Anyone know what the route was on this race in the '80’s? Was a stable for guys like Scott, Tinley, Molina and Allen.
I raced the “Kauai Loves You” tri in 1989, the week before IM. After a few days sightseeing, I flew to Kona & got to watch Mark & Dave battle each other all day. Not sure what you want to know about the Kauai course. I can picture it in my mind better than I can remember the actual course details. It was a 1500m swim, 45 mile bike & 7.5 mile run, something like that.
I raced it in 1986, the race was staged in Hanalei, the swim was from the beach next to the (only) dock, bike was out & back on Kuhio Hwy, run on it also but I think it broke off into Princeville. And yes many Pros than, used for a warmup to the Ironman.
Did you swim along shore from the dock? And did you ride north towards Haena or south towards Kilauea? I was just there and rode a lot and was trying to figure out where the race took place. Would make sense to do it in Hanalei late summer as there is very little surf, and the roads are quite good up there.
Seems like the bike turned around at Kilauea Bay, the swim started and ended at the base of the dock. T1 & T2 ( we didn’t use those names back then, in fact we raced all the races in Speedo’s) was same are but on the grass.
Sounds like an awesome race. I wish they still had it. Just swam the bay last week, and rode from Kapaa to Hanalei and back…
Well I was the RD for the race and part owner, so I guess I should know something about it. And you will all have different stories, because we changed the course often there. First year was a swim across the bay, through 10ft Hawaiian surf, then an out and back 12 mile run to the end of the road, and finishing with a point to point 50 mile ride to Poipu, drafting allowed in the last 3 miles only. We liked to play around with distances and order there, and we got a ton of pros because it was the annual meeting of the only pro association that our sport has ever had. That is why we would book it 1 week before Hawaii, but once we did that, we had to shorten the race to something like an olympic. Too hard to do a half, the Hawaii the next week. There were some epic races there, and that first year we had $50k and next day CBS coverage. Here is a pic of the old days from Triathlon magazine. Pretty tough front group to be hanging on to, and yes that is me staying of trouble at the very back…(-;
It was a great race, but the hurricane of 93’ happened just before our 10th anniversary, and the island never recovered in time to make it viable to do the race anymore…Lots of fond memories though, please post yours here so that I can relive some of those years…
http://i30.tinypic.com/33xet7d.jpg
]http://i30.tinypic.com/33xet7d.jpg
I tried to use the forum pic for this, but did not come up for some reason, perhaps one of you computer savants out there can post up this photo for me…
DUDE!!! You must bring it back!!!
There’s only the sprint in Poipu and then Honu 70.3 on Big Island. I’ve had a house on Kauai for the past 10 years, and it’s one of my favorite places to ride, swim and run. I hope the Kauai Marathon in Sept turns out to be a success as it’s a great destination for athletes.
That picture is epic, thank you for posting it.
Now bring the race back!!!
Tri scene has been getting much better on Kauai in the last year. For a long time there was nothing here, but now the Pu’uwai Canoe club is doing the Poipu Sprint tri 3x a year, and the Kauai Swim club at the YMCA has reenvigorated the KLY name with a sprint in Kalapaki. Both have been great events. We’ve even seen a Cycling “stage” race here back in July (TT, Crit, Road Race in one weekend). Definately a better scene than when I got here 3 years ago where any racing you wanted to do involved boxing up your bike and spending the $$$ to race in Oahu, Maui or Big Island.
As far as the Kauai Marathon goes, I hope the people doing it realize the hills are nothing to sneeze at. All the marketing makes it look like a wonderfully scenic jog, but the hills going up to Kukuiolono are no joke, and descending Omao road is not going to be much fun, either.
I gotta make sure I time my next trip over there with one of the tri’s. I would love to do a race over there…
Nov 22 is the next “Tri Kauai” (Poipu)
Short swim, Bike is 7 miles up and 7 miles down, and a quick run…
monty - i competed that first year when we swam the bay, then ran, and cycled to poipu. was a great race. beautiful day, but a bit warm on the run. can’t remember how i did but i think it was maybe top 10. my wife (at that time) and john dunbar (one of the original IM) followed me in the car taking pictures the whole way—only to discover there was no film in the camera at the end! hilarious.
don
That’s a great story, do you still have the long sleeved pink shirt? The one with a cow on the front, with the CBS eye, and the inscription “cow eye triathlon”?? I thought I was so cool when I thought of that shirt, and it has to be a real collectors item nowadays…
Do you remembet that surf in the bay that day? I was so afraid that only a handful would make it, then I saw this deep spot in the middle of the bay where only the clean up sets were breaking. We got lucky, and I remember the lead group just getting over a nice set. The helicopter pilot that had the tv crew, had this shot of all the leaders punching over a big swell, then he quickly turned and a guy was ripping outside on a 15 ft face…If anyone out there has the video, I would greatly appreciate a copy. I had it on Beta, and lost it in a move…
used to do all of my swim training off waikiki so i loved swimming through the surf. remember one race on oahu off kaimana beach when there was a huge south swell. instead of swimming a 2mile course along the beach, they had us swim 4 loops in and out through the surf. after every loop people would bail out. i think less than 1/2 who started, finished. those were the days. i think i’d have a hard time making the windsock these days.
Kauai would be a sweet place for a tri, someone has got to bring that race back or develop another.
I loooooooooooooooooove Kauai north shore…but riding on the highway there??? Kapa’a to Hanalei…hmmmm I am usually too sketched to ride there…or do you do it on the bike path? That, and I’m usually really really really sore when i get there around mid-october! 
Believe it or not, the road from Kapaa to Hanalei (Kuhio Highway) is a) in excellent condition, b) has a really good shoulder most of the way save for a few bridges, and c) is non-stop 6-8% grades up or down, so it’s a stellar workout. 50 miles round trip, headwinds out AND back.
I personally think that the idea of having an Olympic race there two weeks prior to Kona the way Kauai Loves You used to be is a brilliant idea. And the idea of racing on the island, be it North or South Shore is so appealing.
I could imagine there would be a pretty significant Pro field if it was re-introduced.
I know there’s been a lot of talk on ST and other sites about Pro Unionization, and it seems like going back to the way it was makes a lot of sense…
Hmmm, food for thought…
I am Kauai on vacation and I just realized they will be having the Kauai Loves You Tri in a Month. I am so bummed I won’t be here. I am lobbying them to switch the date to October to bring a little of the Monty heat back…
I think there are 4 tri’s over there this year, a couple mtn bike races, the marathon and a bike stage race. There’s a tri club, a new sports shop or two, pretty cool! I run the hawaii race magazine out here so hence the flood of race dates. I btw have shamefully never been to Kauai after living in Hawaii for 30 odd years=( I need to go one day though, these events sound awesome! There’s a tri in it’s second year on Lanai now too!
What MTB Races in Kauai?