Ironman World Championship Kona, Hawaii – 10th October 2023
The small airport terminal at Kona was buzzing as athletes sporting an array of Ironman backpacks sighed with relief as their bikes appeared on the conveyor belt. It was surreal to believe I was here for the same event. The excitement of pre-race activities continued to build anticipation throughout the week. I swam out to the coffee boat, marched in the Parade of Nations, shopped the expo, and ran in my undies in the Underpants Run. Triathlon superstars were everywhere and I had fangirl moments with Mark Allen and Craig Alexander.
Race morning came way too fast and despite the fact that I have stood on the start line many times before, I was such a bundle of nerves that I could hardly speak. My wave was the last to start the 3.8km swim but once I got in the water, I found my rhythm and to quote Dory ‘just kept swimming’. We swam over coral reefs and colourful fish, out around two boats before returning to the pier for transition 1.
I was happy to be on my bike and genuinely enjoyed the 180km of rolling hills, and picturesque scenery of black lava meeting the azure blue ocean. That was until the afternoon heat intensified and my face felt like it was burning up as the afternoon sun reflected off every surface. I worried that I was overheating and tried to remember my hydration strategy as the distance between aid stations seemed to get further and further apart.
Transition 2 was longer than planned as I tried to cool down and recover for a few minutes before heading out to run the 42.2km marathon. The first 20km rolled by smoothly enough, past the town beaches and palm trees before heading out on the Queen K highway to the famous Energy Lab. From here it became a mental game to ignore the pain and keep moving. I had read somewhere that you should dedicate a km to each of your friends and family as motivation. That’s all well and good but I struggled to focus on names and went back to my habitual counting numbers instead.
Finally, I reached the bright lights, pumping music, and red carpet, I found Adam for a victory hug and soaked it all in as I crossed under the archway. Super stoked to receive my medal for this iconic event. It wasn’t my fastest finish time, but one has to respect the course and I stuck with my race plan to achieve a solid result for Ironman number 10.
It takes a team to make this happen and I am beyond grateful to my support team. I have become a better athlete through this experience and have a greater self-reliance in my own capabilities. To bring me back down to earth several people asked what plans I had to prevent post-race-blues? This type of depression is common after a major event and to be honest I hadn’t given it any thought at all so initially I didn’t have an answer.
BUT not to worry!! A random conversation with one of the awesome chickies in my running club has provided a solution – stay tuned for the Kokoda Track Adventure coming in July 2024.
- 2023 Ironman World Championships Hawaii
- 2023 Ironman Australia
- 2022 Ironman Cairns
- 2022 Ironman Australia
- 2019 Ironman Australia
- 2018 Ironman New Zealand
- 2015 Ironman Zurich
- 2012 Ironman Australia
- 2011 Ironman Australia
- 2007 Ironman Australia
tommy the travelling turtle 