I am well aware that most people don’t really know what triathlon is. I would say 80% of people only know that it has something to do with biking, swimming, and running. Out of these people maybe half know that there is a race in Hawaii and that it is really hard.

Because of this it should be no surprise for a triathlete when talking to someone and they say something like “Oh you do triathlon, have you done the one in Hawaii?”. Personally I enjoy explaining that not all triathlons are Ironman distance, and that there are lots of races that aren’t in Kona, Hawaii.

For all of you reading who are not as familiar with triathlon, THE RACE IN HAWAII IS THIS WEEKEND!!!!

Yep that is right, the most famous, prestigious race in triathlon is happening this Saturday in Kona, Hawaii. The Ironman World Championship consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile marathon. Each year thousands of triathletes around the world try and qualify for this epic race. And right about now if you flew to Kona you would probably feel like the chubby kid at the beach and choose to swim in your t-shirt.

Of the 2,000 super fit triathletes competing this weekend, I would estimate 100 are from Boulder, and 600 have been here at some point to train. I am about to tell you why you should care.

In this race, there are over 100 professional athletes who are competing for lots of money. Looking at the start list there are 20 that I have physically seen in Boulder this summer. Many of them call Boulder home. What this means is that if you live in Boulder, there is a good chance that you could bump into one of the fittest athletes on the planet. Maybe they will be standing behind you in line getting coffee.

From the race last year there are a handful of top 10 finishers who train and live in Boulder in preparation for this day.

Men-

Timothy O’Donnell- 5^th, top American

Tyler Butterfield- 7^th

Boulder resident Tyler Butterfield

Females-

Mirinda Carfrae- 1^st

Rachel Joyce- 2^nd

Liz Blatchford- 3^rd

Rachel Joyce

With the rise of social media and improved live streaming capabilities it is now possible to watch the race unfold live. Here are my tips for watching:

-On Saturday, Oct 11 tune into Ironmanlive.com at 10am mountain time for a live stream of the race with commentary. They do a great job explaining the race to people unfamiliar with triathlon.

-On twitter follow @Ironmanlive

-Saturday, November 15^th you can tune to NBC for a 1 hour race special.

Also for pre-race news you can check out Slowtwitch, Triathlete.com, and Lava Magazine.

Here is a video of last years race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANpuXzWnQ_k

Ryan Petry