It looks like conditions at the Hawaii Ironman put paid to a lot of people's aspirations with both Spencer Smith and Paul Amey dropping out on the run. Other big name athletes like Jurgen Zack, Luc van Lierde, Peter Reid and Dave Scott also fell by the wayside.

Here's a thought though. Why is it that when the going gets tough; Fredericia, Salford, London, Hawaii, whatever the distance, we always end up with a much higher percentage of the women finishing than the men? I mean, and with no disrespect, there's Spencer dropping out at mile 2 on the run while Karen Smyers finishes despite throwing up most of the way round. Is there something about women that inherently makes them better suited to the long hard grind? Childbirth is, I guess, one biological reason that this happens but a lot of the women out there racing haven't produced offspring so it's got to be built in. There's an interesting picture in Dan Empfield's bike park survey that he thinks throws some light on the matter as well. Anyway, any comments?

Here is a final list of finishers; top ten men and women and all the Brits we could find.