Kona Post-Race Report

Hi Folks

I'm sending this report to a few of you who might be interested. It's the day after the race here in Hawaii. Meant to email last night, but I was just too bagged to be coherent. After spectating my first Ironman, I have to say that I think it's less tiring to race.

The pro race was interesting yesterday with the late withdrawal of Chrissie Wellington (the overwhelming woman's favourite) due to illness, and an unexpected men's win by the controversial and brash Chris MacCormack.

The day was hot by Cape Breton standards, although normal by Hawaii standards (85 degrees - whatever the hell that means. Why can't these Americans join the 20th century and go metric!) and windy, making for a tough bike ride. The course is surprisingly hilly, and the times are much slower than other Ironman courses.

Wow - it's an amazing field here. For instance, in my age group alone there were 80 people under 10 hours, on this very tough course.

Julie had a solid race. She felt she was not as mentally pumped for it as she should have been, and as most of the other racers were, but all in all things went well. The race start is REALLY rough, as most of the field are good swimmers and very aggressive. Add an ocean swell and no wetsuits and it makes for a real challenge. The bike course was very windy, hilly, and hot. The run is reasonably hilly, with no shade at all anywhere, and with the bonus of the increased temperatures in the lava fields from the sun baking the black rocks.

Julie came in at 10:43. Last year (and most years) that would have won her age division by a fair margin. This year, she was only in 6th place (originally it had said 7th but there was an error in the results) out of 66 people. The course record in this division had been 10:26, but was smashed by 25 MINUTES!! this year, and 2nd place broke it by 17 minutes. Karen Smyers time this year (former Hawaii winner and still racing pro at 49 yrs old) would only have put her 4th in this age group. So I think Julie did well at 6th place! Sadly, the prizes (which were quite nice) only went 5-deep in each age group, so she just missed her chance to stand on the podium at the big show. She was a bit bummed.

Today we spent driving around Hawaii's Big Island. Wow - amazing place. From deserts to lush tropical rainforests, 13000 ft mountains, active volcanoes, and more. All on an Island only about 80K in circumference.

The awards ceremony today was a bit of a denouement. Neither Chris MacCormack or Mirinda Carfrae was a good speaker, and the whole thing was LONG. The only highlight was watching 80-yr-old Lou Hollander take his crown as the 80+ champion and oldest finisher. (BTW - he was only 1 minute slower than at age 55!).

I posted some photos if you want to check them out. Julie insisted I post the underpants run shots. I have to defend myself by saying that everyone as doing it, I swear (the last time I ran down the street in underpants I was drunk and ended up in jail overnight, although I have to say the charges were later dropped)! Back tomorrow.

It'll be a challenge to readjust to CB October temperatures.

Bighead