Michelle Jones took 3rd overall at the Honu Triathlon and beat Luc. I wonder if she’s looking to take Kona this year?
If history is any indicator, Michellie will go to Kona a heavy favorite and DNF on the big day.
Huh?
There is no history of Jones going to Kona my friend…except to sip cocktails on the beach.
History of other heavily favored pro’s who had a tough first time at Kona.
Like Luc did at his first Kona? Or Dave Scott at his first Ironman? Z
No. More like Macca did at his first or how Mr Lessing kicked ass last year.
Yeah, but neither Dave nor Luc, were favored when they first appeared in Kona. I remember when Luc and Hellreigel were waaaayyy out in front in '96 and everyone was asking “who is that guy?”.
The one consistent thing about Kona is it’s unpredictable race. New favorites usually get a lesson, even if they have done well at other IM races. It’s part of what makes the race enjoyable to me. You never know what is gonna happen or who will win.
I’m nopt saying Michellie will win in Kona - just that “History” has some athletes that have won their first time in Kona and other that have not done so well. Michellie might win and she might not, but history has nothing to do with it. Z
One of the big “x” factors at IMH are the conditions. It looked like Honu lacked the legendary howling winds but had the heat turned on high. MJ finishing 3rd overall certainly bodes well for Kona.
But anything can happen at twice the distance.
She definately could blow the entire field away. Great short course athletes who step up to Kona seem to either raise standards, or they blow up on their first try. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground.
I betcha $10 Natascha wins again.
to overlook the fact that Lessing attempted it with an injury seems to be a bit myopic on your part. Unless I’m mistaken about the injury.
Did I overlook that? There’s always bad luck involved when someone DNF’s. 1st timers on the island seem to have the most bad luck. I’m not saying Michellie won’t win. She’s a fabulous athlete. I’m just saying that if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Natascha winning it again.
badmann certainly would be the safe bet. You’ll get no argument from me about that.
Ironman racing certainly goes down the crapper fast when things go wrong.
I would have to agree with you on Natasha. After seeing her destroy the field at Disney (not the best field) and with her five wins at Kona, she is the one to beat.
Of course Heather Fuhr finished second to Natasha last year in Kona and Michellie beat her this weekend! Of course, Ficker beat Michellie at Ralph’s so… we could go on and on. Z
I have a Gatorade hat from last year in Kona - Norman and Nina signed it at the awards ceremony. Last weekend, I had Natasha cross out Nina’s name and sign the hat. It is now one of my favorites! Z
If I recall correctly, Ms. Jones ran 3:18 after an arguably “easier bike course” at Ironman Florida. Her half Ironman prowess and multiple Olympic distance WC’s and Olympic medal aside, her one outing at the Ironman distance would suggest that she might not as yet be in the same league at Ironman as some of the top women. Then again, if you can swim 50 min and bike sub 5, then you might be OK running 3:18 
actually, she ran 3:28. she’s going to have to make some significant improvements to even be competitive in kona. and my experience is that kona is a bit tougher than florida.
I’m teammates with the fellow who finished second OA this year (Time Marr). 1st year pro, with tons of potential.
Tony
Don’t forget that Honu shares part of the course and all of the conditions of IM Kona. Her performace here is a better indicator of how well she’ll do come October than another race race elsewhere…kj