What an experience, for all you triathlon athletes out there, get your a55 over there either as a competitor or spectator because it is something that should not be missed.  


What a brutal brutal race but what a race to watch.  It is mesmerizing.

My time away has come to an end and I arrived home yesterday(Oct 15) via 3 flights, Kona v Honolulu v Sydney v Melbourne and happily road the coat tails of Traeges with queue jumping and Qantas Club lounging courtesy of his business class travels ;)  Thanks Traeges.  Once on the plane it was just great to get back home and see the wife and kids again.

Captain's Race Summary
We'll I've finished here again, it's really just an honour to race on this iconic course with so may top athletes.
 
Thankful to not have had any bike mechanical issues and ultimately crossed the line for another 10 hour finish,... that's 6 from 6 IM's. 
 
Although this one being my third fastest time at 10:15 and some change it was my most satisfying.
 
TOP 100 in my age group (JUST,.. 99TH) OUT OF 237 which was one goal for the World Championships.
 
Also wanted to go sub 10 hours with a sub 5 hour bike being a bonus,,..  unfortunately neither happened.
 
The Island served up a brutal day weather wise, severe winds on the bike leg, oppressive humidity along Alii Dr at the start of the marathon and then hitting 40deg in the Natural energy lab which is 28ish ks in with 14 to run. 
 
The tough bike conditions were evidenced by Pro's riding 10-15 minutes slower than "normal" Kona conditions, so that translates to 20ish minutes slower on the bike for "mere mortal" age groupers...  so I reckon the conditions cheated me out of my sub 5 hour bike time and sub 10, 9 hour finish.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
My running has come along nicely since 2007 so although I did slow mid-marathon I ran the final 14 k's in 1 hour 11 minutes which is JUST about 5 minutes per k.  Crossed the line for a 3;40 marathon which I'm wrapped with -  ALL GOOD.
 
AWESOME spectator support from Nicole, BAB'S, Komo and Traeges,-  HUGE THANK YOU.. AND great support from the numerous other Aussies spectating and randoms that took a liking to the "Captain Crank it" across my butt. 
 
 
 
SWIMBIKERUNOVERALL
1:08:035:19:303:40:4610:15:41
 
 
 
Now time to kick back and eat ice cream,...my next challenge will be keeping off the pud'n.
The Awards Ceremony
Well, what a blast.  Myself and Traeges believed we were inflicted with a bad batch of beer, that is the only way to explain how we felt on the Monday morning after the party, must have been the water quality in the beer.

The awards ceremony started off nicely and then the weather gods decided to open up the tap and deliver torrential rain.  It started light but by the end of the ceremony it was bucketing down.  Just after Chrissie Wellington delivered her speech, the PA system gave up the ghost so poor old Crowie (Craig Alexander) gave his speech without a mic, that is when Captain, Traeges and myself took the opportunity to pounce and leap the VIP fence and go up to the front of the stage and listen to the speech.  When it ended, in true Aussie style, I decided that 3 cheers for Crowie were called for so a big cheer we did deliver.

What a shame, not being able to deliver a speech to the masses on the night of nights.  Oh well, it was off to Hugo's for the VIP party, or so we thought.  Literary running down the Alii Dve without shoes on and water about 6-12" deep, nasty 5hite.

After a few beers with Matty Lewis courtesy of Endura Nutrition (thanks), if was back to the condo to shower, dry off and move onto the after party.

So I headed down to Hugo's with Traeges and we tried to enter the VIP party but were knocked back, did not have the white band, doh!  So, about 2mins later, a few left the party and handed us theirs, gold!  In we strolled.  Full open bar and food to boot including mixing it up with Crowie, Chrissie and various other Pro athletes.

All in all, it was a great night, photos with Crowie, Chrissie, Belinda Granger and a few randoms was something else.  Great to be able to chew the phat with these guys, and they are more than willing to talk away.   You definitely get the impression that they love to let their hair down and suck down the beers.  Crowie is going to be an awesome embassador for Ironman, he is so approachable and friendly, no ego there at all, and what more can be said of Chrissie, the new P.N.F (Paula Newby Fraser), time will tell.

So that was Kona 2008 in a nutshell, a truckload more happended but I think I've rambled on enough.

Over and out,

Komo