Photo credit: Kolo T.C.

Iceman 2022: Pass counts, insights, and alternate podiums

Words by Ben Snyder, data by Stephen Spry

In what many thought would be another Mudman Cometh, we saw the pros put in blazing speeds with Alexey Vermeulen winning the top spot at 1:30:02. That’s 23 seconds faster than the winning time last year!

And while the real star of the 33rd Iceman Cometh was Michigan’s own “state soil” known as Kalkaska sand — which helped shed the 1.5" of rain that fell the night before — glory isn’t reserved for the pros.

You can bet that stories of near misses and surprising triumphs fueled many-a-gatherings into the wee hours of Sunday morning. So, let’s honor that excitement and dig into lesser known accomplishments of the day.

Pass counts

In the spreadsheet below you’ll find statistics for all riders in the primary waves of the race — that is, all racers excluding Sno-Cone (we now have Slush Cup results too). The two types of analysis in the report are:

• Wave performance — How you placed in your wave and which wave you caught up to by the time you finished.
• Pass ratios — How many people you passed, how many people passed you, your Modulus of Passicity™ (a proprietary metric that quantifies your pass performance for easy comparison), and your passes as a percentage of people you passed who started in your wave or earlier.

To use the spreadsheet, click the link below and scroll to find your name in the column labeled “Racer” (use the wave column to help locate yourself quicker). If you’re having trouble, try using control + f on Windows or command + f on Mac to search by your name.

Iceman 2022 Passes

Alt podiums

Official podiums at Iceman are coveted feats for riders of all fitness levels. Yet, there’s an untold story of the folks from higher waves that faced the daunting handicap of rider congestion of the earlier heats.

It’s these riders that we feel deserve a distinguished callout for their hard-earned finish times despite having to ride in what was likely a thick layer of sand and leaves for large portions of the race.

Without further ado, here are the top five spots on the alt podiums for the categories of women, men, and juniors.

Women

1. Lisa Byrnes — Starting wave: 46; Riders passed: 629; MoP™: 210; Earliest wave caught: 10; Waves jumped: 36
2. Kate Munson — Starting wave: 29; Riders passed: 531; MoP™: 24; Earliest wave caught: 8; Waves jumped: 21
3. Carrie Stewart — Starting wave: 43; Riders passed: 527; MoP™: 29; Earliest wave caught: 10; Waves jumped: 33
4. Meaghan Hagerman — Starting wave: 39; Riders passed: 526; MoP™: 22; Earliest wave caught: 10; Waves jumped: 29
5. Lauren Timmer — Starting wave: 44; Riders passed: 497; MoP™: 22; Earliest wave caught: 10; Waves jumped: 34

Men

1. Gregg Hickmann — Starting wave: 35; Riders passed: 992; MoP™: Infinity; Earliest wave caught: 8; Waves jumped: 27
2. Matt Klann — Starting wave: 44; Riders passed: 867; MoP™: Infinity; Earliest wave caught: 8; Waves jumped: 36
3. Nicholas Hammer — Starting wave: 33; Riders passed: 864; MoP™: Infinity; Earliest wave caught: 8; Waves jumped: 25
4. Juan Miguel Lizares — Starting wave: 40; Riders passed: 849; MoP™: Infinity; Earliest wave caught: 8; Waves jumped: 32
5. John Van Alsburg — Starting wave: 34; Riders passed: 845; MoP™: 845; Earliest wave caught: 8; Waves jumped: 26

Junior women

1. Elizabeth DeFauw — Starting wave: 51; Riders passed: 328; MoP™: 164
2. Charlotte Wright-Rosinki (tied for 2nd) — Starting wave: 52; Riders passed: 324; MoP™: 162
3. Nya Caldwell (tied for 2nd)— Starting wave: 52; Riders passed: 324; MoP™: 162
4. Anabel Miller — Starting wave: 51; Riders passed: 308; MoP™: 62
5. Lauren Schultz — Starting wave: 51; Riders passed: 298; MoP™: 43

Junior men

1. Drew Cummins — Starting wave: 49; Riders passed: 549; MoP™: Infinity.
2. Henry Conaway — Starting wave: 49; Riders passed: 546; MoP™: 546
3. Spencer Blaz — Starting wave: 49; Riders passed: 537; MoP™: 269
4. Gerrit Boer (tied for 4th) — Starting wave: 49; Riders passed: 527; MoP™: 176
5. James Meyer (tied for 4th)— Starting wave: 50; Riders passed: 527; MoP™: Infinity

Additional insights:

• The three fastest non-pros were all juniors. Maybe it was all the Halloween candy?
• Like in the recent mudman race, there was a high DNF / DNS rate of 1174 people (25% of registrants) which may have been weather related
• Wave placements were quite accurate this year as average times in each wave followed their respective wave number (red slanted line below)

Last year, average wave times were more randomly distributed across waves, seemingly indicating that this year's wave placement process was fairer.

That’s a wrap

Thanks to the organizers and promoters for a great experience. We look forward to 2023 when we can all play in the messy, sometimes miraculous, Kalkaska sand again.

Follow Stephen and Ben on Strava:

Strava Cyclist Profile | Ben Snyder

Strava Cyclist Profile | Stephen S.

Among all this talk of speed, remember to make time for slow moments too.