(bike).....2:45(run)
Chrissie Wellington had times of 56:20(swim).......5:08(bike).....2:57(run)
The swim as they say is the swim and Jennifer Hinshaw's 1984 swim(50:31) time on the very same swim course a quarter of a century ago beat both 2008 winner's swim times. So basically, men and women can do equally well in the Ironman swim.
In the bike the 30 minute average spread between men and women is still consistent. There was a 41 minute spread in 1984 and a 31 minute difference in 2008.
In the run in 1984 the twins were 30 and 32 minutes behind the second fastest run time for men(Scott Tinley). Dave Scott was an anomaly that year, as the next nine men were spread between 3:03 and 3:23.
Women have really improved in the bike and run over the years through better technology, more awareness of nutrition, and access to the best triathlon coaches in the world. However, the pro men have access to the same equipment and knowledge so the difference between bike and run for men and women is pretty well unchanged over the last quarter of a century.
I remember the twins saying a few years after that 1984 race in Kona that their cycling never really improved until they hit the weight room and starting doing plenty of squats. I think they were right. In the 1992 edition of Ironman Canada they were 5:12 and 5:13 on the bike. Their swim was also much-improved at 54 and 55 minutes. They finished the race together and tied for 3rd place over-all with a time of 9:37:49. They came up against awesome performances by Julieanne White who won in 9:08:15 and Paula Johnson who was second in 9:25:44. Julieanne was 20 minutes behind winner Ray Browning's bike time of 4:41 with a clocking of 4:59. She was 17 minutes behind the fastest run time of 2:52:13 by Scott Tinley with a time of 3:09:27. Once again, there was that gap that can't seem to be bridged, but Julieanne came closer than most women had in the past in both the bike and run.
I wonder if that's the key to a woman coming along and winning the Hawaii Ironman over-all? Is it just a matter of a woman hitting the weight-room until she acquires the same physical strength that a man has?
There's no doubt in my mind that the woman triathlete/Ironman is just as mentally and emotionally tough as a man whether they are pros or age-groupers, so the big difference seems to be the physical strength between the sexes, but I'm sure there are many other technical and scientific reasons out there.
Women have been capable of doing the Ironman swim as fast or faster than men since the Ironman was born. Swimming well depends on skill, technique and form and has little to do with massive physical strength or skeletal structure.
We might never see the day when a woman will be the over-all winner of an Ironman race, but there's little doubt that women are capable of awesome, earth-shattering performances on the triathlon/Ironman highway and are a force to be reckoned with.
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