Sam Maher completes first Ironman in Portugal
6 years I have been coaching Sam Maher and in that time she has won quite a few races with winning her age group at the World Duathlon Championships in 2019 being her finest hour. On Sunday she completed her first Ironman in Portugal in a time of 12hrs 15min on a pretty challenging course.
But what stood out was how her run came together at the end. A Ironman Marathon of 3hrs 37min was just amazing for Sam which is 3min off her stand alone marathon PB! The 34th fastest run split of the day and that’s includes the 20 Pros. I have copied part of her race report below.
Run 🏃♀️ As soon as I started running I felt AWESOME. My legs couldn’t feel the bike at all and I looked down and was running 5mins/km pace. Just again focused on keeping it comfortable, easing off if ever I felt I was pushing, mantra was keep it easy. Still felt great in lap 2 so just kept pushing on in lap 3. Ran through all the aid stations and loved every step. Started to feel a bit tired in the last 3km but knew I was on for a good time so kept going. Time 3hrs 37mins. Less than 3mins off my marathon PB (and much less painful!) the best run of my life