Career
Carfrae holds the Ironman Championship course record (8:52:14, set in 2013), beating Wellington"s record of 8:54:02 which had stood since 2009. On her debut in 2009, she set a new course record for the marathon of 2:56:51, beating Wellington"s record of 2:57:44 set the previous year. She again set new course records for the marathon in 2010 (2:53:32), 2011 (2:52:09, where Wellington—suffering from serious injuries—also beat Carfrae"s 2010 record), 2013 (2:50:38, where only two men recorded a faster time), and 2014 (2:50:26).
Carfrae competed in her first triathlon in 2000, at the age of 19.
She went on to represent Australia at the Junior and U23 level, winning a silver medal at the 2003 International Telecommunication Union U23 World Championships. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.
Long distance
Carfrae"s first attempt at longer distances was at the Lake Tinaroo Half Ironman in September 2002, where she finished in second place behind Rebekah Keat, setting a new run course record of 1:21:20. Referring to this race, she later wrote, "I just remember feeling more comfortable racing the longer distance, and from then I knew I would be racing full Ironman at some point in future."
At the 2009 Ironman World Championship, Carfrae"s first Ironman race, she finished second behind Chrissie Wellington, breaking Wellington"s 2008 course record for the women"s marathon with a time of 2:56:51.
She wrote, "My first tri was at the end of 1999—my first Ironman was 10 years later.
I waited until I felt I was physically and mentally strong enough to go the distance, and until I could be seriously competitive."
Carfrae set a course record at the Ironman World Championship at Kona, Hawaii in 2013 with a time of 8:52:14. Additionally, at that race she set a women"s record time for the run portion of the course at 2:50:38. In 2015 she started the Ironman World Championship race at Kona, but withdrew from the bike leg due to pain from injuries sustained in a collision with a car earlier that week.
Source: "". mirindacarfrae.com.
Retrieved 20 December 2011.