It's Ironman World Championships weekend in Kona, Hawaii, or "The Ironman," as a lot of people seem to think of it. That's not quite right, of course; the Hawaii race is only the last of the 20+ Ironman-branded long-distance races that go on around the world each year, the championship event, that you (mostly) don't buy, but qualify your way into. Nevertheless it is the most celebrated, the most arduous (or so I'm given to believe), and the most dramatic. It's the Super Bowl of our sport, except that anyone has a shot at getting on the field.

I've been doing triathlons for a little over two years now, beginning with sprints, moving into Olympic distance, and finishing off this summer with a 70.3 half-iron (more to come on that in the next couple days.)
In fact, I even started a blog about my endeavors way back when, but never really kept that up, so I'm rolling that effort into this one. Within a lot less than two years I've become a real bore about it, too, going on to any poor soul who'll listen about all the little ways triathlon has changed my life for the better. How it's a matter of consistency and discipline, not the test of pain tolerance and superhuman athleticism people think it is. And other such things that probably make others want to slap me silly.

I'll be checking in on the race from time to time tomorrow, via the live feed at the official website. That's your sign that I'm a full-blown geek now; I'm planning to spend some - even a little bit - of a beautiful autumn Saturday watching people swim. And bike...and bike...and bike..for 112 miles. And then run on for another 26. Unless you're a triathlete or are attached to someone who is, tri can be a pretty lackluster spectator sport. That's just my personal opinion, one that might not be shared by the private equity types that just bought Ironman's parent company. Still, it's very cool that you can tune into the race in real-time for free.

Alternatively, wait a month or so and you've got NBC's soft-focus, lachrymose, triumphant presentation that annually grabs a few Emmys. It's hard for me not to tear up while watching it. Even harder to fight the feeling that, against all reason, against even my desire (to do IM, I have none right now), I'll be pushing to get to Kona someday.

Earlier this week, the WSJ profiled A.C. Morgan a plane crash survivor who'll be competing in Kona for the first time, some years after his body was burnt and broken in a plane crash. There's a zillion stories like this every year, and they seldom fail to impress. You know what else impresses, almost as much as it disturbs me? That amateurs find ways to squeeze 20-30 hours of training in on top of a full time job (and I doubt very much that co-managing U.S. equity sales trading is a 9-5, 40 hour per week job).

Trigeeks (and I use the term affectionately) like the folks at Slowtwitch will bristle because he was handed a sponsor spot, rather than having to qualify (the primary route to Kona) or even winning a lottery spot. And I'm a little put off by the fact that a i-bank executive scored a free Trek - I don't think he would have missed the three grand, personally. Then you remember the guy survived getting mangled in a freakin' plane crash, and I suppose a free bike for Kona is fair enough.

So who to cheer for?
Just about anyone, I say. Most of these pro guys and girls seem to be remarkably cool and decent, if intense people. Unlike the real hardcore, who back an athlete based on home country or bike brand or that they know someone who knows someone who trains with him, I haven't got a favorite here.

That said, like just about any weekend warrior who caught last year's NBC show, I've got nothing but love - and a cheer - for Belgian pro Rutger Beke in tomorrow's race. Hobbled by an injury partway through the 2007 race, Beke gamely walked the marathon and finished around 900th place rather than taking the incomplete (which many a pro would have done.) The cameras caught him shuffling slowly alongside the age-groupers, and he explained that none of the people who paid their own way were thinking of giving up, that it was only in the spirit of the race that he finish.

Total class there. You go Rutger.





For my money, the mass (1800-strong) swim starts at Ironman races, just as the sun rises over the water are among the most stirring, beautiful, wild images in all of sports.

Labels: Ironman, Kona, triathlon