The Ironman Hamburg that included the German Triathlon Championships started with a curiosity: After weeks of great heat, algae growth had ruined the water in the Alster River, so the swimming leg was cancelled. The triathlon therefore turned into a duathlon with a 6km run, 180km bike leg and 42.2km of running. This did not spoil the great atmosphere in any way so that at 7 o’clock in the morning the male pros entered the race loudly cheered by the crowd.

Being a good runner Dirksmeier started the first run quite aggressively to reach the first transition zone after less than 20 minutes in the head group. After a fast transition a couple of athletes broke away and Patrick, closely behind, went to chase them. “It was my plan to begin the race in a controlled fashion, so I would not over-pace right from the beginning.

It worked out well for me, on the bike I closely watched my power readings and to correctly fuel myself. This way I rode a really fast time on my STEVENS Volt”, Dirksmeier said about the second part of the race.

Successful Chase Earns Dirksmeier Silver Medal
After exactly 4 hours and 13 seconds with an average speed of 42.3kph, he got off the bike and was 12th to put on running shoes before enter conclusive Marathon along the Alster river. Under the eyes of thousands of spectators and running being his favourite discipline he ran the Marathon just as fast as the eventual winner. He caught up to athlete after athlete. Many of them had to surrender to the enormous speed on the bike and the excruciating heat and collapsed. Not so Dirksmeier, with the sixth fastest running split of 2h: 51min: 46sec and great spirit he advanced to seventh place overall and also won the Silver Medal in the German long-distance championships.

Behind the finish line he was welcomed by the race speaker with the words “you are an Ironman“ and was relieved to have mastered this challenge.

“If I had known how hard it’s going to get, I might have started a little slower. But sometimes it’s good not to know what is ahead of you”, said a totally exhausted but happy Dirksmeier after the race. “Deep inside of me I am a very happy person, even though you might not see it right now, because I’m just too tired and in pain.”

STEVENS Bikes congratulates Patrick Dirksmeier for his successful long-distance premiere and winning the Silver Medal in the German Championships. New German Champion is Franz Löschke, (7:26:35 h), Bronze goes to Paul Schuster (7:34:05 h).

IRONMAN Hamburg 2018 Results
1.    Bart Arnouts (BEL)         7:05:26 h
2.    Joe Skipper (GB)            7:12:35 h
3.    James Cunnama (RSA)    7:13:54 h
(...)
7.    Patrick Dirksmeier          7:30:09 h

German Championships Long Distance 2018
1.    Franz Löschke        7:26:35 h (0:19:51 - 4:07:13 - 2:54:35 h)
2.    Patrick Dirksmeier    7:30:09 h (0:19:49 - 4:13:00 - 2:51:46 h)
3.    Paul Schuster         7:34:05 h (0:19:52 – 4:07:13 – 3:02:08 h)