Ironman Kona 2012 from the sidelines

Excuse the patchy blog. Its just a lot of pictures of IM day downloaded from my iPhone. Liezel and I are flying to Maui in a few hours for XTERRA Worlds in 2 weeks, so its packing time again. Meaning I dont have time to compose a cute blog about this deep event- which certainly cant be summed up in a few short lines.

Here’s some random snapshots

Aussies continue to dominate men’s race. 6 years and counting. “Runner” Pete Jacobs took the race by the scruff of its neck on the bike and pulled through in tough conditions and slow times in all 3 disciplines. It really was a race or attrition rather than tactics & speed. Andreas Raelert ran into 2nd and Sebastian Kienle (4th) was about to blow the race apart with his strong bike but then got a flat and lost 5 minutes. Macca took strain going up Palani drive (early on and dropped out on the bike.

After an explosive ride (pun intended) Marino Vanhoenacker suddenly blew up in the lava fields and gave up the lead. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Was quite a performance, despite the DNF.

I was impressed with Jordan Rapp’s sage pacing strategy. Surprisingly, something not so common in this race. He was 9min down in the swim, did his own race and was one of the freshest and fastest runners out there. Herbert Krabel from Slowtwitch.com providing interesting foreground…

3 time Kona winner and defending champion Craig Alexander came into this race brimming with confidence and very well prepared. This race on this island is exceptionally harsh and unpredictable and does not respect reputations or titles. Crowie had a rough day- finishing 12th- lost 20min on the bike when his body shut down and his smooth run style lacked the usual punch. He remains a true gent and an ambassador for the sport. Was amazing to hear the cheers wherever he ran through the crowds.

Tim O’Donnell showing perfect form on Alii drive to finish 8th in this 1st Kona.

Jordan Rapp and Paul Amey on Alii drive

Caroline Steffen on leading towards Energy Lab

Legend and former pro Kenny Glah doing his 29th Kona. Wrap your head around that!?

Luke McKenzie blitzed the bike and shows perfect belly breathing

Liezel and I watched the start with coffee, rusks, papaya, macadamias and a few thousand spectators

With the humidity here you have to Zip Loc the rusks to keep them crunchy

Saw quite a bit of gorilla marketing here. Like this gorilla chasing the banana, chasing Marino. For miles! The gorilla came prepared though- spot the Camel Back. Should be a Gorilla Back…

Wonder what a “Barnana” is?

Specialized sent a team of engineers to “look and learn”. They scribbled notes in books, took photos and video, counted bikes, ogled the opposition and learned the intricacies triathlon. This Shiv with hydraulic brakes (amoungst other things) belongs to Mark Cote aka The Pharaoh of Aero- the father of the Shiv…

When I rode back from my own late training session I saw some amazing stuff- like this amputee running in the dark with her leg going click click click. Only 36km to go.

Saffers Alec Riddle and Kyle Buckingham chilling at Lava Java in the week before the crowds came. Love the Ukelele tunes. Liezel got me one for my birthday 2 weeks from now- but I’m already learning.

The setting at the Oakley House…

Pretty cool backyard for Olympic silver Lisa Norden, who resided on the Oakley premises.

Training is going great for XTERRA World in Maui on the 28th. In fact, I was going so fast, this cop couldnt even zap me with his tazer, I mean lazer