As for Marino, for whatever reason he decided that Kona wasn't for him. Good for him. He can pick and choose between any of the Ironman races and give it everything. As a result we get to see an incredible performance from him every year. For the IRONMAN Hawaii obsessed Age Group crowd, I know this is always hard to understand - Kona is NOT the race for everyone.
Marino has done well there (best finish 3rd I believe), but at this stage of his career, he has to ask himself as a true competitor - can I go better than that? Obviously, and rightly so, impacting his decision has been a few blow-ups that he has had there. Perhaps it is not the race for him!
Go to other of the bigger IM races around the worl, with good prize purses, and then structuring your sponsorship relations and bonuses around those races, from a Professional's perspective makes perfect sense.
I'll never forget the sight of Kenny Souza pulled over at the side of the road in 1993. At the time, Souza was the greatest duathlete on the planet. He could run and cycle faster than anyone. His plan - get through the swim and then crush it on the bike/run. He passed me on the bike that year on the way out to Hawi like I was standing still. But then, I rode by him, slumped down at the side of the road, not looking good at all somewhere between Waikoloa and the airport on the way back into town. Another who never went well at Kona was Simon Lessing - arguably one of the greatest triathletes of all time. He tried several time, and then concluded, that the race was just not for him.
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog