IRONMAN Pro Series leader Anne Reischmann joked that she had ‘left a lot out on the course’ – quite literally – after an IRONMAN Hamburg nightmare.

The 33-year-old German started to feel ill on the second of four running laps and went on to be sick multiple times as she was forced into a change of tactics which would ultimately cost her the chance of challenging for a podium place.

Her eventual fourth-place finish was testament to her levels of drive and determination as she eventually came home behind the record-setting duo of Laura Philipp and Kat Matthews and third-placed debutant Solveig Løvseth.

A day which was impacted by poor weather and difficult conditions, Reischmann is already keen to learn the lessons of Hamburg, particularly why she was hit with the sudden bout of vomiting.

Reischmann Hamburg debrie

“Left a lot out there on the course – literally!” she joked in her latest Instagram post. “I quickly found a nice rhythm and a good pace. My breathing was normal and I was fully focused on myself. The podium was quite far away (yes anything can happen) but I just wanted to run fast for myself.

“On the second of four laps I started to feel a little sick and not long after I had to stop and vomit. I started running again and 100m later the next stop. With 24k still to go, I knew I had to make good decisions now and not waste any energy.

“I buried my goal of a fast run and tried to find a good balance between running and taking my time at aid stations, carefully giving coke a try. My legs still felt good so that helped.

“At km 35 I had to stop again several times. So relieved when I made the turn on the finish line. Thanks to the fantastic volunteers and medical staff helping me out immediately 🫶🏼

“So, what went wrong? I’m not 100% sure, as I’ve been using the same fueling strategy for the past few years and only once before struggled (London 2024). I can think of a couple of possible reasons and now I have plenty of time to figure it out until the next race.”

Scramble at the start

Race preparation will also be something she considers ahead of her next event, admitting that she was completely caught out by pre-swim changes that resulted in her scrambling to be ready for the off.

“Race morning went a little differently than planned,” she added. “Bad weather conditions challenged the organizers (thank you for giving us the opportunity to race a full IM) and requested a bit of patience from our athletes.

“At the end the pro athletes were left with 30min between transition opening and swim start. I got so hectic that I made some stupid mistakes that cost me a couple of minutes and in the end I sprinted to the swim start, not handling in special needs… and got in the water a couple of seconds before the gun went.

Definitely room for improvement here for me learning to stay calm next time. Thanks again for cheering and supporting, to my little team and also to some of my competitors. And last but not least to our podium @‌laura_philipp_tri🥇@‌katr_matthews🥈 and @‌solveig_lovseth🥉- just wow! 🤩”

Germany’s Philipp and British superstar Matthews battled all the way to the line with their times of 8:03:13 and 8:05:13 respectively, smashing the previous fastest ever recorded by a woman in an IRONMAN-branded full distance event – which Matthews had set herself at IRONMAN Texas in April when she clocked 8:10:34.

Norway’s Løvseth (8:12:28) put in an outstanding full-distance debut display, while Reischmann (8:32:46) still managed to come in 10 minutes ahead of fifth-placed compatriot Leonie Konczalla (8:42:39).

Matthews sits in second place behind Reischmann in the Pro Series standings, with Danielle Lewis in third, Marta Sanchez in fourth and the impressive Løvseth fifth.