A great reason to move the race to other locations... see if the same whinging islanders (most of whom are probably not native so in tjemselves hypocritical) miss the income it brings for weeks on end.

You should almost like China

My guess would be those that are the most vocal have nothing to gain (directly) by the race being there. Or at the very least, they don't understand the benefits.

What does being a non-native Hawaiian have to do with this? So if I live in Pasadena and get annoyed every year when the rose parade happens, I can’t complain because I’m not a Native American?? You lost me.

Haole's yelling at haole's. The aloha spirit is alive.

this is what I'm thinking... you could probably ride faster then most locals/natives drive.

Who isn't frustrated and angry in the U.S.? Enjoy your time on the island! I wish I was there.

I like how polite you’re being with the haole... usually and normally it is preceded by f&@king haole during my years in Oahu 😆😆😆

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

Sadly, that's very true. Although the increasing sales of medical marijuana help somewhat.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

My guess is that at least 95% of the local resident's would not be financially impacted in the slightest by IM taking their race somewhere else.


Tradition is great, but I get how locals could grow tired of the inconvenience. It might be time to consider alternate venues.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

It’s just some leaking from the TMT protests that have been going on for months.......

Montster wrote:

It’s just some leaking from the TMT protests that have been going on for months.......

A billion dollar housing/condo/hotel development will get approval without so much as a peep from locals, yet put a telescope at over 14000 feet where most locals haven't set foot in years, IF EVER, and it's the end of the world.

Aloha ʻĀina my ass.


Fun fact: it's estimated there are only about 40,000 "indigenous" Hawai'ians, if that.
Hawaii has been a melting pot for Asians and Europeans for a long time.

I've not been a fan of moving the race to other venues because of the history and the iconic nature and unique conditions Hawaii presents, but have to admit the idea is growing on me. I think of Kona like Augusta in golf, or Wimbledon in tennis, but perhaps it needs to be more like The Open Championship or the US Open in golf, where they move the event around to a selection of quality courses that meet certain criteria and who are willing to pay for the privilege of hosting it. It would certainly make it more accessible for folks who live on the opposite side of the planet to Hawaii, and it would change up the style of course and climate therefore not always favouring certain athletes, and it would likely also make it much less annoying for the locals (if the circus only came to town once in a while) lol. If it did happen I'd hope the list of venues would be kept fairly tight so that there was some familiarity and ensure a consistent experience, and also give Kona a permanent spot in the rota every 4th or 5th year. Just a few thoughts off the top of my head...there's probably been threads on this in the past.

It has been discussed before. The old guys like me would never consider moving due to what you said in your initial sentence. And then those who haven't been around so long don't find anything about the history and iconic nature of the race important. I suppose the debate will continue as long as the race remains on the Big Island.

Thanks r-b.
p.s. I'm no spring chicken myself :)

I guess I must be old because I also value the history of the race. One idea would be to rotate the World Championship through 4-5 different venues but keep putting on an IM in Kona every October. This does 2 things: First, it reduces the crowd size associated with a WC down to a "normal" IM crowd size in Kona on the years that it's not the WC, and second it allows a few of us who won't be qualifying to race at the WC any time soon a chance to race Kona on a year that it's not the WC.

Last night I was eating pizza at Bianellis with my family and a man came up and asked where I was from. I told him and then he snickered and began explaining how much people in Kona hate the Ironman. I told him that I didn’t realize that because Kona seems to love my pocketbook.

It’s my first time here and I’ve gotten the feeling that people either love/hate the Ironman. It’s unfortunate because it’s a great atmosphere.

I've been spending time on the big Island since 1998 which was a few years before ever having the pleasure to race there or even really knowing much about triathlon.

I have gone to the big Island every year since 98 and some years a couple times to train and race so I like to think I have a pretty good take on the negativity that has without question festered with the locals over the years.

My short assessment is that "we" are the problem. And by we I mean the self centred athletes with zero EQ that comes across as complete douche bags.

The least social ironman I have done is Kona. It seems to have a much higher percentage of extremely self centered and less socially aware than most ironman. I guess thats what the type AAA brings is a higher % of the self absorbed narcissists and even if thats 20% of the race it is plenty to have the locals really thinking we are all assholes. I don't think there is a fix for that as these people will always be prevalent and won't realize they are the problem.

More to it than that I know, but its a big big part of it. We are our own worst enemies sometimes - triathletes that is.

So what is it that the self-absorbed triathletes are doing to piss off the locals?

I usually go to the Big Island once or twice a year, but not for the race. It seems that no matter what time of year I am there, the traffic in and around the kona area is awful. Add the usual tourists, along with several thousand athletes, families, race employees/volunteers, and vendors, and it has to be maddening.

Over the past twenty years, of traveling to the Big Island (and other Hawaiian islands), I've never had a problem with the "native Hawaiian" people. As long as I respect them, and their culture, they've always been very nice to me (a white guy). Part of that could be that I am staying at high end resorts or condos, but we do get out a lot in to smaller community areas as well. When I have had rude encounters, its almost always another white person yelling at me for some reason or another. Just my experience so others may tell a different tale.

I'm here racing at the moment and I understand the Hawaiians, because I live in Munich and I'm very glad I exactly miss the Oktoberfest this year.

Why ?
Incomers complaining about incomers. I find that either ironic and/or hypocritical.

I think the simple way to explain it is a lot of triathletes either racing or training there thinking everything revolves around them. We can all get like that around races, but Big Island locals see it in full force more than any other venue. Triathletes there take it very seriously and I get that to a point.

Short List:
- not being considerate/polite in basic interactions with locals. Or being down right rude.
- lack of cycling common sense (big one). No quicker way to upset locals than to have a few people doing dumb stuff riding.
- arrogance in general in basic interactions/coming across as self absorbed

Don't get me wrong I think the % of these types is well below the majority but it only takes a small % to give everyone associated with tri a bad rep. It comes out more in Kona for obvious reasons. And sadly the races I have done with more history seems to be the places the locals are more fed up as they have been more exposed to those traits I see above.