Today is Wednesday, 4 days after the last athlete crossed the finish line for the 2009 Ironman competition.  It has taken almost all of those 4 days to recover, both personally and as a community!  We had media passes to everything – so we swam through the thousands of fans to find special spots along the way to observe and take picts – up close and personal – and right along side NBC.

The event itself was great – inspiring and dramatic.  Watching Chrissy Wellington get out of the water and close enough to give her a hand (we didn’t) was as close to Hollywood as we’re going to get in Kona.  Being up close to all the athletes was thrilling and very much the spectator sport.  However, there was little left to do in between the events and for us locals it would have been nice if the Athletes’s Village could have stayed open until Saturday – the many new products and technologies left before we could say “I’ll buy it.”

Sunday we toured the town – the diligent volunteers had done a very good job in picking up the trash.  Here’s an interesting fact: not one of the athletes volunteered for clean up after the event.  Most were out early biking or running followed by serious beach activities, so we know they weren’t too sore to bend down and pick something up. We encourage the Ironman organization to give the participants a chance to work side by side after the event with the over 5,000 volunteers who cheered them on and offered support.  Would at least make a nice talk-story.

Monday we went on a bike ride – the roads are safe again.  The locals are back and it was great to wave hello and say “Aloha” to our friends on Alii Drive again.  Seems everyone had an Ironman Story – some good, some bad.  The one we loved the most was about watching the event at home on the computer (they lived just feet from Alii Drive) because the Ironman website had better coverage than they could get live at the event.”   We agee – the web coverage was ideal and in HD plus the computer tracking this year worked like a charm.  When it came time to watch the pros and our regular friends finish the race we knew when to be there to cheer them on.

Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way – see you next year.

For the best coverage and results of Ironman 2009 click here – the links at the top are the best we found.

For the complete slide show click here.

This morning it was the “Parade of Underwear” event in Kailua-Kona.  Starting at the King Kam Hotel and wrapping around Alii Drive to Uncle Billy’s.  Participating of course are most of the Ironman people, their families and friends along with a lot of crazy locals.  The Swiss and Germans all got the same email – and most were outfitted in good ol’ plain white undies.  Not the most flattering.  A few in nighties – thank you for keeping the theme alive – most in bathing suits – hey those don’t count – and the rest in an assortment of lycra-inspired attire, none of which I think you wear to bed – unless the cameras are on.   Funny!

For the complete slide show click here.

Parade of Nations

Yesterday afternoon the Parade of Nations made its way down Alii Drive.  Great turnout.  The Swiss and the Germans are here in plenty.  The Germans were doing the “wave” which was very funny to watch.  One German guy would run up and down the line yelling while the whole contingency followed his orders.  Poland is here, Eqypt is here and even Russia made it to Ironman – ok, she’s a team of one – but how great anyway!

Japan of course is here – and two of their team members strutted their stuff  in great pink and black outfits – check out the legs on the chick on the left  – she’ll have no problem riding to Hawi with or without the wind eh?

Kids, locals, everyone was out to cheer on the athletes.  Lots of shaka’s and Aloha.  The fun has just begun.

Unfortunately in the middle of the parade a pack of speed racers who obviously decided the parade was not their thing, decided to speed down Alii Drive right in the middle of everything.  Typical.  That’s the center photo above – those two in the picture are the tail end of pack of about 5 – they didn’t stop for anything or anyone, intent on riding through the crowds. Where’s the Aloha in their thinking?

But overall – the Iron people are amazing – true athletes and enjoyable to watch, from a locals perspective.

The Parade of Nations last night … coming up this morning.

First, a few words from Big Island locals.  “We love Ironman” is the general chant among the locals – at least in public.  In private we each lament a little about the hassle of hosting the Ironman event.   It’s a give and take for sure.

After the event the local community is left with an aftermath of trash, a sheer layer of sunscreen on the ocean water, broken bike parts including tires, left by the side of the road, cheering signs posted to everything, painted roads, restaurants and grocery stores out of food, yada, yada, yada.  The Ironman organization does a fairly respectable job in cleaning the town up.  The notion of “you bring it in, you take it out” needs more work tho.

There are rules and there is Aloha.  Our visiting Iron people are not very well informed about the rules of the roads and safety issues.  We saw one commercial from the Ironman organization outling the rules of the road, no one else we know has seen it tho.  Accidents are happening once again.  The Queens Highway is no place to ride 3 across in the shoulder. Those dozens of alters along the highway?  Those are monuments to people who have lost their life in an accident.  And Alii Drive is not the actual race track until Saturday.  Hard to tell right now – 3 days out – there are dozens of speed racers abusing their rights along this beautiful little street, making it practically unusable by walking  tourists and locals.

Staying in the Aloha spirit while you’re here is greatly appreciated, and sort of expected.  It is another beautiful day on the Big Island.  The ocean and dolphins are here to play and keep you safe off shore, the winds are cooperating, there’s late afternoon cloud cover to keep the sun off your backs and we know that within the few hours someone here in Hawaii has shared “Aloha” with you.

Aloha!

Cool fact #1: Three time champion Chrissie Wellington spent the year in Nepal riding a mountain bike for hours at high altitudes in the Katmandu Valley with the wind howling and trying to ignore severe food poisoning.  Just to prepare for Ironman.

Cool fact #2: 21-year-old Rudy Garcia-Tolson is missing two legs above the knee.  They were amputated before the age of 5 (unfortunate birth defect). With Paralympic gold medals to his name from the 200 Individual Medley in both Athens and Beijing, Rudy is coming to Kona trying to ride his way through the heat, wind and hills on a standard bike without the benefit of hamstrings or quadriceps.  He is all glutes, all the time. His motto:  “A Brave Heart is a Powerful Weapon.” And Rudy is the bravest of them all.

Cool fact #3: Wearing #1 is last years winner Craig Alexander from Australia.  Training in Boulder and avoiding all other Ironman events this year, his focus has been pure:  Win Kona again.  Only 3 men have even won two times in a row (Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Tim DeBoom).

FOR ALL THE 2009 IRONMAN INFORMATION / OFFICIAL WEBSITE & DETAILS CLICK HERE.

Picked up our press passes today.  The old King Kamehameha Hotel is quasi-open due to the massive amount of construction, but still it is once again Ironman headquarters even with all the inconveniences.  For those staying there, the pool, patios, bar and restaurant are closed.

Didn’t get in our way to the media room however – where we picked up our press credentials – a nice t-shirt, wrist band and lanyard ID tag.   The tag and t-shirt are just for looks.  The wrist band is what gets us ‘full’ access.  We’re officially official.

Our 4th edition.  We just can’t post all the fantastic finds fast enough.

A few of our favorites:

Broke da Face – what a hottie.
Happy Cakes – what a great and yummy tradition.
Sea Glass Obsession – we actually would love to trade jobs for a day with Trina.
Hawaii Forest and Trail – totally beautiful, exciting and riviting adventures.
Swanson Island – Robinson Caruso meets the Jetsons.  We love the designs.