Slowtwitch.com a few weeks ago posted an article indicating that the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is considering moving the Ironman World Championships out of Kona. They claim that the WTC is all mad about having to move the race date to accommodate some cruise ships arriving at the pier or something like that. Then xtri.com asked a bunch of professional athletes about their thoughts on the subject and where they would like the Ironman World Championships to be. I hope the reason for these articles have to do more with getting people to their news web site than with actual facts. I can not think of a more myopic move than to move the Ironman World Championships out of the lava fields of Kona Hawaii.
The Hawaii Ironman is not about the distance. Many triathletes have proven that even as beginners they can finish an Ironman on their first year. The Hawaii Ironman is about more than that. It is about the trip we all take across the ocean to arrive at the small Kona Airport. It is about the week preceding the race in a very exotic location. It is about the ocean swim with no wetsuits in the clearest water you can think of. It is about the bike ride in a desolate Queen K Highway with no turns in sight. It is about the unpredictable winds that can come in any direction and can test your body and mind. It is about the heat that you can actually see coming off the highway. It is about 'pay and save' hill at mile 10 of the run where you find out if you have 16 miles of hell or 16 miles of ecstasy before the finish line. It is about running the energy lab and making that final turnaround to come home. It is about running the last 100 yards to the finish line on Alii Drive, the same place where champions like John Howard, Dave Scott, Joanne Ernst, Paula Newby-Fraser, Mark Allen, Thomas Hellriegel and most recently Faris Al-Sultan all ran to victory with a huge smile on their face. We all have a chance of following their footsteps. I sincerely hope WTC does not take that away. It is their pot of gold.
Have you ever been in the right place at the right time? Have you ever felt that you got too much credit for something many people could have done but you just happen to be there? As I coach I always thought about that. As a soccer coach I always felt that the best coaches do not get the right credit. A soccer coach that holds try outs and selects 14 kids out of 200 will have a heck of a team no matter what. He can be a mediocre coach and his kids would do great. On the other hand the best coach in the world can hold try outs and if only 30 kids show up. His best 14 are not going to be as good as the mediocre coach. The same thing happens in triathlon. Just because someone qualifies for Kona under my guidance does not make me a great coach. I take more pride from helping a beginner finish their first race. I like to measure my coaching by how much the athlete improved rather than their competitive result.
The reason I bring this up is because I think WTC is like the coach who selected from 200 kids. The team wins most of the games; every one wants to try out for the team; the coach can do no wrong because he sits on the pot of gold named the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. If this gossip is true I am betting that this coach will see his team decline without his pot of gold. But I do hope that this coach will see the light.