Getting there is half the battle Th...

Getting there is half the battle

The Ironman Hawaii is the world championship end for all of the Ironman and halfnman distance races. In order to race in the Hawaiian Ironman, you must finished and qualify in one of the 18 sated and 9 half Ironman races-either that or be united of the 200 lucky family to win a lottery spot

Approximately 50000 folks compete in the various Ironman conclusions and all of them vie for united of the 2,000 spots in the world championships. Needles to say, it's the dream of each participant to race Hawaii.

The mad dash

As I swam part of the course in the days leading up to the race, I marvelled at all of the fish and sea marine tortoises beneath me. On race day, however, with 1750 athletes thrashing up the water, there were hardly any fish to be seen. It's actually said that the mass start of an Ironman race is undivided of the most spectacular sporting ends to behold, but from a racers point of view it's fine rough as everyone struggles to master ahead and find that elusive elongate of open water!

Fighting the elements

Every abounding Ironman distance race-made up of three legs: a 38-km swim, a 182-km bike, and a 42-km run-is tough. What makes the Hawaiian Ironman the toughest of all is the weather. most numerous of the course sprawls through the whole extent of open lava fields, which radiate an already heated sun, and the high heat and brutal winds really take their toll. The wind is famous for changing directions in the late morning, providing a headwind for the entire amplification of the bike leg.

This year the winds were extra hardy blowing people off their bikes and resulting in a record number of DNF (Did Not Finish). Don Ryder a fit friend and one of the race announcers, warned me to take it easy forward the bike if the winds were blowing. "It's about finishing," he would acknowledge me, "not about having a personal best." on a level though I wanted to proceed hard on the bike section, I heeded Don's advice and chose a slightly easier pace. It really paid off-as the race increaseed I was able to retain a steady pace while many others either dropp back or out

Heading for the finish

Strange granting it may sound, I always await forward to the marathon after being in succession the bike for several hours, especially since it's my strongest occurrence In this race, however, the marathon takes you back onto the lava fields, and the intense heat makes the final leg especially challenging. Still, you know it's all been worth it when you finally wind your way back to Kona and trip down Alii Drive through to the finish line.

More than 20000 the community cheered us on all day, and I was fortunate enough to have a great cheering section of my self-same own-my wife, three children, three sisters, mother, and sum of two units nieces were all waiting for me on the finish line, ready to give me "high-fives" just before I christian doctrineed Their support really made the hard day all worth it!

Results

Evan complet the Ironman Hawaii in 12:41:16 finishing the swimming leg in 1:35:17 the biking leg in 6:51:07 and the marathon in 3:58:22 Since taking up the sport a bare three years ago, he has complet more than 20 triathlons and running races. With the Ironman Hawaii now behind him, his nearest challenge will be to unimpaired Ironman competitions in St. Croix and Lake Placid, all in the sense of possible fulfilment of making it back to the Hawaii championship nearest October.

By Evan Baergen, CA.IT

Editor: Evan Baergen, CA.IT, not long ago competed in the toughest triathlon around-the Ironman Hawaii in Kailua-Kona-and we're delighted to have him share a certain number of of the experience below.

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia Dec 2004

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