Hoka Pro athletes had strong performances:
Pro Men:
8th Patrik Nilsson SWEDEN (48:34, 4:29:02, 2:55:51) 8:18:21
10th Boris Stein GERMANY (53:48, 4:23:59, 3:00:42) 8:22:24
19th Tim O’Donnell USA (48:38, 4:25:10, 3:15:15) 8:33:53
20th Alessandro Degasperi ITALY (53:44, 4:40:14, 2:56:43) 8:35:25
29th Josh Amberger AUS (47:09, 4:30:59, 3:25:55) 8:48:13
Pro Women:
4th Heather Jackson (57:58, 4:53:54, 3:06:19) 9:02:29
In IM’s 40-year history, Patrik Nilsson’s 8:18:21 time would have placed in the top 3 all but four times, it was a fast and competitive race from start to finish. Patrik in his first Hawaii Ironman showed the potential he has to compete for the overall in years to come. Heather Jackson represented HOKA in such a powerful way, working her way through the field from 15th place after the swim, clocking the 2nd fastest bike split of the day and running the 4th fastest marathon of the day. Her 4th place finish was 9min faster than her 3rd place last year showing how fast and competitive this year was in comparison.
Most importantly, Hoka were the #1 footwear brand worn, with 18.1% share of the 2,455 competitors from around the world. The ascension at KONA is nothing short of extraordinary in a short period of time:
2011: 1.4%
2012: 1.7%
2013: 1.9%
2014: 6%
2015: 11.6%
2016: 16%
2017: 18.1%