Ok, so you are a type A personality, qualified or legacy’ed to Kona. But does each and every item you wear must be Ironman branded? Do you really need an Ironman cap to protect your eyes from sun glare at night? and FFS do you think appropriate attire to Walmart is Ironman visor, humungous Hoka running shoes and knee-high compression socks?
Also, can everyone start wearing shirts? Its like a LS clone-fest around here. Never have I seen such a condensed collection of chiseled abs and veiny biceps (with the exception of Zoolander, of course), my stomach hurts from sucking in the belly fat all the time.
Hmmm, I walked from Kona Beach Hostel to the swim start 0.9 miles away, then in the water at 5:45am. Was too dark to see what others were wearing, but really no one was in the water quite yet… thus, no infestation when one beats the crowd to the water.
Aloha!
I have a no more than one Ironman branded thing at a time rule.
Backpack? Sure, but that rules out the hat and the shirt or hoodie.
The only time I’ll slightly bend on this rule is I have a pair of very comfy running shorts I picked up at an event that has the mdot on them, but otherwise they are just black. But even then, It’s only if I missed it because it’s 5:15am and I can’t see without turning on the light and waking up wifey.
Props to the timex Ironman watch above. It made me google to see if those are still made. And they are. I wonder how much Ironman gets from that royalty.
I’ve seen people wear their medals at the airport.
One thing I have learned as an Aussie flying in and out of Canada and the USA is that wearing Ironman or Ultraman/ Ultra-Tri gear seems to take the edge off how miserable the Immigration and Customs people can be.
Lurk - I don’t think the Timex Ironman watch really counts b/c the letters of “Ironman” are so small that you have to stick it up in front of someone’s face for them to notice it. Much diff from a shirt, backpack, etc.
this must be your first time to Kona lol. It’s been like that for the last 25 years that I have been going but getting worse every year. The absolutely worse was last year when it was the women’s race yet there were still guys riding around Alii Dr in their Tri race suits and areo helmets.
Ok, has none of these people ever heard of tapering? I don’t particularly mind that they are cooking themselves two days to the race running out in the baking sun (shirtless, of course), or screaming up and down queen k, but when I go to get some ice coffee and see it, it gives me some FOMO.
Enjoy the scenery, vanity, and the rest…