Sneaking in under the radar, more eyes should be on Mary Beth Ellis at the IRONMAN European Championship on Sunday. American Mary Beth Ellis wasn't at yesterday's press conference, which has allowed her to sneak into Frankfurt with relatively little fanfare. Since her impressive IRONMAN debut at IRONMAN Austria in 2011 (where she went 8:43, the fastest first-time full-distance women's race ever, not to mention a course and US record which was only bested by Linsey Corbin last weekend), Ellis' record is nothing short of incredible.
To qualify for Kona that fall she followed the race in Austria with wins at Regensberg and Canada, then finished 16h in Kona. In 2012 she won in Texas, New York, finished fifth at the IRONMAN World Championship and won in Cozumel. Last year she won in France, Mont-Tremblant and seemed on track to another top finish in Kona when she broke her collarbone a month before the race. She gamely tried to get through the IRONMAN World Championship, but eventually had to pull out.
So, if you're keeping track, you'll have noticed that heading into 2014, the only time Ellis hadn't won a full-distance race she entered was her three races in Kona. Her comeback from the broken collarbone continued in March when Ellis found herself off the top of the podium for the first time at a non-Kona full-distance race—she finished second at the IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne to Caroline Steffen.
All of which should provide ample proof that Ellis will be in the mix on Sunday. The current comeback should come as absolutely no surprise, either—her triathlon career began in 2005 when she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and told she couldn't run marathons anymore. She turned to triathlon and within a few years had managed two second-place finishes at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Then came the impressive IRONMAN debut race, and the rest has been one impressive journey.