You kind of have to feel bad for Britain’s Bella Comerford. She posted a finishing time of 8:51:15 at Sunday’s Ironman Austria – one of the top three fastest Ironman finishes ever – and she didn’t win. Germany’s Sandra Wallenhorst, a mother of an 18-month-old, finished in 8:47:25. Wallenhorst’s time stood as the world’s fastest Ironman mark for merely an hour, until Yvonne Van Vlekeren beat it by two minutes at Quelle Challenge Roth. In the men’s race, Belgium’s Marino Vanhoenacker finished in 8:06:07, almost eight minutes ahead of runner-up Stephen Bayliss.

After a somewhat lackluster swim of 57:19, Wallenhorst posted a respectable 4:40:43 bike split, putting her in T2 about six minutes behind Comerford. Wallenhorst, whose previous best finish was a sixth-place showing at the 2005 edition of Ironman Canada, finished the race with an absurd 2:54:44 marathon to break the tape in 8:47:25. Comerford finished just shy of four minutes later, and German Edith Niederfriniger grabbed the last podium spot in 8:59:43.

Vanhoenacker was the eighth man to exit the swim, in 48:42, but he quickly moved into the leader’s position on the bike with a 4:28:53 split. The Belgium’s ride gave him a nine-minute advantage headed into the marathon and that proved to be more than enough. Vanhoneacker finished in 8:06:07, well in front of Bayliss (8:13:52) and Austrian Hannes Hempel (8:16:54).