My Lucky Day – Angels in Kona

My Lucky Day – Angels in Kona

This years IronMan experience for me will never be eclipsed even if I manage to reach my long-term goal of racing past my 70’s. It will be a treasured memory that I will keep coming back to in my effort to reach that goal. It will not be because of my own achievement last Saturday but because of a new understanding of the spirit of people who finish late in the night and right up to and sometimes past the cut off time at midnight (17 hours after the start).

(For those friends reading this but know little or nothing about IronMan Triathlons and Triathlons in general please take a look down at the end of this blog for some information about the sport.)

I am not talking about lucky people like me who would not have been racing that late in the night except for a mechanical problem and the help of some angels. I’m thinking of those who are out there because they are not fast. The reasons for the slower speed vary, injury/illness during or before the race, very senior athletes, some of the lottery winners and those who simply did not anticipate the difficulty of this course and were humbled but not broken by the challenge.

From a spectators point of view IronMan Triathlons are unique in sports. The best thing to watch is the last people finishing. This is very apparent if you count the number of spectators at the finish line when the winners arrive and those struggling in between 11 and midnight. There are more last at night.

I have now watched ten IronMan endings from the sidelines. They were all incredible memorable nights. I will never tire of watching these and I did not think there was anything that could be better in the sport. I was wrong. This time I got lucky and got to hang out with the late night finishers on their own turf and some who did not make it. Those of you who I met in the dark last night helped me to a totally new level of understanding of what you have accomplished. Here is my day.

My swim was a bit slower than hoped for (1:23) but in a race normally lasting 11+ hours for me a few minutes were no bother. I made up some of that time with a fast, for me, transition to the bike.

Those of you who know me well know that I am rather anal about race preparation. The one thing I did not check for was metal fatigue on my bike. I am well aware of this potential problem as an engineer but it was not something I could check or was expecting (my bike is only 4 years old and mainly used for racing.

Coming out of the transition area on the pier in Kona I rode up the short hill on Parlini staying in the gear I had set before the start. As I rounded the corner onto Kuakini I may have shifted a couple of gears on the rear cog and then the chainring. I rotated the pedals a few times and suddenly they locked up and some nasty noises came from the rear of the bike. I stopped; it looked line the derailleur was bent. I tried to straighten it but could not do so without tools. If you want to see a 2 sec video of me carrying my bike go to http://rcvman.blogspot.com/2009/10/kona-2009.html (I am about 1:50 into this video, the whole thing is worth a look).

My memory about the next 15 min or so is fuzzy. I think a spectator went back to transition and Dave (sorry Dave I don’t remember your last name) arrived back. He was a race official and became I guess you might say my guardian angel for the rest of the day. Shortly after he arrived a bike mechanic showed up. A quick examination resulted in an announcement that my derailleur hanger was broken (this is part of the bicycle frame and the gear shifting mechanism is bolted to it. If broken it is like a broken transmission in a car). I could not believe this had happened but a close inspection on my part confirmed it. The derailleur had tangled up with and broken one of the wheel spokes as well.

This was the hardest part of the race for me. I knew this could not be fixed on the road or even in a fully equipped bike shop. The frame is probably junk. My brain could not shake the idea that my race was over. I asked the mechanic if there was a bike I could borrow and learned that he was the only mechanic left in town, the rest and all their spare gear was out following the pros. I leaned over the aerobars and quietly cried. Two years of dreaming of a return to race in Kona and 10 months of training for nothing.

He then offered to convert me to a single speed bike (one amazing athlete did the race on a single speed, intentionally, earning himself an honorable mention at the awards dinner, crazy guy) by removing the broken derailleur and shortening the chain. I knew that this would mean an almost impossible bike ride for me but I was ready to try anything. Then he spotted my ovalized chain rings and said this would probably not work. He tried to set it up and also adjust the tension on the spokes of my wheel (It was out of true because of the broken spoke). I thought I was good to go. It did not work.

The mechanic had to leave to go out to the pros. Dave ran back to transition to see if there was any other solution. I walked slowly back with my bike. I was crushed there did not seem to be any solution. On the way back I found my friend Kevin Lynch, the cinema photographer who has filmed all the Computrainer Live Video courses). I did not realize it at first but most of our conversation was filmed. The mechanic had rejoined me and so had an angry spectator who kept insisting that he must find a solution for me. I did not think angels could/would get angry but this one did but to no avail.

As I left Kevin I had an inspiration and hustled back to transition. There were well over a dozen Cervelo P4 bikes at the Expo. Dave and others went off looking for a Cervelo rep or any of the bike reps at the expo. I think at this point more than half the staff on the pier were trying to think of a solution.

That took a good 15 min with no result. More discussion with the people around me and people coming thru transition and my biggest angel stepped up, Rocky Campbell, Director, and offered me his bike.

Rocky was about my height.He took off to get the bike after telling me to meet him where I broke down, to play by the rules. I wont go into the details why but it took another 45 min to get the bike. Angels are not all the same and come in different sizes.

The sight of Dave rounding the “Hot Corner” onto Kuakini riding the bike out to me looked like a present from Heaven. After over a 2-hour delay I got going.
It was amazing the love and concern I felt from all who tried to help or who were just there for me. There is a lot a talk of Ohanna (Hawaiian for Family and I think love and care for fellow man) out here. I sure felt it Saturday morning. Tears were now of joy. I was late stating but knew I should have no trouble finishing before midnight, my slowest time at this race distance including the swim was 12:15 and I had more than 13 hours just for the bike and run. I even started to think of a new marathon PR as most of the run would be in the cool of the night.

I worked my way thru town very carefully. I was well over an hour behind the last person to get out of the water. There were still cops on the intersections but they were not looking for a biker. It was like a normal training day.

It got even more like a training day when I found the timing mats and entire turnaround set up on Kuakini was gone. I rode an extra ½ mile looking for them. Out on the Queen K the wind was very light and progress was good. I did not have my normal fuel/food on this new bike but was not concerned, as I knew I would be OK with what is offered at the aide stations.

Surprise, the aide stations were now all on the opposite side of the road anticipating the return of the professionals. I was able to get food and water but had to cross traffic to do so, which was now building on my side of the road, and later dodge bikes returning. The timing mats were also gone at Waikoloa. It was not until near Hawi, halfway, that I found aide stations still on my side and the mats were still in place at the turnaround (but my chip did not register for some reason).

The ride was tough. The bike fit reasonably well but it was not set up like mine except for a decent saddle height. I could not stay on the aerobars for extended periods and this got harder as the ride progressed. It slowed me down but the math told me not to worry, I would make the cutoff. I caught up to the first three bikes just before Hawi and then very slowly reeled in a few more. It was not a happy feeling as is usually the case when I pass fellow competitors. I knew that many of these people would not make the cut off.

I started passing a few more bikes on the way back to Kawaihae. It is physically very hard for anyone in these races but most of us normally have a support team around us in the form of others suffering the same way. These people were on their own but still in the game and I am certain they were not ready to quit. It was impressive.

The headwinds returned on the Queen K Highway but I was still in great shape to make the cutoff although with this wind it was no longer quite the sure thing. The people I was passing would probably not make it. There were two people I was looking out for and not hoping to find for a while. Sister Madonna Boulder (yes a retired nun 79 years young) and Rudy Garcia Tollesen. Rudy is a double above the knee amputee who was trying to be the first person to finish this race with this extraordinary challenge.

I know how driven a physically challenged person can be. My father was a below the knee amputee and a powerful swimmer who is always mentally with me in these races. Seeing Rudy struggling against a cruel wind and knowing that making the cut off for the bike was all but impossible was very hard sight to see. I am sure he will be back for another day, he did not make it.

Growing up in Ireland with Nun’s all over the place never prepared me for Sister Madonna when I met her for the first time in 1997 in Perth Australia at the Olympic distance World Championship. I must confess to being a bit of a skeptic about her credentials. A Nun who was taking the time to race! But gradually over the years my view has changed as I learned more about Sister Madonna and recognized that the life of a Nun is not the same today as it was when I was a young boy in the 1950’s

She has been an inspiration to everyone in the sport and beyond for many years and she probably had hundreds of thousand spectators/Triathletes around the world rooting for her. I am sure she was out there just thanking God for just letting here get this far and for all the amazing things she has accomplished in her life. I got a smile as I passed her and greeted her. I did not have any magic words of encouragement and felt bad about that.

Both Rudy and Sister Madonna did not make it. The last person I passed on the bike two miles from the finish was 80-year-old Robert Southwell. He made it to transition before the cutoff but for some reason did not start the run. I so much wanted to chat with you Bob. I sure hope you will be able to try again. I would love to meet Rudy some day and get to chat with Sister again.

T2 could was a very welcome sight and I got a royal reception from a bunch of new and old friends, who had helped me earlier. Samantha Campbell, who had helped me all week and materialized on the water when I needed help with a cramp, high fived me. Dave and Esra Kellerman (friends from home volunteering and an aspiring IronMan) escorted me around transition and carried my bags into the Changing Tent, Ellora Weston

ART trained DPT, my ART Angel) rounded up a bench and a male ART Doc John worked on me for 20 min. Muscles that I did not know I had had not taken kindly to my new bike position. Twenty min later I got going again and was the last person out of T2. Dave, my guardian angle was also with me until I left on the run, what a guy. The bike worked Rocky and worked very well but one part of my anatomy did protest louder than the other parts the next day, the part resting on your saddle. Nothing wrong with the saddle Rocky just my ass was not used to it. Once again thank you so much.

I passed over 150 people on the run and said something to well over a hundred of them and ran/walked with many. I had the time of my life. At first I did not realize what was happening to me however. Gradually it became clear that I was not just watching these amazing people from the sidelines struggle to reach their goal but I was for the first time part of it.

I had no doubt at this point that I would finish the race so I was not quite in the shoes of the people I met. But I was out with them and could feel their will to finish being challenged every step of the way. I spent 15-20 min with Lew Hollander on Alii Drive. I have met Lew a few times before; he is a legend in the sport at 79 years old. He was worried about finishing before midnight. Somehow I knew he would make it. I kept looking for Bob Southwell not knowing about his fate.

Finding Ingrid my wife and her sister on Alii Dr was a special treat. Ingrid had a stroke two years ago a month after we came back from my last race out here. She is not 100% recovered getting tired easily and she had been expecting me to be finishing sometime after 6. Here I was starting the run. She was out there for me the rest of the night. How could this be hard to do with such

a special person rooting for me. I am lucky. Ingrid and sister Gisela.

The Queen K is a lonely place in the dark. I finally thought of an intelligent thing to say as I caught up with people, “How are you doing” with an answer I was able to come up with some appropriate words of encouragement, most of the time. I fell in with a lady on the Energy Lab road and ran down the hill with her. She was like many others out there not having the day she expected but was getting back on form and was I think over the worst mental worries, she would finish. Then she ran off the side of the road and fell. She sat on the ground for a few seconds and I could feel the brain going thru a mental checklist of all her body parts, she was OK. Not so Harriet Anderson, I think she was the oldest female finisher. I don’t know if she broke her arm but she was running with a sling when I saw her.

The wind was carrying announcer Mike Riley’s voice from the finish line well over 2 miles out the Queen K as we got close to town. I could feel my pace picking up and that of the other ghosts in the dark. I thought one more time about my personal inspirations, mum, dad, childhood friend Connor (died at 19), almost lifelong friend Ralph (died at 50) and other old friends. They had been with me the whole day.

It almost pays to get back to the finish area late at night. Let me revise that, it does pay. If you are on the sidelines it is amazing to be part of the excitement and feel the emotion of the finishers. Being the finisher is almost too much. I did feel during most of the run I was out there on false pretenses. But for the last 2 miles that idea vanished in the love I felt from thousands.

My angels were at the finish line, what a reception. After a massage Ingrid and her sister Gisela started to escort me home. It was about 11:15 at that time. As I got past the finish line I realized that all the brave amazing people I was watching finish were friends I had met in the dark. I cried and I am crying again thinking about them. Ingrid agreed to stay to the end. She has never seen the end of an IronMan and she now understood why I have gone back to watch the end in all of my 11 races.
I have got dozens of messages since writing this blog and they are all so greatly appreciated. I do honestly feel so lucky that things started out so bad on the bike. It was such a great experience. My respect for those around me Saturday night has soared. My respect for the Pro’s who sometimes have a bad day like us amateurs but finish anyway many hours late has also soared. My respect and love for Ingrid has soared.

Triathlons

IronMan races are the longest triathlons that are done by large numbers of people There are longer races but the participants are often less than 100 compared to over 2,000 for an IronMan race. The distances and order of events are 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. Triathlons are as short as a few hundred yards in a pool for the swim, 8-10 mile bikes and 3 mile runs. Kid’s races are even shorter. The Olympic Triathlon is 1.5 kilometer swim (just under a mile), 40K bike (24+ miles) and a 10K 6.2 mile run. The Olympic distance is one of the most popular.

The race in Kona is the World Championship for this distance. You have to qualify at another IronMan or Half IronMan, or get lucky in a lottery to race here. The Kona course is one of the toughest of well over 20 races around the world. Most athletes coming here for the first time get a very rude shock on race day. The only racecourse that is it’s equal and perhaps harder that I know of is in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. That’s not to say that the other races are not hard. Racing this distance and giving it all you have is very hard even on the dead flat usually cool IronMan Florida held in November.

What makes the IronMan in Hawaii so hard is the heat, humidity and winds. They are almost always high. Temperatures are usually at or above 85 with humidity varying between 70 and 90% (this is why I was happy to realize that I would be running in the cool of the night). The winds are always 20-25 mph and several years have exceeded 50mph in gusts. There is almost always a section with headwinds, crosswinds and tail winds. Often the wind switches direction during the day and you get a headwind coming and going.