Cultural experiences in racing triathlon

For those of you that know me, I am a very avid triathlete.  I specialize in the longer distances most specifically the Ironman distance.  I am going to write a nice little entry on my experience of the Ironman World Championship race held in Kona Hawaii.  My first time at this race was 2012 and turned out to be a truly global event!

My finish, So many flags from so many countries that were represented

The parade of nations - One of the week long events that takes place

A cultural perspective of the Ironman World Championships

The ironman was first started in 1977 when some crazy guys needed a way to see who was the absolute fittest of the bunch. They came up with a single day race consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run.  Whoever won, they would call the Iron Man.  Since that first rare, the sport and distance has picked up some amazing followers and has become an international competition.

The Ironman World Championships is an event that takes place on the first or second weekend in October every year on the Kona side of the big island of Hawaii.  There are close to 40 Ironman events (most are held outside of the US) around the world every year that lead to be qualifiers for the World Championships.  Over 70,000 people compete for about 1500 slots to get to the start line each October.

When I got to Hawaii last October, I was ready for the time of my life.  My parents live on the island of Maui for a few months every year so I know Hawaii very well.  What I do not know so well in Hawaii is the crazy amount of Europeans and Australians that crawl all over in October.  It was the first time that I was in Hawaii and heard more foreign languages than English.  It was fairly odd to say the least!

The race in October is sort of a weeklong festival of the sport.  There are parades, expos, kids events, and crazy fit people (who don't speak english) all over the roads all of the time!  The race is on a Saturday and it is quite the experience to be a part of... I still can't really believe that I did it last year and (given health) will do it again this year.

I have never raced in Europe, and have never raced outside of the country for that matter, but people have some different tactics that they use.  Because this was such a global event, I was able to get a glimpse of what it might be like to race in Europe.  People were very brash and brutal.  The swim was the most terrifying hour of my life... People fought all over for placement of clear water and I don't think I was without contact for more than 5 seconds of the whole swim portion.  I was pulled in every direction, pushed underwater, and had a relatively miserable experience.

The bike was likewise...  In long distance triathlon, drafting is illegal.  But in this race, it seemed like people were there to fight for placement weather it meant cheating or not.  The bike seemed full of drafters and when I would ask people if this was the norm for the race, they would either answer me in an accent or in a reply that they did not speak english.  It was awesome because it was so different!  The run was met with exchanges between athletes that were much less hostile.  When we were all out there running, it seemed that we were on level playing fields and everyone seemed much nicer.

After the race I was able to sit back and enjoy what a global event this truly was.  I was not sure if this would truly be a world event, but in hindsight, it really was!