KONA, KONA, KONA, is upon us! If you can watch the race, it is going to be one of the best based on all the trash talking going one. Here are some of the stats:
The field racing here in Kona on Saturday will include just over 1,800 athletes.
Of that group, 73 per cent are men.
There are 90 male pros and 52 women professionals.
The largest category is the men 35-39 with 259 athletes, but the men's 40-44 is only nine behind on that front.
The largest women's categories are the 30-34 and 40-44, each with 75 participants.
51 countries are represented here, making this truly a world championship
There are 49 states represented.
One way to celebrate your birthday would be doing an Ironman, which is exactly what Patrick Bless, Marty Bulcock, Erik Grimm, Michelle Krelle, Hiroyuki Nishiuchi and Lynette Warn are doing.
The youngest competitors on Saturday include Phan Long from Carmel, Indiana and Tatiana Vertiz from Dallas, Texas.
Frank Farrar, the former governor of South Dakota, is our oldest competitor at 78. He's a few months older than our other 78-year-old, California's Loren Leonard.
Sister Madonna Buder, 77, from Spokane, Washington, is our oldest female competitor.
Watch this video from last years champion Normann Stadler.
The one competitor that is sure to excite is the defending Ford Ironman 70.3 World Champion, Samantha McGlone, is here to compete in her first Ironman. She’s prepared carefully and arrives here in Kona both fresh and with lots of bottom-end speed thanks to a career that included both the Olympics and lots of World Cup experience. She has breathed some life back into the smaller events and has shown that you don't need to do Kona to be successful. Samantha is the best at the 70.3 distance.
and
Craig Alexander
who is a world class professional triathlete with nearly a decade of racing experience. Craig, known as Crowie, is based in Boulder Colorado in the USA for the spring and summer, then heads home to Cronulla for the Australian summer. He too is also the male Ford Ironman 70.3 World Champion 2006.
This is crucial to your training.
Kona
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