Europeans capture sweep of titles at Ford Ironman Arizona

Everybody crossed the Ford Ironman Arizona finish line with exhausted smiles. Some finished with shoes stained red from bloody toes. A few finished in a wheelchair. Only Andreas Raelert and Heleen Bij De Vaate finished alone.

Raelert of Germany won the men's championship and Bij De Vaate of the Netherlands raced to the women's title in an iron test of will, endurance and good fortune over a course that included a 2.4-mile swim, 112 miles on bicycle and a marathon run after lunch.

So what did you do Sunday?

In the end, Raelert and Bij De Vaate did one thing they did not anticipate:

Celebrate.

"Yeah, I surprised myself," said Bij De Vaate, a chemical engineer by training and an athlete by instinct. "Winning was just something I didn't think would happen here."

Neither Bij De Vaate nor Raelert knew what to expect on a course that ended not far from the crowded barstools up and down Tempe's Mill Avenue. The two Europeans were competing in Arizona for the first time. The desert trails were as new to them as cactus. But the course has their names on it until the Ironman series returns to the Valley.

Both set records, Raelert at 8 hours, 14 minutes, 16 seconds and Bij De Vaate at 9:21.06. They shared more than victories and records. They won much in the same way. The run clinched it for both.

"My swim was bad, my bike was so-so, but I had confidence in my run," said Raelert, a two-time Olympian in 2000 and 2004 for Germany in the triathlon. "My strength has always been my run. I save my energy and felt good going into that."

Raelert, a first-time winner on the Ironman circuit, was stalking leaders at the transition from the bike to run. He was among the first five, including Chris Lieto of Danville, Calif., who finished second at 8:19.25. Lieto stepped off his bike and into his running shoes in first place.

He overtook Kieran Doe of New Zealand, who a few hours later somehow managed to finish with his shoes in his hands instead of on his feet. Problems with his shoes meant that only socks protected Doe's soles from the asphalt over the latter part of the marathon. He finished 22nd at 9:05.25. He didn't slow down much at the finish, perhaps because he was headed for the closest shoe store.

"After the first 2 miles, I felt good and began to feel like I could control the race," said Raelert, who began to train for the Ironman after he failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games and his third Olympics at the shorter triathlon. "Some wind out there made it little tough. But this was a tough field, and that really helped me all the way."

Bij De Vaate ensured her first Ironman victory late in the day. She overtook second-place Leanda Cave (9:25.07) at about the 20-mile mark of the run.

"She put on a great last push, but I died anyway, so . . . " said Cave, a former Australian middle-distance swimmer who has moved to Tucson to train for the Ironman.

Cave's swimming background gave her an early advantage in the chilly morning waters.

"I might have been 20th after the swim, but I'm not too sure," Bij De Vaate said. "I am just a terrible swimmer."

But a good enough finisher to be an Ironwoman.

Andreas Raelert was a first-time winner on the Ironman circuit.