Post by jontotman on Oct 11, 2012 13:02:56 GMT -5
Hi just want to share how our friend RodieEva made it to the Ironman World Championship and maybe someday the other peeps here doing triathlon and/or IRONMAN can qualify on the legacy program and experience to race in the IRONMAN KONA World Championship. Here's her story;
Aloha!
I am sending my greetings from the Big Island of Hawai’i. I arrived in Kailua-Kona on Monday after a somewhat turbulent trip, but I am now fully enjoying this beautiful island and this great triathlon experience.
So, the BIG DAY is finally approaching. On Saturday, October 13th, I will be participating in the 2012 Ironman World Championship in Kona. I am one of the 51 triathletes representing SUI (Switzerland), one of the best represented countries here in Kona.
For those who need a refresher, this race consists of 2.4 miles (3.8 km) swim (hei hei au kai), 112 miles (180 km) bike (pakikala) and 26.2 miles (42.2 km) run (holo hei hei), and is the dream and goal of almost every long distance triathlete worldwide. And this year I will be in it!
Some people wondered how I got in this race (as a World Championship this race is not open to everybody). Well, I qualified through the Ironman Legacy Program. This newly launched Ironman Legacy Program grants loyal Ironman athletes an opportunity to compete in Kona at least once in their lifetime. Basically, this Legacy Program is meant to reward those triathletes that put a lot of time, energy, hard work and passion in Ironman racing, but have not enough talent to qualify by finishing in the top in their age groups. One hundred Legacy winners were selected to participate in this year’s race based on several criteria. If you thing that it is easy to be selected, re-think this! To be eligible for selection in the Legacy Program, athletes must have completed a minimum of 12 full distance Ironman-branded races, have never started the Ironman World Championship, and have completed at least one full distance Ironman event in each of the 2010 and 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Having done my first triathlon race in 1986 (indeed, 26 years ago), my first Ironman race in 1998, and having done 20 Ironman distance races, of which 15 Ironman-branded, I personally believe that I have earned my ticket to this race. J
On Saturday, you are very welcome to follow my race through the athlete tracker on www.ironman.com starting at 7:00am Hawaii time (1:00pm EST, 18:00h GMT, 19:00 CET – I hope I got this one right). Professionals will start earlier at 6:30am (men) and 6:35am (women). To track me, you can either type my last name in the athlete tracker or 1236 for my bib number.
Finally, everyone is asking “Are you ready?”. I am as ready as I can be. I will have to rely a lot on experience. We will see on Saturday how this will translate into performance. For now, my goal is to enjoy this unique experience, smile as much as I can (in absence of Chrissie…), and get to the finish on Ali’i Drive no matter what. For sure it will not be an easy day, but hopefully it will be a good one… Luckily I will not be alone as there will be many familiar faces in the race and among the spectators…
The race report will follow as soon as my brain will have recovered from the effort…
If you are interested in seeing my (race and non-race) pictures, these will be posted on Facebook.
Mahalo to everyone in advance for your support!
Eva
P.S. Apologies in advance if I will not be able to respond to everyone in person while trying to focus on the race
Aloha!
I am sending my greetings from the Big Island of Hawai’i. I arrived in Kailua-Kona on Monday after a somewhat turbulent trip, but I am now fully enjoying this beautiful island and this great triathlon experience.
So, the BIG DAY is finally approaching. On Saturday, October 13th, I will be participating in the 2012 Ironman World Championship in Kona. I am one of the 51 triathletes representing SUI (Switzerland), one of the best represented countries here in Kona.
For those who need a refresher, this race consists of 2.4 miles (3.8 km) swim (hei hei au kai), 112 miles (180 km) bike (pakikala) and 26.2 miles (42.2 km) run (holo hei hei), and is the dream and goal of almost every long distance triathlete worldwide. And this year I will be in it!
Some people wondered how I got in this race (as a World Championship this race is not open to everybody). Well, I qualified through the Ironman Legacy Program. This newly launched Ironman Legacy Program grants loyal Ironman athletes an opportunity to compete in Kona at least once in their lifetime. Basically, this Legacy Program is meant to reward those triathletes that put a lot of time, energy, hard work and passion in Ironman racing, but have not enough talent to qualify by finishing in the top in their age groups. One hundred Legacy winners were selected to participate in this year’s race based on several criteria. If you thing that it is easy to be selected, re-think this! To be eligible for selection in the Legacy Program, athletes must have completed a minimum of 12 full distance Ironman-branded races, have never started the Ironman World Championship, and have completed at least one full distance Ironman event in each of the 2010 and 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Having done my first triathlon race in 1986 (indeed, 26 years ago), my first Ironman race in 1998, and having done 20 Ironman distance races, of which 15 Ironman-branded, I personally believe that I have earned my ticket to this race. J
On Saturday, you are very welcome to follow my race through the athlete tracker on www.ironman.com starting at 7:00am Hawaii time (1:00pm EST, 18:00h GMT, 19:00 CET – I hope I got this one right). Professionals will start earlier at 6:30am (men) and 6:35am (women). To track me, you can either type my last name in the athlete tracker or 1236 for my bib number.
Finally, everyone is asking “Are you ready?”. I am as ready as I can be. I will have to rely a lot on experience. We will see on Saturday how this will translate into performance. For now, my goal is to enjoy this unique experience, smile as much as I can (in absence of Chrissie…), and get to the finish on Ali’i Drive no matter what. For sure it will not be an easy day, but hopefully it will be a good one… Luckily I will not be alone as there will be many familiar faces in the race and among the spectators…
The race report will follow as soon as my brain will have recovered from the effort…
If you are interested in seeing my (race and non-race) pictures, these will be posted on Facebook.
Mahalo to everyone in advance for your support!
Eva
P.S. Apologies in advance if I will not be able to respond to everyone in person while trying to focus on the race
