5.35am - We awoke to the sound of drums and horns. The high school kids in the tents next to us gave us the early morning nod that their peer was competing that day. On one hand I was ready to kill all of them, Lattimer style, like an ECU linebacker (if you get the reference, than you're the man). On the other hand, I was a bit embarassed that I'm 26 and was being beaten to an Ironman start by someone who was 18 years old.
6.07am - Out of bed, we carbo-load for the long day, and pound some gatorade, getting ready for the 3500 calories we will burn that day (in comparison to the 8000+ calories being burned by the Ironman competitors...once again, I hate myself a little bit).
6:56am - After a long shuffle to the shoreline from the campground, we realize that every single competitor has brought their own fanbase. There are literally lines of people 3-4 deep for the entire 2.4 miles of swim course. I am overwhelmed, considering Taupo is not really that big of a town.
7:02am - The race starts, with about 1100 competitors waist deep in the cool waters of Lake Taupo. A mass swim start is about the most disorienting thing on the planet (from first hand experience). It's like being an ice-cube in a margarita blender mix. One minute you think you're doing quite well...the next, you're on the shit end of the mix.
7:46am - The first 4 racers are already out of the water. At this point I'd be about 1.5 miles into my swim, and still have at least 30 minutes in front of me. Then again, that's why I sit behind a desk and don't do this for a living. A few foreigners are in the top two, followed by Luke Bell (Australian) and Cam Brown (Kiwi). After these four, there is a 2 min gap before the next competitor. Pretty much everyone in the top 10 is named “Thor, Knut,” or “Helmut”. Those Euros sure eat their damn Wheaties.
8:03am - We ran from the swim finish to the first transition and caught it just in time for the last few pros to get on their bikes. At this point, I was amazed how many guys and girls were truly FIT athletes. In most of the local races I've done, there are a few pros (3-4), a lot of age groupers...and then everyone else. Here, there are about 1,000 people in amazing shape, and 100 "bums" who could all still kick my ass. It's amazing what months of constant training will do to the "average" person.
9:00am - Breakfast O'Clock. The pros are on the bike course for at least the next 4 hours. This means we can get hydrated, read trash novels for a few hours, and find some food. I love this sport.
10:36am - We realized that the bike route goes past our campsite twice in the next 4 hours, so we scramble back to the car and piece our way back to the campsite along roads that aren't already closed for the race. Which is about as much fun as a wet fart in a sleeing bag. So I've heard.
11:02am - The male pros fly past our campground at roughly 27mph. That doesn't sound that fast until you realize they are on bicycles for 112 miles without stopping. I am busy pondering the 13 beers I had the night before, and wondering if I can even operate a bike at this point, let alone a bike at that speed. An hour later they make their second pass, lapping a good amount of the age groupers.
12:00pm - Six hours into the race, and the pros are nearly done. The top 50 racers, including several of the female pros, have already started the marathon. Me and Pete have already started lunch. Why reach for the powerbar when you can reach for a Guinness, right?
1:47pm - We head down to the waterfront to watch the last half of the marathon. Ironman Taupo is one of the few races on the planet where you can watch the entire race from about 5 feet away, and catch the pros directly in front of you. With 15k to go, the top three racers were all within 2 minutes of each other. This is what you might call a photo finish in an 8 hour race.
2:36pm - As the top two guys (Bell and Brown) pass the guy who was leading the race for the past 7 hours (Torbjorn Sindalle AKA “Thor”), a woman next to us yells to a few age groupers heading in the opposite direction “only 40 more kilometers to go!”. Now if I was one of those competitors at this point in the race, I would have mustered all the remaining energy I had after 114.4 miles of racing and beat her into a frumpy stain on the blacktop. Instead, the runners kindly smiled and gave her the finger. Call it Kiwi hospitality.
3:14 pm - After running stride for stride with Luke Bell for over 20 miles, and overcoming an 8 minute defecit on the bike, Cam Brown drops the hammer with 3 kilometers to go. He is a New Zealander and the hometown favorite, so the crowd goes berserk when the guy on the microphone announces it. Me and Pete have already staked out a clutch spot along the final 100 meters at this point.
3:26pm - Cam Brown wins his 6th consecutive NZ Ironman, becoming only the second person to win that many in his career. He has time to high-five everyone along the final stretch, including yours truly. The crowd goes nuts and drinks more beer. JC and Pete follow suit.
5:02pm - Joanna Lawn wins her 5th consecutive NZ Ironman, making it a sweep for the Kiwis. Of course, at this point me and Pete were in the car on the ride back to our tent to get more beer. I would make a chauvanistic comment about women in athletics here, but I think my last sentence already covered that (as I cower behind a trash can). All kidding aside, after an 8 hour race, the top women finish only about 30 minutes behind the guys...pretty amazing.
8:34pm - As we leave the camp site to go back into Taupo for some dinner, we cheer for several age groupers who are still on the bike course back into town. They have roughly another 30 minutes on the bike and then 5+ hours of a marathon to go. I have roughly a lamb steak, fries, and 6 beers to go.
10:48pm - We’ve finished dinner, and the restaurant we’re at faces the marathon course about half a mile from the finish. Every time a competitor goes by, over 50 people at the bar turn towards them and go nuts, clapping and screaming for them as they stumble towards the finish. By now, it’s completely dark and most people have gone home.
11:23pm - Things are getting intense, as the last few athletes remaining on the course are struggling to finish before the 12am cutoff. Imagine competing in a race for the past 17 hours only to get to the finish and find out you missed the cutoff time limit. I think I’d have a seizure and then pull a Nicholson with the nearest golf club. Needless to say, the patrons at the bar amped up their cheering...and I’ve never seen people so happy to have support, as they waved in acknowledgement and thanked us for coming out.
11:47pm - A man with no legs just jogged past the bar on carbon fiber prosthetics. If that doesn’t make you a bit misty, then you aren’t human. NO F-ING LEGS, and he just finished a 140+ mile race. Of course if I had finished after him with two completely working limbs on my lower extremities, than I probably would have killed myself.
11:54pm - We rushed to the finish line to catch the last few athletes come through. As we got closer, we realized that there was a much larger crowd for the last few runners than there was for the first who finished almost 10 hours before. This tells you what the Ironman is all about...people are still cheering for competitors who have been at it for over 16 hours. It’s not about a race...it’s about defeating your own mental inhibitions. Badass in every sense. In the last hour, we have watched men and women cross the line with their spouses, their children on their shoulders, or friends who have supported them the whole way through their training. Once again, it’s almost impossible to watch a mother cross the line holding the hand of her 4 yr old son, while he’s wearing a shirt that says “my mommy is an Ironman” without getting a little choked up. Utterly moving, and will change your whole perception on what an average person can accomplish.
11:58pm - The last man comes through! A local Taupo bloke makes good on a bet to his mates from months before at a pub, and crosses the line before the cutoff. The head of the World Triathlon Company gets on the mic and declares in his 5+ years of heading the Ironman all over the world, this is the first time he’s ever seen every competitor finish before the cutoff time.
12:00am and beyond - JC and Pete get decide that given the day’s events, there is no way on earth that we can NOT do an Ironman, and peg 2010 as the year. Let the self-abuse (and the constant denial) begin! Given that the first Ironman was conceived by several friends who had a few too many beers and challenged each other as to who was the fittest athlete amongst themselves...I’d say we’re on the right path. Let’s get weird...
Now all we need is a cheering section for 2010...who’s coming with us?
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