For those of you not familiar with the Kona Ironman, this was the World Championship race for the Ironman triathalon distance. The participants first swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles, then run a marathon (26.2) miles for a total of 140.6 miles covered in one day. For Ironman triathalons in general, pros finish the race in 9 to 10 hours, the average participant finishes in 12 to 13 hours. In Kona, the pros finish in 8.5 to 9.5 hours, and the average participant finishes in 10.5 to 11.5 hours.
The friend who invited me watch the race with her, Shannon, knows a lot more about this race than I do. And there is plenty of information about training for, getting into, and participating in the race itself on the internet. One factoid Shannon noted, however, is that she couldn't find any information on the web about spectating for this race--something I'm going to try to rectify. Because of the course design, it was relatively simple to spectate and support participants at the Kona Ironman.
The race went out and back from a 2 block radius in Kona as the hub. Most of our spectating was done within 1/2 miles of the King Kamehameha hotel which was the official race hotel. The race start was in the water in the bay in front of the hotel:
The red flag shows the position of the hotel. We got great views and were able to cheer from Palani road as the racers cycled and ran up and down this road several times. They finished the race arriving towards the hotel from Alii Drive.
The best views of the transition area were probably from the tall banyan tree-- though we didn't get there early enough to climb and get a prime spot (and police officers were preventing people from climbing on the backside of the tree). The tree is in front of the race start and by the swim transition so we stood by the tree for a while and watched the swimmers leave, return, and then head-out on their bikes from this viewing location. The swim portion was crowded and almost looked like a fish feeding frenzy. This was confirmed after the race when we heard that people were swimming on top of each other and kicking each other during the swim. We also heard, however, that there was a school of dolphins in the water swimming by the race start as well.
The cut-off time for the swim is 2 hrs 20 min, so waiting for people to finish wasn't too bad. Once we saw them off on their bikes, we went off for lunch at Quinn's which is on Palani. The fish dishes were just okay, but the people who had burgers said they were pretty good. However, Quinn's had temporarily set-up outdoor seating to view the race and it was a great place to see both the cyclists coming into the transition and the runners heading out for the last portion:
For the grueling part of the marathon, we stood a block up the hill on Palani and cheered people on. This portion (north of the Queen K Highway) was approximately 9 miles into the marathon and a serious hill. I bought a cow bell at the Ironman tent store which was in the hotel parking lot and cheered people on until after the sun went down.
The finish was right by the swim start off of Alii, and people were lined up along Alii cheering on people as they finished:
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| From Hawaii, 2011 |
Some other notes for spectators:
Tracking athletes
I was able to track the race using my Android smartphone. Unfortunately there is no 4G in Kona, and generally the signal strength in town was weak (Sprint is my carrier). We discovered that the race organizers had set-up workstations connected to the internet in a corner of the hotel lobby that people were using to track racers and watch the online race footage. It became the place to check on our racers' progress as they passed certain check points and calculate how long it would take them to get to a certain point in the race. It was also a nice place to get a break from the sun and enjoy a little bit of air conditioning.
Ironman merchandise
Several of the local shops were selling Ironman merchandise before, during, and after the race. The official Ironman merchandise tent, however, closed the day after the race. They had the best selection and for you bargain hunters, they had started to mark down t-shirts after the swim cut-off had completed. Also, the Wal-mart a few blocks up Pulani from the hotel had Ironman shirts for sale the weeks before the race also.
Calculating where to be when
This applies to all races, not just this one. This was the first time I had ever cheered on specific runners for any race, but I used the same basic math that I use when I'm running to calculate pace and estimated distance. All you need to know is the racers' estimated pace, start time, and where you are on the course. For example, if a person is running 10 min/mile pace and you are 9 miles into the marathon course, then the person will be running past you about 10 x 9= 90 minutes after they start the run portion. All you need to keep track of is when they hit each transition and add the estimated time onto that. I'm sure somewhere there is an App for keeping track of this.
And finally, the maps of the ironman course are here: http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/?show=maps#axzz1cx1y6FKv
Spectating for this race is so much fun-- especially in the run portion when these competitors have been out on the course for hours and still have a marathon to complete, and are running past the spectators so we can see the pain and grimaces. The pros are amazing to watch, but it's the 'regular' people that really inspire me. They don't make excuses not to train or participate. They don't quit. I have something to learn from these people!
