General News
10 October, 2025
Miller ready for Ironman World Championships
The countdown is on for Kelly Miller as she is in the final days of preparation for the 2025 Ironman World Championships, taking place in Kona, Hawaii, this weekend.
Miller will race alongside 250 competitors in the female 45-49 age category, where she is set to complete a 3.9km swim and a 180km bike leg, followed by a 42.2km marathon run to conclude the event.
The Saturday, October 11, race (local time), will be Miller’s fourth at the Ironman World Championships.
The Horsham triathlete said her previous experience won’t make it much easier, with temperatures expected to hit 30 degrees, along with high humidity.
“I know what I’m in for but it can also be quite daunting as well,” Miller said.
“Kona throws all the elements at you with the heat, the humidity, and you’re riding through lava fields, so you’re getting the heat from the road as well.”
Miller travelled to Hawaii last week to allow herself to acclimatise.
“To prepare for the race, you really need to be here a week before just to acclimatise and get a few sessions in the heat," she said.
“That first run when I got here, I was dying.
“I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, how am I even gonna do this?'
“But I’ve been here about a week and am starting to feel a little bit acclimatised and getting excited now that it's race week.”
The world championships would cap off a big year for Miller, having qualified after winning her age category at both the Ironman New Zealand and Ironman Cairns events earlier this year.
It is a welcome reward after suffering a devastating hamstring injury last year.
“I tore two tendons clean off the bone so I had to have surgery to repair that,” Miller said.
“But I never gave up and always dreamt of coming back to qualify.”
After training hard all year, Miller said three weeks of active recovery after the Cairns Ironman allowed her body to rest before her preparation for Kona.
“After I had those three weeks off, the training has been going really well,” she said.
“I’ve pretty much stuck to each session, and each week I’m doing anywhere between 20 and 25 hours of training a week, which is pretty solid when you’re working, along with three kids.”
Miller praised her family, colleagues and coach for their continued support of her Ironman endeavours.
“I’m grateful to be here,” she said.
“It takes a village, and I’ve got amazing support with my family, and my workplace is incredible; they even travelled to Singapore with me in 2023 for one of my races.
“I’ve also got an incredible coach.
“Very lucky to have lots of people around me who support me.”
After placing sixth in the female 40-44 age category in the 2019 championships, Miller said a top-five finish would be incredible.
“It’s difficult to compare times as each race is different and you have different conditions, but I'm hoping to go a little bit faster if I can,” she said.
‘If I could get close to the top 10 in my age group, I'd be absolutely stoked.
“They podium the first five and I missed that by about six seconds in 2019 so I guess, deep down, to podium one time would be an absolute thrill.”
Miller’s race starts at 3.40am Australian Eastern Standard Time on Sunday.
With Miller expected to race for upwards of 10 hours, people back home can track her progress on the IRONMAN Tracker app.