This weekend is the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. This is race is the super bowl of triathlon - it doesn't really get any bigger. This year I find myself particularly invested in the race. I've been following the top contenders all year and their race results from all the marquee races around the world. Sadly, this is not an event that I can watch on TV live. I'll have to settle for following the results on the day of the race and then waiting a few weeks until NBC shows it on tape - paired down to about an hour of coverage. I've decided the only way to really watch this race would be live. With that being said there may be a trip to Kona for Ironman week in sometime in my future.
There are a couple of websites that are giving great race week coverage. A lot of athlete interviews and reporting of the general goings on in Kona.
Everymantri.com
Triathlon.competitor.com
One of the great things about this sport is that there is really nothing differentiating the pro triathletes from the age groupers. Lets say you are a golf fan and just an average Joe golfer - could you go enter a tournament that Tiger woods was entering? Probably not. Triathlon, on the other hand, is much different. Craig Alexander, the two time Ironman world champion, raced a fair amount of half-iron distances in the U.S. this year. Any of these races I could have easily entered. Our bikes would have been in the same transition and we would run the same course. Chances are, if I really wanted to I could go up to him and shake his hand after the race. I could probably also have a conversation with Craig, just as if he were any other competitor. How cool is that? Pro's and Amateurs toeing the same line at the start and crossing the same line at the finish.
1 comment:
Go for it, Louie!
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