(upbeat music)
- At the pinnacle of triathlon racing
sits the Ironman World Championships,
taking place in Hawaii
on the second weekend of October every year.
Now this race is fame
for not only attracting some of the very best
amateur and professional athletes,
but also for it's extremely unforgiving weather conditions.
This island dishes out to athletes year upon year.
- Absolutely!
But there is actually another factor
when talking about this Ironman World Championship
that we can't not talk about and that is the course itself.
So today, we thought that we would delve into
two of what we think are the crucial aspects of this course
and discuss in our opinion,
what we think their impact will be
on how the racing will unfold.
(electronic beeping)
Right, lets get stuck in and start with the bike.
Now, unquestionably there are sections
of this Hawaii Ironman that are unique and well,
quite unlike any others
you'll find in races around the globe.
Now undoubtedly, the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway,
which we'll refer to as the Queen K from here on in,
is undoubtedly one such section.
And it is synonymous with the Kona bike course.
- Well, after the swim in Kailua Bay,
and an initial out and back in town,
along the Kuakini Highway,
athletes then take in the short, sharp ramp,
at Palani Row, before taking a left hand turn
onto the infamous Queen K.
Now this is the main traffic artery
for the North West of the island,
and takes the athletes in a northerly direction,
away from Kailua-Kona, and towards
the turn point at Kaiwi.
(dramatic music)
- So, after the initial 10K's of riding around town,
the athletes then head out onto,
what is essentially the most famous stretch of road
in the traveling world, the Queen K highway.
They ride 50 or 55K's along there, to get to this junction,
essentially the first major left hand turn
in the IronMan Hawaii Bike course,
and that's here, at the Port of Kawaihae,
which starts the athletes towards the climb up to Hawi.
So, this is where we're focusing our cyclist interest
in this video, because here,
well this section of the road starts behind me
and climbs towards Hawi is the furthest section
of the bike course.
And this Hawi Climb as its often called as
something that almost sends shivers down the spine
of the athletes racing.
Not just because of the climb that's starting behind me,
but the descent that follows it as they return
on their leg back to T2 later.
You see here in Kawaihae is where the course
takes quite a noticeable change in tactic.
And I thought those long, wide open roads in
the Queen K were far from flat and in fact
you will rarely see the athletes break from their
aero TT position on those roads.
It is here Kawaihae that athletes started to hit
short, short punchy climbs and sort of having to get
out of their saddle probably for the first time since
those steep pitches of Palani Drive back in town.
But don't be fooled by this gradual 30 kilometer rise
towards the turn point a Hawi
Sure, it only includes just over
300 meters of elevation gain, but
there are other invisible factors that play here.
Yet those famous trade wins really start to kick in
as athletes grind their way towards that half way point.
Now understandable the race to now
do start to change in this Havi section of the course.
Indeed, in the priory, the athletes will still
be winding down a long stretch of riders that
can be affectionately referred to as the Havi Express.
Now in this group the athletes really have to be careful
of bunching or concertina effects which can
happen as athletes start to bunch up together in these
short punchy climbs and very often you will hear
unfortunately stories of drafting penalties from athletes
where they will have a momentary lapse in concentration
and they get too close without releasing and to the athlete
in front without pulling out and passing as
you are supposed to do.
And indeed in the age group race well, out there on the
Queen K section that has proceeded this
Hawi section of road there does often tend to be
the emergence of very unfortunate
big drafting packs of athletes.
But once they start to climb up here towards the Hawi,
that does tend to disperse and the
athletes spread out towards the turn.
So here we are in the small town of Hawi, where the
athletes reach the far turn around point of the
race and they're already start to feel the effect of
those strong trade wind gusts
that start to hit the island.
But do a U-turn pretty much directly behind me
here in the road before heading back down that climb.
They just come up from the port of Kawaihai where they will
be starting to hit some pretty fast speeds.
So with that descent from Hawi, the riders have to
start coming back down here to Kawaihai and really get
bufferted with those trade winds for the first time.
You can see those winds blowing in the trees
behind me and the riders ordinarily have
to deal with gusts that can blow them from
at least one side of the road to the other.
But these winds can really wreak some havoc
with the riders and that their worst you hear
stories of riders getting blown from their bikes.
However, fortune often favors the brave and this section
all the way back down to Kawaihai really becomes
somewhere for the strongest of riders to show their
hand and really start to try and boost the pace and open
up sizable gaps and they fly back down this
descent towards Kawaihai.
And this neatly formed Hawi Express that I was
talking about before that just an hour or ago was pushing
its way up this climb to the turn at Hawi
gets scattered literally to the four winds as athletes
try and battle with these hazardous trade wins gusts.
And the really strongest of riders get to show their hands.
There are some other important factors to take
into consideration when descending down to
Kawaihai from Hawi as well.
Now there is many athletes and not just those in the
amateur acts either.
They really struggle to deal in these gusty winds
that can happen down this stretch.
To deal with things like taking their
hands of the handle bars for important issues like
eating and even changing gear.
Now that's why it is really important to, if you can
have electronic gears so if you have got your
gears accessible down there on your Base Bar.
And even having aero drinks bottle that are up
here with say, a straw so you can access good nutrition
and your gears at all times.
(upbeat music)
Well having completed the grueling 112 miles of the bike
course through the scorching volcanic lava fields.
Athletes must now focus their attention on the
prospect of the marathon.
And it is a hot one.
Now we have already discussed the bike course
and its famed Queen K high way.
Well the marathon is not to be out done either because
the jewel in it's crown is here on Kealakekua Drive.
This makes up near 10 miles of the run course, as
athletes follow the coast line of Kealakekua and
athletes here can benefit from pockets of crowns
dotted around along the street and also make the
most of what little shade is on offer to them.
However, fast forward deep into the run and athletes
will run back along that same stretch of that Queen K
that they have road on just hours before.
And its at this point that many athletes would
be fighting for their own internal demons and they're
thriving to avoid hitting that inevitable wall.
And then, Hawaii Ironman presents its own unique wall
as athletes take a left turn of the faint
Queen K, dropping down towards the airport and
into the Natural Energy Lab.
(piano music)
And much like the turn point in Hawi on the bike, the
Natural Energy Lab is the furthest point the athletes
have to find themselves away from the sanctuary of
transition and the finish line during the run.
Now to give you its full and proper name the
Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority
founded in 1974 and that was for research purposes.
And the reason why it is situated
here is because it receives the highest
levels of solar radiation for any part of the
US coast line and its this that
the athletes have to endure.
Now the Lab was actually first
introduced into this race back
in 1990 and this cauldren of heat has since
gone on to produce all sorts of epic racing battles
over the years.
One of note was back in 1994 when Gregg Welsh and Dave Scott
went head to head throughout the day and it came down
to the Lab to separate them.
Gregg Welsh managed to pull clear and go on
to become the first non American
winner of this race.
And at the (inaudible) within this
utterly exposed section of course
you will witness athletes dousing themselves
with water, pouring ice water over their heads and
literally grabbing everything and anything they can
to keep themselves cool and continue to put one
foot in front of the other.
I think it is fair to say at no other point during
the Hawaii Ironman does this column of weary athletes
resemble as much of a death mark as it does when athletes
are making their way into a particular out
of the Energy Lab and then they turn on to the Queen K
to complete that final 6 miles back to one of the most
famous finish lines within the triathlon.
- Now make no mistake there is little about this
Hawaii Ironman that isn't iconic.
From the swim start at (inaudible) beach
which is right over our shoulders there
to the finish line which is right beside it
as well next to this very sea wall that we are sat on.
- Yeah now that being said we do believe that the climb to
Hawi on the bike, the descent from it and not to mention
the infamous run in and out of the Natural Energy
Lab could be really decisive points on this course.
Now if you have enjoyed today's video please
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- And if you want to see a video that we did about
how you can qualify for Ironman Hawaii,
well you can find out here.
- Yeah if you would like to find out more abouut Kona,
well we did a video about Kona in number from
2018 you can see that by clicking just down here.