After being in the thick of the racing for much of the day, James Cunnama has withdrawn from the race.
IRONMAN LEADING WOMEN OFF BIKE
1 Liz BLATCHFORD (#21) 5:59:31
2 Gina CRAWFORD (#22) 6:06:12 +06:41
3 Michelle BREMER (#24) 6:11:15 +11:43
4 Larisa MARSH (#27) 6:12:02 +12:31
5 Kym COOGAN (#28) 6:12:43 +13:12
6 Sarah CROWLEY (#26) 6:15:42 +16:10
Our spotter on course reports that McKenzie looks comfortable, and is running better than he was at the start of the run leg. It's been a similar game plan to 2013 where McKenzie got off the bike with a big lead over Tim Berkel and held on to run a three hour marathon and win by 5 mins. He'll be hoping for more of the same for the back half of today's marathon.
Blatchford is well into her second lap of the run and holding strong, still leading by over 6 minutes. She's just gone past our spotter Amanda Balding and given her the thumbs up.
IRONMAN TOP FOUR PROS HALFWAY IN RUN
1 Luke MCKENZIE (#2) 6:47:09
2 Cameron BROWN (#1) 6:58:46 +11:36
3 Simon BILLEAU (#12) 7:03:31 +16:21
4 Dylan MCNEICE (#4) 7:08:43 +21:33
Luke McKenzie is holding onto his strong lead on the last lap of the run at the 35km mark. Cam Brown still approx 10 mins back in 2nd.
Our leader Liz Blatchford is on her way back into town at the 26km mark to start her 3rd lap. Gina Crawford is in 2nd, and report from our spotter out on course is that Michelle Bremer is holding onto 3rd but 4th place Sarah Crowley is closing in and looking strong.
Luke McKenzie is our 2015 Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns Champion!
120km into the bike Luke has said that his race had started to go sour as his body was rejecting the nutrition, on the run he said he started 'empty' but managed to hold onto a win for his 2nd IRONMAN Cairns title.
What a week for the Queenslander..... Engaged to his beautiful fiance Beth Gerdes on Green Island earlier this week and a win here today!
Kiwi and last year's champion Cam Brown has crossed the line in 2nd place.
3rd place pro male Dylan McNeice has crossed in 8:36:55
Blatchford is entering the final countdown of her 2015 IRONMAN Cairns journey. She has just begun her final 5k decent towards the finish line. This victory will make Blatchford a 3 x consecutive winner of the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns.
2nd place Kiwi Gina Crawford is 8.5 mins behind Liz, with Michelle Bremer still holding onto 3rd. Sarah Crowley is close in 4th but reports are that her form has dropped and doesn't look like she can push up to 3rd place.
And another #IMCairns bites the dust for Liz Blatchford who is officially now the 3 x Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns female champion. She has earned the title "Queen of Cairns" - congratulations Liz!
TOP FIVE MALES OVERALL
1 Luke MCKENZIE (#2) 8:18:01
2 Cameron BROWN (#1) 8:26:22
3 Dylan MCNEICE (#4) 8:36:55
4 Levy MAXWELL (#952) 8:36:57
5 Simon BILLEAU (#12) 8:42:05
LEADING FEMALE PROS FINISH
1 Liz BLATCHFORD (#21) 9:11:48
2 Gina CRAWFORD (#22) 9:20:55 +09:06
3 Michelle BREMER (#24) 9:35:31 +23:42
4 Sarah CROWLEY (#26) 9:38:42 +26:53
5 Kym COOGAN (#28) 9:46:41 +34:52
6 Christie SYM (#33) 9:56:33 +44:44
7 Larisa MARSH (#27) 9:58:44 +46:55