Mark - I remember being fascinated by this race when I was in high school. Thanks for the motivation and thanks for bringing more of this history to light.

Thanks Monty. I miss those days too. Good friends and long ride.

Yes that was part of it, he fuelled up and got ready to go again, he also sped up a fraction when Raelert got close so Raelert had to dig to make the final bridge. Raelert was then happy to ‘rest up’ once level rather than blow by, helped by Macca making him comfortable with the handshake/sponge share. That lack of ruthlessness cost him when Macca went; he’d slackened mentally and that’s hard to get back at mile 24 of the Kona run. Another classic duel, hope there’s another soon....

I'm think Macca had him beat the whole time. He slowed up on purpose to try to create the
big "ironwar 2". I didn't buy it, not even the fake side stitch. I could be wrong but I doubt it.

lol. I wouldn't put it past him

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

I don't know... I find it hard to believe that Macca was playing 3D chess at mile 24 of an IM marathon. He did make the right decision to slow down, eat and use that second wind to break Raelert about the time when Andreas was probably on the edge of bonking. The psyops stuff seems a little bit too far fetched in my opinion.

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What's your CdA?

That's what it looks like to me.


uote trailerhouse]I don't know... I find it hard to believe that Macca was playing 3D chess at mile 24 of an IM marathon. He did make the right decision to slow down, eat and use that second wind to break Raelert about the time when Andreas was probably on the edge of bonking. The psyops stuff seems a little bit too far fetched in my opinion.

[/quote]

Has any one else had trouble getting the site to load? I tried several times the last week of August without success. I managed to get in around the 1st of September but today it's back to not loading. Eventually I get the "took too long to respond" error. I've tried it with different browsers and servers.

LOL! Have your wife proof Herbert's stuff then. Atrocious......

LOL! Have your wife proof Herbert's stuff then. Atrocious......//

She does, but Herbert likes to post his stuff up on his own, so sometimes she doesn't see it right away. So if you are someone that reads the front page right away, might be a chance you get to read his second language....(-;

Ha! If the stuff I see is corrected, then the original must really be crazy. The master of awkward phrasing and overused modifiers.....

From the sound of the first couple articles, and watching the careers of these two athletes from a distance, it sounds to me that Mark took six years to get the Ironman figured out, mentally, emotionally, and physically. And then from that point on, he nailed it. Unlike many of pros since then, he came to Kona every single year at 100%. Not overtrained, not undertrained, not injured, not burned out. ON!

I'm sure there were many ups-and-downs behind the scenes. But am I right or wrong in the observation that from 1989 forward, Mark never had a significant error in his preparation or execution at Hawaii?

A follow-up for discussion is why hasn't anyone been able to nail it as consistently since then? Crowie might come the closest in consistency, and you can't control when your competition is going to absolutely nail it like Macca did in 2010. But no one seems to consistently show up year after year PEAKED.

Has anyone gotten the 10th episode to load? It says available 10/24 but nothing pulls up when you click on it.

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Let food be thy medicine...

That final story will be up this coming Thursday, October 31st. This one is about race day. The edit of it needed more time to give it the work that story deserved. It was a fairly intense piece for both Dave Scott and I to write. Thanks for your patience. I think you will love it!
Mark

Thanks. I know I will.

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Let food be thy medicine...

Whats amazing to me is that the winning times haven't changed much over the last 30 years (last 2 years being the exception) even with all the advances in triathlon equipment (swim skins, aero bikes/ wheels, tri suits, nutrition, etc)

That 8:09 time was only beat a few times over the years and only by slim margin. (again the last 2 years being the exception)

Yes, I'd love to have someone do a scientific comparison of courses, equipment and different start times between then and now and see how that all affects the overall time. But regardless of all that, the race in Kona each year is always an amazing day in sports like no other!

The 30 minute earlier time that the pros have since around 2005 really helps the bike times. Getting further out to Hawi 30 minutes earlier is big benefit and starting the run at 11:45 am vs say 12:30 (let's assume that equipment today is 7.5 minutes faster and another 7.5 min for less wind from an earlier start) is huge in terms of how much the lava has already heated up for the run (angle of incidence of sun).

Also the old bike course had more vertical because you stayed on the QueenK all the way up to the top of the climb before dropping down towards the Keaheau Mall/Kona Surf resort. That vertical climb at the end of the bike was back breaking. Then right after that, you left T2 and had a big climb up to and and down into the pit and back before hitting Alii.

The old course was waaaaaay harder, however, I believe things are a lot better today with respect to press and other vehicles on the course, but maybe you can comment on how much distance they keep. A few years ago (actually 2012), I set up the timing station at Hawi and had to drive a van back to Kona after the first 20 pros had arrived in and left Hawi. We were given firm instructions to make sure that we quickly passed all riders and not give anyone a draft by hovering close to any action.

When are you going to tell him that you think Frodeno has him covered?

Great to hear. I've been compulsively checking back several times per day. Now I can cool my jets and calmly wait. Fantastic read so far, I can't wait for the first-hand reflections on the race itself.