Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez and Kat Matthews victorious at 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas (2024)

ByThe IRONMAN Group|

The Lone Star state and The Woodlands, Texas played host to the 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN®North American Championship Texas, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series, doubling as the second event of the IRONMAN Pro Series™, on April 27. In the first full-distance IRONMAN triathlon of the IRONMAN Pro Series, history was made as Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) stormed to victory in a time of 07:42:38, and Kat Matthews (GBR) overcame a five-minutepenalty to take the tape in a staggering 8:42:22.

View photos from the race on the Hello Woodlands Facebook page:

With Rodriguez Hernandez’s outstanding day, he becomes the first Mexican pro triathlete to win an IRONMAN event and also qualify for the IRONMAN World Championship.

“It’s the best race for me, of my career, this was one of my biggest goals of the year I want to go to Kona – I want to go to Kona. I am really happy,” said Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez.

Overcoming adversity from early in the season, Matthews stayed focused on the end goal.

“It was great – it was good enough to take the win. I didn’t really think I would get to complete the entire race to be honest. I’ve had an interesting and very optimistic build after suffering injury seven weeks ago so I didn’t really know what the run would hold and I committed so well to the swim and the bike I can’t really believe it, a [personal best] really, significantly better than last year. I am internally proud and externally grateful for that experience. And the girls in second and third, Penny (Slater) and Lotte (Wilms), they pushed me all day. There was something about returning as last year’s winner – it felt like the entire crowd was cheering for me. I am grateful for everyone cheering for me,” said Kat Matthews.

Top Five Female Professional Results

PlaceNameCountrySwimBikeRunTotal Time
1Kat MatthewsGBR55:524:41:463:00:158:42:22
2Penny SlaterAUS59:364:39:393:01:158:44:36
3Lotte WilmsNLD51:494:40:583:09:498:46:59
4Hannah BerryNZL55:404:41:483:09:068:50:50
5Alice AlbertsUSA57:194:41:233:10:248:53:33

Top Five Male Professional Results

PlaceNameCountrySwimBikeRunTotal Time
1Tomas Rodriguez HernandezMEX49:034:14:542:34:147:42:38
2Patrick LangeDEU49:024:16:092:35:157:44:14
3Clément MignonFRA51:404:06:402:44:377:48:37
4Matthew MarquardtUSA48:104:03:232:53:337:49:10
5Robert KallinSWE49:114:03:312:54:157:51:25

The 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series, saw nearly 90 professional athletes toe the start line as well as approximately 2,700 age group athletes. The event offered a professional prize purse of $175,000 USD and six female professional and six male professional qualifying slots to the 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship, the women’s race taking place in Nice, France on Sept. 22, and the men’s race taking place in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on Oct. 26. Following two events of the IRONMAN Pro Series, it is really showing that Every Second Matters with fast racing and close finish times creating drama and excitement.

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Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez and Kat Matthews victorious at 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas (2)

IRONMAN TEXAS News and Notes:

  • Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez (MEX) makes history as first ever Mexican professional to win an IRONMAN triathlon, as well as being the first Mexican professional to qualify for the IRONMAN World Championship
  • Rodriguez Hernandez had done one IRONMAN prior (IRONMAN Cozumel, 2023), where he finished 8th.
  • Rodriguez Hernandez ran a course best run of 2:34:14, beating Matt Hanson’s time (2:34:39) in 2018 by 25 seconds.
  • Kat Matthews ran a 3:00:15 marathon to record the fastest run time of all the pro females.
  • Florian Angert (DEU) and Lauren Brandon (USA) officially recorded the fast swim timesof 48:06and 51:46 respectively.
  • The fastest T1 of the day was from Fenella Langridge (GBR) in a speedy 1 minute and 52 seconds
  • Matthew Marquardt (USA) recorded the fastest bike time of the men’s pro field with a time of 4:03:23. Penny Slater (AUS) was the fastest on the bike for the females with a time of 4:39:39.
  • Of the top 10 in the men’s and women’s professional field, United States had the most athletes with 6. Australia, Great Britain, and Germany all had 2 while Mexico, France, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, New Zealand, Denmark and Netherlands all had 1 each.
  • Kat Matthews (GBR) repeats as Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas champion; in the process claims her fourth overall full-distance IRONMAN triathlon victory.
  • A total of 89 Professional triathletes started the race with 32 male pros and 25 female pros finishing fast enough behind the race winner to earn points towards IRONMAN Pro Series standings.
  • Of the two IRONMAN Pro Series events, 77 males and 34 females have finished fast enough to earn points towards the end of the IRONMAN Pro Series total.

Full results for the 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series can be found atwww.ironman.com/im-texas-results. For additional event information, please visitwww.ironman.com/im-texas.

Source: IRONMAN

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Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez and Kat Matthews victorious at 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas (3)

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Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez and Kat Matthews victorious at 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas (4)

Related ItemsMemorial Hermann IRONMAN North American Championship Texas Triathlon

Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez and Kat Matthews victorious at 2024 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas (2024)

FAQs

Where is Ironman, Texas in 2024? ›

2024 IRONMAN Texas - Sat April 27, 2024 - The Woodlands Texas Events Calendar on Woodlands Online.

Who owns Ironman? ›

Where does Ironman Texas start? ›

The race starts with a swim that takes place in Lake Woodlands and ends with a run entirely within The Woodlands that concludes with a finish along the picturesque Woodlands Waterway across The Waterway Avenue Bridge.

Is IRONMAN Texas usually wetsuit legal? ›

Wetsuits are permitted if the water temperature is up to (and including) 76.1 degrees Fahrenheit (24.5 degrees Celsius) or colder. Wetsuits cannot measure more than 5 mm thick.

How long do you have to finish IRONMAN Texas? ›

Each athlete will have8 hours and 30 minutes to complete the race. Any athlete that takes longer than 8 hours and 30 minutes to complete the race will receive a DNF and will not be eligible for age group awards and will not be eligible for IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship slots.

Is Ironman a Chinese company? ›

In Fall 2015, World Triathlon Corporation and the Ironman brand were acquired by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group. Wanda Group reached an agreement to purchase 100% of equity for $650 million and the assumption of debt from former owners Providence Equity Partners.

How much does Ironman get paid? ›

The Prize Money
2024 IRONMAN Pro Series Year End Bonus Prize Pool (in $USD)
Overall Points RankMenWomen
First$ 200,000$ 200,000
Second$ 130,000$ 130,000
Third$ 85,000$ 85,000
10 more rows
Mar 26, 2024

How much was Ironman sold for? ›

The buyer is family-run Advance, with holdings in media, entertainment, technology, communications and education..

How long do you train for an Ironman? ›

It takes 6 months to 1 year, depending on your current fitness. Athletes who can on day 1 complete a 70.3 Ironman, can train within 6 months. Athletes who have never done a triathlon or are brand new to triathlon training, will require 12 months. There are an abundance of plans out there for 12 or 16 weeks.

Where is the Texas Ironman? ›

IRONMAN Texas is at Northshore Park the Woodlands Tx.

How much elevation gain is the IRONMAN Texas bike? ›

The Bike. Once athletes exit the water and go through T2, they will begin the next leg of their journey—a 112-mile bike with a reputation for being flat and fast with only 1,224 feet of elevation gain. The two-loop, out-and-back course begins in The Woodlands and heads to Northern Harris County.

What date is IRONMAN Kona 2024? ›

The 2024 Ironman World Championship Men's Race will be held in Kailua Kona, Hawaii on Saturday, October 26th, 2024. This event has the professional men racing in Kailua Kona while the professional women's race will be held in Nice, France.

Where is the Texas IRONMAN? ›

IRONMAN Texas is at Northshore Park the Woodlands Tx.

Where is Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2024? ›

The 2024 IRONMAN® 70.3® World Championship race will take place in Taupō, New Zealand with a two-day event on December 14-15, 2024. The event takes place in the picturesque city of Taupō which is located on the North Island of New Zealand, approximately 3 hours from the Auckland Airport.

Do you need to qualify for IRONMAN Texas? ›

Do I need to qualify, validate or confirm my entry by completing another event? No, competitors do not need to qualify or validate to enter this race. However, we do suggest competing in a shorter distance triathlon event before race day.

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