1600 usd is bonkers, but then so is the whole shabang
They are clever economists, those Ironman guys. Demand might even increase if they increase price, bit like posh handbags and other luxury goods.
And when you know Kona costs 1600, suddenly 700 for Bolton seems like a bargain
Ah! But that’s about them reducing supply, too.
Or making them just totally unavailable to buy to the “layman” (e.g. the limited run Ferraris - where you can only buy one if you’ve bought N previous cars from them. Or the Hermes BIRKIN where you get what you’re given, if they have it in the shop, which you won’t know unless they invite you, which they only do if you’ve spent $$$ with them in the previous N years)
WTC have increased supply 
And made the race available to more people, more of the time, via many more races.
So surely that devalues it?
Although I do agree with you.
What’s $500USD when your balls deep into entering an Ironman™️
Bolton was £520.03 
Can. Not. Wait 
£3.70 per mile.
A ducking Ferrari would be cheaper 
I have to 2 unused 25 mm gator tubs !
I will be cheering hard, probably there the year after being old and slow, it’s a great race!
Bike course changing again?!?
I haven’t listened yet but I do like Rich’s podcasts
I just wish he would talk about himself a bit more
Yeah i can’t stand that guy personally. Tried to listen a while ago.
can’t decide if this is funny or a really good example of why the locals get pissed off.
Has Skipper done his similar challenge yet? Think he’s planning a pro-field 70.3 on a £1k total budget (equipment, so excluding entry fee and accom I think) to see if he can not come last.
I think £1k (excl entry fee, accom and transport) would get you a competitive time. I suspect the Joe could win many 70.3s on this buget
I wonder what his sponsors think about that idea?
Is he not supposed to be preaching the value of buying top end kit to make you go faster?
Probably why I can’t find anything about it. Thought it was going to be him vs Tom for the podcast, but looks like nothing else has come of it yet
One for the memories
Went to the rolldown this morning, 55 slots. Not many rolled, and usually only by about 1 place. M50 was the biggest and had 6 slots, 7th got lucky!
There was one that rolled a bit further, but only about 3 places I think.
He also said all males are on the Saturday next year, unlike this year when some went with the ladies.
One guy had already been 14 times 
he must be a dentist or plastic surgeon
Yeah I don’t see how this is in any way a challenge to be honest for someone like him? A Triban or lower end Boardman for well under £700 does the job over 90km easily with £30 clip on aero bars, £150 max on a wetsuit, £80 max on some trainers. What’s left? A cheap helmet and some goggles?
Cost wise, a trip to Hawaii probably isn’t too bad if you’re only travelling from California 
Shareholder in Active 
Already been done…sort of 
At last my Kona Race report
On 6 October I fulfilled my long term triathlon ambition and raced in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. I qualified last year in Ironman Lanzarote, however, the race was postponed twice, so feels like it’s been a long time coming
I would have liked a couple of weeks to acclimatise to the heat and wind in Kona, however, due to work commitments, the earliest I could get to Kona was 6 days before my race. I stayed in a fantastic hotel, 7km down the coast from Kailua-Kona, near enough to be close to the action, but far enough to be away from the chaos.
My swimming performance has really been impacted due to dislocating my shoulder in July. I went for my first ever swim in the Pacific Ocean. Big, rolling swell, and my sighting was appalling, my planned 4km swim was over 5km as I accidentally swam in a series of random directions. Pace was also dire 2:27/100m. I swam daily For the next 5 days, covering 15km in total, each day my sighting was better and pace was improving. By Wednesday I was swimming straightish at 2:13/100m, still not great though.
5 days before my race I ran to Kona and back, along Ali’i drive, 15km @ 4:55/km. It was hot but felt manageable. Next day I went for a 70km bike ride and 5k run, I loved riding the Queen K, and felt that the rolling course would suit me well, running off the bike, in the heat felt pretty brutal
As a member of the Swiss Side Race team I was delighted to be invited to the Deutchehaus reception, where I met other Swiss Side team riders and some German and Swiss Pro Triathletes. I was really made to feel welcome and it felt special to be part of the professional / elite athlete group
My hotel had a great communal kitchen, so I cooked my own breakfast and dinner, I would really recommend anyone going to Kona to do this. In the week before a race I don’t really change my diet, however, 48 hours before a race, I cut most fibre out of my diet, this really helps me to avoid using the toilet during a race.
The day before the race, I checked my bike in and followed my usual pre-race routine, dinner at 5pm, and I was in bed just after 8pm…… for the first time ever, I was almost instantly asleep.
Race day and I woke up 2 mins before my alarm feeling totally fresh. I ate a couple of muffins, and went for a 1.5k run, this really helps to have an effective pre race crap. Jumped in the car and made it the venue just after 5am, loaded my fluids, pumped tyres and handed in my post race bag. All done by 5:45. This is the first race I have ever done, where I have not been cold in the morning waiting to start, It was just the early sign of what would be in store for the rest of the day.
I moved into my swim pen, and forgot to bring any fluids, minor mistake, but would have preferred to be hydrating myself. At 0625 watched the big screen as the Female Pro’s started their race. We wouldn’t be racing for another 70 minutes. Watching the women’s swim unfold helped the time to pass quickly and 50 mins later, we watched the screens to see LCB exit the water first, followed a few minutes later by the chase group. Having watched the Pro’s, we knew that there would be a current with us for the first half then we would be swimming into the current on the return. In my practice swims, I had been really surprised how slow I was swimming into the current. We also know that the swell would be pretty big…. In fact the local surfers were “stoked” but the best surf they had for a couple of months, hardly ideal swimming conditions
Around 0730 we finally entered the water and swam the 100m to the start line.
Even though there is no mass start, there were 578 people in the 50-54 age group, so felt like a mass start. At 0735 the horn sounded and we were off. After the initial biff, I settled into my swim, with a nice group of pretty evenly matched people. I felt that I was doing an excellent job sighting, most of the group was being pushed wide by the current, but I was pretty much hitting every buoy. At the turn around I was still feeling strong, but worried about a slow swim into the current on the return leg. I managed to swim with a decent size group, without putting in too much effort, when the pier came into view sooner than I was expecting, I knew that my swim was good. I exited the water in 1h19m, which was well ahead of my expectations
It was already getting seriously hot in T1, it’s a very long transition, I wasn’t hanging around, but 5:08 feels a bit slow.
Now out on the bike and in my Element. I set off at a solid pace, and immediately was passing other riders. Initially the bike course is a little technical, so I played it a little safe until I was onto the Queen K…… Now I unleashed my full bike speed: My “perfect scenario was a sub 5 hour bike, and for the first hour I was bang on target, I love rolling courses, push on the climbs, recover on descents, no corners, just focus on what’s ahead. I couldn’t believe how many riders I was passing, and nobody was passing me.
I slowed a lot at each Aid Station, I grabbed a bottle of water and poured it over me, making sure I got plenty of water under my helmet, I then grabbed a bottle of coke, finally grabbing more water to drink and pour over me before discarding at the end of the litter zone.
At the start of the bike leg, there was no wind, by the time I reached the climb at Hawi, there was a moderate headwind, but nothing too strong. At the turn around, I was still on track for sub 5 hours. The descent from Hawi was brilliant, with a tail wind, I was pushing 70kph. After 4 hours riding I was still averaging 36kph and just inside 5hours estimated finish time, however, a nasty head wind picked up, this wasn’t a nice cooling headwind, it felt like the air coming out of a fan oven when you take the Sunday roast out of the oven. A combination of wind, fatigue and heat was now taking its toll, and my pace dropped to 32kph for the final hour. I rolled in to T2 in 5h4m – still pretty good, I passed over 1276 riders on the course, and had 9th fastest bike time in my age group
I was pleased to get off the bike, and really looking forward to the infamous Kona Run…. Would it be as brutal as they say? My T2 was 5:00 almost the same as T1. And I was on the run, after the bike, your core temperature spikes, and it is really important to get it back down quickly, at the first aid station I walked, got plenty of fluids and put a ton of ice down my top and under my hat. My run plan was to maintain 5m/km, the first 10km, up and down Ali’i drive went according to that plan. I went past 10k in 49 mins. The climb up Palani slowed me down, but I was still under 1 hour at 12km when I entered the Queen K.
The Run on the Queen K has to be experienced to be believed. 0.5% climb, 38 degrees, Black Tarmac, Black Lava either side of the road, NO SHADE. It was instantly apparent that 5m/km would be too fast, However, I found that running 5:15-5:20 was sustainable. I was still passing plenty of people and very few people were passing me. At each aid station it was really important to get ice under my hat and down my top. I discovered that dumping my hat in the ice water being used to cool the drinks at the aid stations, I would still have a little ice still under my cap at the next station after 2.5km. In terms of nutrition I really don’t vary from my tried and tested routine: 1 Maurten Gel every 5km, then at each aid station 1 cup Redbull or Coke + water as required, this gives me just over 300 calories per hour, and no stomach issues. First half was completed in 1h48m, only 3 mins slower than target.
At km 24 I turned off the Queen K down to the Energy Lab, it was nice to be running downhill. Just after the turn around at km27 I stopped for a pee, this was brilliant as I knew I wasn’t dehydrated. The climb from the Energy Lab back to the Queen K was easier than I expected, climbing uses different muscles, so actually came as a bit of a relief.
Back onto the Queen K for the final 12km, I was now in a comfortable zone, my pace was holding steady, energy levels felt sustainable, temperature was under control, time seems to have passed in a blur. As I got to the top of Palani, I decided to push for the final 1km, absorbing the energy from the crowds. My Marathon time was 3h44m, of which 9min was stationary putting ice down my shirt. I was really pleased with my run, my pace was reasonably consistent and I only walked the aid stations, at no point on the run did I feel that I needed to walk.
My finish time was 10h20m, 44th in my age group and 3rd fastest Brit in my Age Group. I was utterly delighted with my race, it was as close to a perfect race as I could expect
Having experience Ironman Kona, I get the hype. It was an amazing experience, and incredible atmosphere. Ironman did an amazing job, putting on a double race, and the locals were very tolerant to the disruption. However, I do fear what the future holds, at a corporate level, Ironman are becoming greedy. Price for 2023 is over 50% higher than some people paid in 2022, double in the event was the right thing this year, after all we have had 3 years of people qualifying, however, maintaining this format doesn’t seem right
Great report, Matt. I think a slightly rolling course helps break up the monotony of a single pace as you say it uses different muscles.
