From the Publisher
KONA SHOULD BE ON EVERY TRIATHLETE’S BUCKET LIST — EVEN IF YOU DON’T BRING YOUR BIKE
By Chuck Menke
Over the course of a career in sports, and lifetime of fandom, I’ve been fortunate to witness some truly remarkable athletic events.
I once saw Mariano Rivera close out a World Series sweep for the Yankees. There were gold-medal performances at the Summer and Winter Olympics, including Usain Bolt atop the podium in 2012 after another 100-meter blur.
I was in the pressbox when hockey legend Ray Bourque finally hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup for a story-book ending to a 22-year career. Not a dry eye in the house.
NCAA Final Fours, World Championships and All-Star Games.
Some were serendipitous, like the time I was in Minneapolis and decided to take in a Twins game one night against the Baltimore Orioles. Unbeknownst to me, Cal Ripken entered the night needing four hits to reach 3,000. He, of course, proceeded to go 4-for-4, as only Ripken could. Or when I was 12 and had goaded my parents to drive me to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Halfway there, while reading the sports section in the back seat, I learned the induction ceremony was happening that very day.
But, for me, none of these moments can compare to the spiritual experience one finds on the Big Island of Hawai’i each October. This year marked the 35th anniversary for the Ironman World Championships in Kona. It was my second trip.
The differences between Kona and every other sporting event in the world — the same could be said for the sport of triathlon as a whole — are considerable.
For one thing, pros and amateurs compete on the same course at virtually the same time.
Where else does this happen? (Imagine finding yourself in the middle of a peloton while cycling through the Alps during the Tour de France.) This year the top age-group finisher — a 29-year-old South African electrician named Kyle Buckingham — even bested the defending men’s pro champion, Pete Jacobs, with an amateur record of 8:37:26.
And then there are the individual stories of human triumph.
People from all corners of the world, each with their own personal motivations, accomplishing a feat that seems impossible to most: 140.6 miles of swimming, biking and running through torturous heat and soul-crushing wind. Some are overcoming cancer, the hands the time, missing limbs or the ghosts of addiction. Some race in honor of our military heroes. And then there’s Fireman Rob, who last year ran the marathon leg in full fireman’s gear on behalf of first-responders everywhere.
Watching the final athletes make their way across the finish line as the clock approaches midnight can be a life-changing moment and inspires your own triathlon pursuits in an unimaginable way.
It’s a pure celebration of the human spirit and all that’s right on this revolving, rotating ball of mud we call Earth. And sometimes — as I write this our country is in Week 3 of a government shutdown — we desperately need that reminder.
The Ironman World Championships are the very embodiment of sport, and those who have been there know what I’m talking about.
Racing in Kona is a bucket-list item for many triathletes, but very few actually get the chance.
Regardless of whether you have a shot at earning an entry, or if it’s simply be a pipe dream, everyone who holds a special place in their heart for the sport should make the pilgrimage to this triathlon Mecca at least once.
Sure, it’s a long trip to get there from the mainland. But think about it: you can fly to Kona from as far away as Alaska in less time than it takes some athletes to make the 17-hour cutoff. (And, by not racing, you can spend the rest of the week in paradise without a severe hitch in your giddy-up.) Make plans for next year. Chances are you’ll never experience anything quite like it in the world of sports.
Chuck Menke is USA Triathlon’s Director of Marketing & Communications.
16 USA TRIATHLON FALL 2013
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