Kona 2011 Volunteer/spectator report (really really long...)

My wife and I were recently on vacation in Kona for the IM World Championships, we did the same last year as well.  I just thought I would share what the experience of being there is like.  Note that this is the only IM venue that we have been to so it's entirely possible that all IMs are like this, I have no idea.

We arrived late on the Saturday before the race after almost 24 hours of travel (YYG -> YYZ -> LAX -> KOA).  This was the first time we had travelled with our bikes so we were a little nervous of that after hearing many horror stories of people having bikes damaged, lost etc.  However, everything arrived safely.

This year we stayed at the Kona Reef which is on Ali'i drive only 1 mile from the pier which gave us easy access to everything for the week.  It is a very nice place and would recommend it for sure.  Here is a view of the sunset from our lanai on the first full day we had



Even a full week out, things around Kona are very busy.  Everywhere you go there are people running and riding.  Digme beach is a very busy spot shortly after sunrise!  The atmosphere around town is one of excitement that keeps building and building during the week.  We spent the week just touring around and riding and running.  We set a mini-goal of trying to run and ride the entire race route (in pieces).  I also swam the swim leg one morning.  We almost managed to pull it off, we ran the entire course but missed a few sections of the bike course.  The ride up to Hawi and back was neat - we managed to pick a very low wind day so we didn't get to experience the crosswinds.  Also stopped for lunch at Sushi Rock in Hawi - we highly recommend it!!



One of the unexpected things was having to save a dog that was wandering on the highway weaving in and out of traffic.  We stopped on the side of the road after seeing him going in and out of traffic and called him over.  He came right over and my wife took him to a food shelter that was right there to see if they knew where he came from.  They had no idea and there didn't seem to be any other homes nearby.  He was also extremly thirsty so we figured he had been out for quite a while.  We gave him some water and then took him to the humane society that was about 5 miles away.  They took him in saying he looked like a repeat customer - how sad.   



The day before the race is bike check-in day.  We stayed and watched that for a while - lots of nervous and excited people there!  No special treatment for the pros either, they go through the same line as everyone else.  There is a big line of media and equipment company people there counting all the equipment.  We stood behind the Lava magazine guys as they got all excited and pointed when one of the pros came through so we didn't miss anyone.    We got lots of pictures but some closeups of Raelert and Lieto.

Speaking of Lieto, he blew by us on while we were out riding on the Queen K like we were standing still.  We were just cruising along at around 28 km/h and I took a look behind us and saw someone approaching us but still back a bit.  My wife was in front of me and I said to her that someone would be passing us in a bit and I had barely gotten the words out of my mouth when he went by us absolutely flying - he was easily doing 45-50 km/h I'd say.  I told her I thought it was him (Trek bike with K-swiss kit and the horizontal bottle behind the saddle).  About 10 mins later we catch up to and pass him as he was just soft peddling along, he must have been doing some intervals.  This likely marks the only time in my life I will pass Chris Lieto on a bike. 

Cervelo's Phil White was also handing out t-shirts to all the athletes riding a Cervelo.  My wife chatted with him for a while and mentioned that we own 3 of his bikes in order to get us t-shirts as well.    He was a really nice guy and seemed genuinely interested in meeting all the athletes riding his bikes.



RACE DAY:

Race day for us started at 2:30am to give us time to have a coffee and breakfast before being down at the race site by 3:45.  We were volunteering at body marking and had to be there by 4:00 to setup our table and get everything ready before the athletes were let in at 4:45.  Our table was right by the exit as opposed to last year when we were off in a far corner so we thought we'd see lots of the pros on their way out.  Nope!  Too much going on and Chrissie was the only one that we noticed. 

The body marking process is very efficient, lots of tables setup and lots of help.  This is only half of the body marking area.



We never had (and I never saw any other tables) more than one person waiting in line.  Lots of nervous excitement in the air.  We had people that were clearly very nervous and others that were just thrilled to be there.  It was really neat to meet so many people from all over the world.

Once things started winding down, we were told to clean up our station and then we could head over to the pier to watch the swim start.  Body marking volunteers are given pier passes so we can get right out in the action.  The excitement level out there is insane with helicopters flying around, hawaiian drums pounding, lots of announcements.  Here are a bunch of pictures of before the start, the swim and after.

The paddleboarders that go with the swimmers

Mark Allen

Age group swim start (don't start on the right by the pier!!)

My wife and I waiting while the swim was going on

Andy Potts coming into the finish

I tried to get pics of all the pros on the way out but I screwed up the setting on my camera and missed most of them (zoomed in instead of out).  Top 3 finishing women overall coming out of the change tents.  Chrissie smiling as always. 

BT's own TJ Fry after killing the swim leg!

After leaving the pier we hung out near the start of the bike leg watching more of the athletes coming out.  Here is 81 year old Lew Hollander headed out (Phil White in the background cheering everyone on).  He's amazing!



Our next volunteer assignment was bike catching which was a total blast last year!  We showed up for that around 10:45 and we were divided into people that had done it before and those that were rookies.  As we were experienced, we would get to be in the group that was in line for the pros.  In fact, I was put in the #7 position in line.  The coordinator, Nancy, wanted guys to be out there for the first 10 men in as they can be a bit rougher handing the bikes off.  A bit sexist but hey, she's the boss.  I can't say I found the pros any more aggressive with the bikes than anyone else.  We stood around waiting for Lieto to get close - you can always tell when the lead man and woman are close as the helicopters start to get close.  We would see one up high in the distance and then about a minute before the arrival, another one would go overhead really low.  Anyway, #7 turned out to be Andreas Böcherer.  My wife was lucky enough to catch Mirinda Carfrae's bike!  She was pretty excited about that.    I missed Julie Diebens by one, I thought I was going to get it with the helicopter right over head but another male pro came in right ahead of her.  The process for the next few hours was, grab a bike from the rider, take it down to the assigned rack and place it there and then return to the line.  At first, things are a bit slow as the pros come in in small groups but once the age groupers start, things get insane.  There are so many guys that can ride in the 5 to 5 and a half hour range that at time they just come in in packs.  There are lots of catchers though and I never saw anyone get missed (other than one jerk that went flying by the group trying to dismount right at the arch).  By the time our shift was over, we were completely drenched in sweat!  They have lots of cold water, Perform and sunscreen for the volunteers though. 

When we ended our shift, we had just enough time to scoot over to the finish line area to watch Crowie run the last few miles.  The energy level there was absolutely electric with him on pace to break the course record and when he stopped a few times because of cramps, the place went crazy!



It was also very exciting to watch the women's finish.  Especially when it looked like Carfrae was catching Chrissie  in the closing miles.

After most of the pros came in we headed back to our condo to get something to eat and to take a nap so we could go back to the finish line for the last couple of hours.  The finish line area for those last two hours is pretty cool.  It's just one big party with finishers coming in every few mins.  Sponsors throwing prizes out to the crowd and lots of music.  The lady that missed the cutoff by 4 seconds was heartbreaking.  The crowd was cheering so loudly to try to get her across in time but she didn't quite make it.

Ironman week in Kona really is a unique experience.  As I said, maybe all IMs are like this but I have nothing to compare it to.  I highly recommend it if you have ever thought about doing it as a vacation.  If you actually read this far, thanks!  It was a bit longer than I anticipated....