Lower back pain appears to be the reason Tyler Butterfield pulled out of today’s Ironman World Championships just before the end of the bike.

Meanwhile Germany’s Sebastian Kienle is still going strong and appears to be well on the way to a convincing victory. Former Olympic Gold Medallist Jan Frodeno is moving into 2nd but Kienle is well ahead.

Karen Smith is still in 2nd in the F45-49 age group with the 112 mile bike almost completed. She has about 2 minutes on the 3rd place competitor but is 6 minutes behind the age group leader ; what a performance so far !!