As we gathered in front of the computer at 7 pm on Saturday to watch the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, the athletes started off their long day at 7 am local time in Kona with the swim in the clear Pacific Ocean. We had some friends over who are not into triathlons and it was fun talking about the sport in a larger group and telling them what the Ironman was all about. The pro race was going to take around 8 hours for the men and closer to 9 hours for the women. Our friends still had other plans for the night and left long before the winners of the contest would be revealed but my brother, husband and I were set on following the whole pro race. To say the least, it was more than impressive to see how fast those guys are going! Man, they barely slow down at the aid stations to grab some water or other nutrition. Seeing the athletes either excel or fall apart during the marathon was really intense. But at 3 am and after 8 consecutive hours of staring at the screen, any sporting event can be only so fascinating. The Pina Coladas definitely didn't help me staying awake and I went to bed after the male winner of the race was established. My brother stayed over that night and during breakfast on Sunday morning we turned on the computer once again and watched the age groupers finish. 14:30 hours after we had initially started to watch the Ironman, we picked up again and followed the athletes crossing the finish line. Those people, as little as I know about them, will stay in my memory for much longer than anything I had seen the night before. There were the two 45 and 50 year old friends dancing together as they crossed the finish line. Many people could barely walk as they came in. One lady was crying in pain and couldn't stop but she had refused to give up before she completed the whole race. There was the guy who held a "Will You Marry Me?" sign and the man who tripped and fell inches before the line. The oldest competitor came in at 84 years old and an 81 year old men won his age group minutes before his 80 year old competitor. The crowd went insane for every single finisher and the female pro athlete and winner of this year's race, Chrissie Wellington, was right there at the finish line to hug and congratulate most of the finishers. Finishing the race also means that the famous announcer Mike Reilly calls out the finisher's name and oftentimes a short story about that person, but what everyone wants to hear is him screaming out "You Are An Ironman!". The most heart-breaking story of the night was the lady who came in just 4 seconds after the cut-off time at 17:00 hours. Mike Reilly was running next to her to get her over the line and the crowd was pushing her down the final stretch with their chants but the poor lady couldn't make it in time. I don't think she was so happy but the audience and the announcer called her an "Ironman in our hearts". That's what I like about triathlon: it's not about winning, but about getting out and being part of it. After watching the Ironman my husband and I went out for a run and talked about how we felt inspired by what we had just seen. These people and their finishes were by far the best part of the whole broadcast and maybe I will change my Ironman-watching-approach for 2012 and turn it into a Hawaiian brunch.
