Bradley qualifies for 2024 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii

Contributed Phots – A happy Scott Bradley after he qualified for next year’s Ironman World Championships.

Persistence has certainly paid off for Lyndonville native Scott Bradley as his two year quest to qualify for the Ironman World Championships has been achieved.

In 2022 the highlight of Bradley’s triathlon season was competing in the Norseman Extreme Triathlon in Norway where he placed 23rd out of 239 participants and was the top finisher from the United States out of the 14 who took part in the race..

However, in giving up his Pro Card at the end of 2021, Bradley’s goal was to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, the penultimate triathlon in all of triathlon racing.

His first attempt at qualifying was at Ironman Arizona in November of 2022, but unfortunately he was unsuccessful. Slots for Kona were handed out down through the 6th place finisher in Scott’s 35-39 Age Group. He finished 7th, 2 minutes and 15 seconds behind the 6th place finisher. He would try again in 2023.

When the US Triathlon Association (USAT) posted its final 2022 rankings, using Complete Rankings, Scott was ranked 3rd in New York State within his 35-39 Age Group and 4th within this AG in the entire Northeast.

As was the plan when Scott began racing under the tutelage of his current coach back in 2018, he was prepared to race in fewer competitions and have bigger training blocks for each race. In 2023 he competed in only two races, but with excellent results.

Bradley competed at Ironman 70.3 Western Massachusetts in June, racing in the 40-44 Age Group for the first time. This was an Age Group only race with no professionals.

Bradley in action at the Ironman Chattanooga.

An Ironman 70.3 includes a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile (half marathon) run.

Bradley swam a very strong 26:58, coming out of the water 18th overall. He then rode the fastest bike time of the day among all participants with a time of 2:10:30, averaging 26.34 mph. With this time, he was the Overall race leader coming off the bike by over eight minutes.

He maintained his planned run pace through the 6-mile mark where he experienced a hamstring tear. Continuing on, he was overtaken by two competitors around the 10-mile mark. Ending up with a time of 1:28:41 for the half marathon, he finished 1st in his Age Group (101 participants) and 3rd Overall (1155 participants) with a time of 4:13:30.

Ironman Chattanooga was Scott’s next attempt at qualifying for Kona. A full Ironman includes a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride (Chattanooga’s is 116 miles) and a 26.2 mile (marathon) run.

IM Chattanooga was another Age Group only race.

Bradley came out of the water in 14th place Overall in a time of 37:50. There was an extremely strong current in the Chattanooga River at race time which allowed nearly everyone to have personal bests for their 2.4 mile swim. By the 57.7-mile split on the bike, he had climbed to first Overall.

In reaching the 73.2-mile mark, the eventual Overall winner for the day had taken over 1st place on the bike. He finished the bike in 4:43:15 (24.46 mph), maintaining 2nd place Overall and 1st in his Age Group.

As in his past several full triathlons, he began struggling on the run, this time around the 7-mile split. He was overtaken by the eventual 40-44 AG winner around the 10-mile mark. He dropped to 3rd in his AG around the 17-mile mark and 4th around the 19-mile mark. Digging deep, he finished with a 3:46:50 for the run maintaining his 4th place finish in his AG and placing 11th Overall out of 1372 participants with a time of 9:14:11.

Now for the agonizing wait to find out how many Kona slots there were in the 40-44 Age Group. At 6:00 a.m. the next morning the number of slots for each Age Group was released. The 40-44 AG had 4!!! Bradley was going to the 2024 IM World Championships in Kona!!

In preparation for his race in Kona on October 26, 2024, Bradley is presently looking at potentially racing in one or two 70.3’s in June-July in preparation for his big race. He and his coach have the challenge of preparing Scott to be able to climb off his bike and have a better run than those he has recently had. Needless to say there will be extensive training blocks over the next year in preparation for racing in this “Bucket List” race.

Bradley is the Director of Career and Technical Education at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES in Auburn, N.Y.