A search for an F-Dot: World Championship Addition.

Kona...

All those involved with Ironman racing know what that single word means. It describes the holy grail of the distance. For me, it's the World Series, it's Wimbeldon, it's the Super Bowl. I ask you, if your bother, sister, husband or wife were playing in any one of those events what would it be like...for you?

People outside the sport ask me all the time if I'm doing "that race in Hawaii"? And when I say no they ask why not. To which on occasion I answer with: You're a golfer? Right? I mean you own clubs and play in a Tuesday night league... So next year you're playing in The Masters? Right? Why not? You could. If you worked on your game 20 hours a week, why wouldn't you play? - Point made.

I recently was chatting with a dear friend about the fact that Bootsy qualified again this year for the Ironman World Championship in Kona and I would be headed back to the Big Island to see her race. Brittany has been there for our entire Iron distance career. Well, we were discussing how lucky I am that Bootsy is in the top 8% of the world at what she does when Brittney pointed out that I too am in that very same 8%, an 8% of people who have someone racing. One degree of separation from Kevin Bacon...if you will. Brittany asked if I would put something together about race day through my eyes. I of course balked at the idea, I thought it would be selfish. She quickly fired back "It would be selfish if you didn't. You have a real opportunity here that very few get. Please share."

So enclosed is the Ironman World Championship 2013 as seen through my eyes, the eyes of Sherpa, the eyes of someone who participates at the distance, the eyes of a partner. And through eyes filled with tears, tears of pride, tears of pure joy and tears of wonder.

4 a.m. race morning and Bootsy is up prepping for her day. I elect to linger in bed until almost 4:30 in an effort to stay out of her way. We are out the door by 5 on our way to the transition area. 

It's dark as sunrise here is at 6:15. We battle the crowds but find a parking spot about 4 blocks from the start line. The mood is relaxed or at lease quiet. I hear Mike Reilly the voice of Ironman in the distance, his voice very calm and instructive. 

Body marking is stationed behind the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel. Bootsy, her father, sister and I make our way in that direction. Last time Bootsy raced here I was able to get up close enough to take a few photos of her numbers being applied. This year it was different. Only athletes were allowed anywhere near body marking or any other athlete activities for that matter. The masses were held at bay...Boston! 

Body Marking

It makes sense, but it's hard not to be disappointed for both the athletes who want to share with their families and the fans as a whole. But anger or disappointment would only serve to empower the monsters who would do anything like what happened in Boston. So like everyone else we make our way back around to the front of the hotel to await Bootsy as she preps her bike and drops her special needs.

The barriers do nothing to dampen the spirit of the massive crowd.

The area where the fans and athletes were mingling was crowded but everybody made it work. The barriers where very evident but Ironman did, in my opinion, a good job of keeping the show of force at a minimum. I'm sure it was there but I think the majority of it was "undercover".

Soon enough it was time for Bootsy to head down to the water. Because I elect to hang out with her as long as possible prior to the race, I will need to walk over to the shoreline opposite the pier to get a view of the swim start. The crowd is massive and 4 deep for as far as the eye can see.

The swim start and a massive crowd.

There is a small church that keeps watch over the swim start. I elect to view the start from near there. I may not be as vertically challenged as others so the fact that I am four deep doesn't bother me much. I'll see what I came to see and still be able to get a shot or two.

As 7 a.m. draws near Mike Reilly prompts the athletes to get into the water. Surprisingly his voice is the only voice I hear. The crowd is eerily quite, almost silent. You can sense the angst that the people around you are feeling for their athlete. I wonder how this day, the day that Bootsy has worked so very hard for,  will go. I think about all the early morning runs, the late night swims and all the events she missed because she needed to get a big workout the next day. I pray that this day and the 17 hours she is allotted to complete The Ironman World Championship, will be enough.

Minutes before the swim start.

The cannon fires and they're off. Off in pursuit of a dream, whatever that dream may be. I am left to wonder what are their stories. Everyone here has a story. And a day that I can only hope will be a fairy tail ending for Bootsy is now under way.

There they go.

As the athlete make their way around the single loop, 2.4 mile swim course, we make our way over to the sea wall that over looks swim exit. The athletes are now pouring out of the sea and into T1. It's 1:10:34 into the race when Mike Reilly lets the crowd know that "Erica "Zymer" from Spokane Washington is out of the water."

Bootsy exiting the water. She is at the top left. Removing her swim cap.

We move up to the Kuakini Highway to get a quick glimpse of Bootsy and the others before they head up Palaini and out the Queen K on their way to Hawi.

On her way to Hawi.

There isn't a great way to follow the athletes out on the bike course and we had some domestic responsibilities to attend to at the condo so we headed back. I incessantly checked the web for any updates on time splits and trade winds. That's when I wasn't napping. I did get a short nap. Shhh. Don't tell Bootsy.

Ground Zero for the majority of the bike.

I checked the pro splits and listened for the helicopter to let me know they were approaching the run turn around on Ali'i drive. The condo is about a mile from the turn around so I walked down as the pros neared. I continued to walk down Ali'i as the pros and the first age groupers started to come through. I wanted to get down a mile or two before Bootsy came through so that, unlike if I were to stay at the turn around she would see me twice, as much as four miles apart.

Aid station carnage.

I am currently training for IM Arizona so I am working out while on the Big Island. I have done some running and let me tell you what, it takes some getting used to. The heat and humidity can be oppressive. To be very honest with you I couldn't imagine what it is like for the athletes, having never ridden my bike in the trade winds at Hawi or run a marathon in the hot Hawaiian sun. So I spent some time in and around the aid stations. I watched and listened to the carnage at what are the early miles of the marathon. They say it's not the actual course and its terrain here in Kona that makes this arguably the toughest Ironman on the planet, it's the conditions. It was nothing short of amazing to watch the competitors come through the aid stations doing everything in their power to cool off.

There was one other thing I noticed as I waited for Bootsy to come through. It was the size of the lead age groupers. Nearly all of them were in the 6'2" to 6'4" range in height. It's said the bigger athletes don't do as well in the heat, to much surface area. But the majority for these guys were big. I contend it's the fact they are big and powerful on the bike and were able to get in ahead of the trade winds that kick up as the day goes along, the winds that less powerful athletes get caught in. Just another irony of the Ironman. The fact the "lesser" athletes pay a larger price in the Lava fields.

Getting it done!

FINALLY Bootsy came through. Not that she was slow by any stretch of the word. I just wanted to see her, get in a few words and ask how she was doing. And to give some encouragement. She said she had lost her electrolytes. Not the end of the world, she had some waiting in special needs but for a girl who can have some cramping issues it could be something to contend with. I obviously didn't see this coming and it seemed she could use words of calm, some words of advice. Neither are my strong suit but I advised she work the sports drink and watch the road. Someone else surely has dropped their electrolytes. Which she did come across. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

When she came back through she seemed to have wrapped her head around it all and was doing great as she prepared to head up Palaini and back out into the Lava fields. She was smiling and up beat. That may have been more for me but I had to believe she would not suffer to greatly in the Lava fields. The clouds had rolled in so the cover should help keep the temps out there down. In the Lava fields the road temps have been known to reach 130 degrees.

She's smiling.

I headed back to the condo for some dinner then down to the finish. I have been racing and attending Iron distance races for quite some time now and let me tell you there is nothing quite like standing on Ali'i drive waiting for a loved one to finish the Ironman World Championship. The sights and sounds, there is no way to take it all in but you do your best. As I look around there are tears in the eyes of the fans as they watch their loved ones fulfill a dream. The same tears that are in my eyes as I do the same.

Ali'i Drive

For the second time on the day Mike Reilly calls her name. "Erica "Zymer" you are an Ironman!"

Collecting our athlete took a little effort this year with the changes to security. We move out to the front of the hotel where friends and families of the racers are gathering. Having never raced here Bootsy can talk with me until she's blue in the face about how hard it is out there and I would never truly get it. But for some perspective I encourage her to talk with other friends who raced. I stand and listen to them compare their days and talk about how hard it was. This helps me better understand what it was like on this particular day.

Back at the condo and it's absolutely pouring! The kind of rain you may only see here in Hawaii. We sit outside on the covered deck listening to the rain and stories of the day. Despite the rain when 10:30 p.m. approaches Bootsy, her sister and I go back down to the finish. The final hour of an Ironman is my favorite hour in all of sports. It's incredible, you have to experience it for yourself.

The finish line at midnight. It's a party!

I stand along side Bootsy near the finish line reveling in her day. I had worried that the sum wouldn't equal the whole but as I stood watching her dance, and sing and cheering on her final fellow competitors, I knew. I knew it was a day she could have only dreamed of. A day we will remember and cherish forever.