I grabbed this from Ironmanlive.com, this is the last post of the in-race updates. I suggest reading the entire site, its actually really nice.

A great debut event ...

The folks here in Tempe didn’t really know what was coming at them this weekend.

The Starbucks just down the road from the race site ran out of coffee today. The Quizno’s ran out of bread to make sandwiches.

While the spectators might have gone short on coffee and subs, the athletes weren’t shorted anything. Of the 1,830 athletes who entered the water this morning, almost 1,700 of them finished. A lot endured what seemed like a lot more flats than usual. A few, tragically, missed the last loop of the bike course. Everyone had to face some really stiff winds, that the champion, Faris Al-Sultan, described as “every-bit as tough as Hawaii.”

In the end, we got to see all the great things we’ve come to expect, and love, here at Ironman races. There was the incredible Frank Farrar, a 76-year-old who was told more than a decade ago that he had a few months to live. He’s managed to stack a few Ironman finishes into those few months, doc!

There was Faris Al-Sultan, who decimated this tough men’s field on the way to winning his first Ironman Championship.

There was Kate Major, who gutted out another Ironman win, and Desiree Ficker, who kept fighting right to the very end.

There was the inevitable proposal – and yes, she said yes!

Then, as is always a fun part of the night, there was a huge party at the finish line, with athletes finishing right up to the midnight deadline!

Tempe didn’t know what was coming … but all of us Ironman fans sure did!

Thanks for joining us!