What a day in Kona

A recap of an unusual day of racing in Kona

There's one thing for sure from this day's coverage: No one could have predicted the events of this day here at the Ford Ironman World Championship.

It was a day that saw some sort of a stomach virus take out both defending champions (Michellie Jones and Normann Stadler), the champion from two years ago (Faris Al-Sultan) and Cameron Brown; a run in with a road cone take out a six-time winner (Natascha Badmann); and a leg injury sideline Luke Bell. Joanna Lawn, for the second year in a row, was sick for much of the day, too.

This was a topsy-turvy day right from the start. Only a last minute sprint at the end of the swim allowed Francisco Pantano to get out of the water ahead of Linda Gallo. In fact, Pantano and a number of the men who lead out of the water owe Gallo a huge thanks – if it wasn’t for her they wouldn’t have enjoyed any sort of lead over the man they wanted to gap into T1, Normann Stadler.

In the end Gallo was just two seconds away from becoming the first woman to lead the way out of the water overall here at the Ford Ironman World Championship after powering to the front and keeping the men honest through the second half of the swim. Instead of her usually quick swim, Michellie Jones wasn’t herself either – turns out she had a perforated ear drum from being hit in an open water swim three weeks ago.

Rutger Beke got hit in the face during the swim today – he was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the day.

The craziness continued early in the bike. Normann Stadler looked like he was making a break to the front, then pulled to the side of the road and promptly threw up. Within a few miles he was out of the race.

Natascha Badmann, one of the best cyclists this sport has ever seen, hit a cone and totaled her bike, not to mention her body, early on in the second leg of the day. Michellie Jones was yet another casualty to the throwing up problem at 70 miles.

Things didn’t get any more normal out on the run. While we’re used to seeing the fast runners pass the fast cyclists here in Kona (unless the fast cyclist’s name’s initials are NS), we’re not used to seeing a Kona rookie fight for the lead, as Craig Alexander did. We’re also not used to seeing anyone post a 2:42:02 marathon, as Chris McCormack did today to claim his long coveted first Ironman title.

We’re even less used to seeing a woman who has only done one Ironman (7 weeks ago in Korea) and only been involved in the sport for a little over a year not only claim the world title, but run a 2:59:58 marathon to do that.

That said, we’re even less used to a complete Ironrookie finishing second, while running a 3:00:52 marathon, as Samantha McGlone did here today.

It’s also not completely normal to see a guy who was in such a bad car accident that he died again and again and again, then spent a couple of months in a medically induced coma, not only recover enough to compete as a collegiate swimmer but also complete the Ironman … Brian Boyle managed that feat.

It’s especially not normal to see a double amputee finish an Ironman. Way to go Scott Rigsby.

You don’t often see a little boy run across the finish line with one of the greatest pros our sport has ever seen, either. Carter, a seven-year-old from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, has cystic fibrosis. Thanks to the Make a Wish foundation, he got the chance to finish today’s race with his hero, a fellow CF sufferer who also happens to have won 11 Ironman races in her amazing career – one Lisa Bentley.

While we’re used to seeing people use their Ironman efforts to raise money for charity, we’re most definitely not used to seeing anyone raise $1.8 million, as Kirsten Kincaid did in honor of a little boy named Matt who died earlier this year.

So what did go according to the norm here at the Ford Ironman World Championship?
Things got back to normal when we saw athletes like Laura Sophiea and Cherie Gruenfeld claim yet another age group world title.

Things got back to normal, too, when the winds picked up and stopped a whole pile of people in their tracks heading up to Hawi, and then again as they rode back along the Queen K.

Things also got back to normal, too, when we saw so many of the 1,788 starters of this race finish the Ironman in impressive times despite the tough heat and wind.

As wacky as this day was, in the end it all returned to normal. We saw so many amazing stories, crowned two very deserving and impressive champions and witnessed a slew of incredible athletic performances.

Yep, another day in Kona … you know, one of the incredible days that make Ironman so special.

Thanks for joining us.