Noting that she delivered ‘a performance that tested the limits of endurance and on-course nutrition’, energy gel pioneer GU Energy has celebrated Mirinda ‘Rinny’ Carfrae who last weekend captured the IRONMAN World Championship title for the third time.
With her third crown, Rinny joins a select group of only four women – including Paula Newby-Fraser, Chrissie Wellington and Natascha Badmann – who have won in Kona at least three times.
Carfrae has been a GU-sponsored athlete since early 2010, and the 33-year-old Australian said, “It is simple: I do what I love every day. Nutrition is a massive part of training and racing. I prepared for Kona, nailed my nutrition, and something magical happened.”
As with her previous efforts, Rinny relied on a furious run leg to claim victory, breaking her own run course record to notch a marathon time of 2:50:26. Perhaps more impressively, she was 14 minutes behind the leader at the start of the marathon portion, finally catching second place finisher Daniela Ryf at around mile 22.
While hot and blustery conditions meant that she would not break her own record time of 8:52:14, Carfrae’s finish in just over nine hours has established her among the Kona greats.
GU Energy Director of Marketing Lauren O’Connor said, “What is especially rewarding is seeing Rinny put in all the work it takes to win. It requires an unimaginable amount of commitment, and we are enormously proud to be the fuel that allows for this kind of performance. Congratulations Rinny!”
GU Energy Gel was developed in 1993 in Berkeley, California. To this day, the company notes that GU remains the ‘market share leader by a margin of more than two to one’, and offers up a premium gel range targeted at the needs of endurance athletes. GU, Roctane, Chomps and Brew are designed to provide athletes with ‘scientifically-based, performance-tested nutrition’.
