Kona

bryangiggsy

So the big dance is 11 days away.

Anyone know the full list of Irish on the start line?
so far the ones i know are

Matt Molloy
Owen Martin
Declan Doyle
Niall somers
Ivan O Gorman
Martin Muldoon
Rob Cummins

Predictions for the pros?
Am going with Andreas Raelart & Caroline Steffen. Would love to see PJ win again but he has had issues with injury this year so thats why i am going to go with AR.
Cant wait!

catweazle

John Joe Higgins from Galway qualified as well in IM Wales, not sure if that means he is going this year or next year!

pgibbo

catweazle wrote: »

John Joe Higgins from Galway qualified as well in IM Wales, not sure if that means he is going this year or next year!

He's going in 2014

I'd love to see Raelert win it. I have a feeling Kienle might pull it off. Jacobs will be right up there too. He had a cracking 70.3 a couple of weeks ago.

pgibbo

Out of curiosity, how do people think Eneko Llanos will do in Kona? He's had a great season so far.

bryangiggsy

pgibbo wrote: »

He's going in 2014

I'd love to see Raelert win it. I have a feeling Kienle might pull it off. Jacobs will be right up there too. He had a cracking 70.3 a couple of weeks ago.

Raelert has been so close for so many years....i think this is it for him..last chance saloon. I think he will beat Kienle.

tunney

Bevan Docherty for the win.

Brick Session

Viewing on Ironmanlive.com I presume???

bryangiggsy

Brick Session wrote: »

Viewing on Ironmanlive.com I presume???

Yep. coverage is normally quite good for Kona as opposed to other races.

tunney

bryangiggsy wrote: »

Yep. coverage is normally quite good for Kona as opposed to other races.

WuHoooooo we can have a Kona party at the Day-After-The-Wedding party in Dolan's parents. Cue me getting pissed and going - "haha you could have been there."

pgibbo

Given that Mirinda Carfrae is back with Siri this year, she must be a threat even if she is flying under the radar a little?

I wonder will the drafting issues of last years race occur again this year for the women?

Diesel

Taken from : http://www.tri247.com/article_12123.html

I count 10, there may be more hiding in the list though...

Niall Somers
David Condon
Martin Muldoon
Declan Doyle
Matt Molloy
Robert Cummins
Alistair Duffield
Ian Kennedy
Owen Martin
Robert Wormald

Abhainn

I see Ramsay (Gordon) will be in Kona.
Any one know how he earned his entry?

pgibbo

WTC gave him an entry. There was some heated debate over on ST about it

Abhainn

pgibbo wrote: »

WTC gave him an entry.

FFS

Brick Session

Its all about the publicity, WTC is a commercial entity and the athletes come way down the line in the scheme of things.

From what I can gather Gordon Ramsey is into triathlon and he really should have earned his spot like everyone else but hey, if WTC gave you a spot for free would you say no?

Abhainn

Brick Session wrote: »

Its all about the publicity, WTC is a commercial entity and the athletes come way down the line in the scheme of things.

From what I can gather Gordon Ramsey is into triathlon and he really should have earned his spot like everyone else but hey, if WTC gave you a spot for free would you say no?

GR may be into triathlon now but since when? From the interview I seen it seemed he only got into it in the last year. Will be interesting to see if he can finish inside 17hrs. He found the 70.3 in Vegas tough

But fair play to WTC initiating the lottery program for those that have completed 12 IM's. But when you see the effort the mere mortals take never to get there and then see the free offerings to those like him:mad:

tunney

Abhainn wrote: »

GR may be into triathlon now but since when? From the interview I seen it seemed he only got into it in the last year. Will be interesting to see if he can finish inside 17hrs. He found the 70.3 in Vegas tough

But fair play to WTC initiating the lottery program for those that have completed 12 IM's. But when you see the effort the mere mortals take never to get there and then see the free offerings to those like him:mad:

Ramsay has been doing it for years and has completed a number of ironman events.

He is as justified being there as any lottery or roll down person.

pgibbo

Will this trend continue or will Bevan buck the trend?

bryangiggsy

tunney wrote: »

Ramsay has been doing it for years and has completed a number of ironman events.

He is as justified being there as any lottery or roll down person.

What a kick in the nuts to the roll downs.

peter kern

pgibbo wrote: »

Will this trend continue or will Bevan buck the trend?

using the stats the chance is extremly high that a german is going to win given the fact 2nd and 4th place won kona 13en times in the last 16 years.
But if you can swim like jacobs. bike like jacobs last year (and when jacobs was young his bike was stronger than his run) and realisically are the fastest runner in the top 5 ,you got to be the top favorite

At the same time if you did well at the athens olympics you are likely to do well in kona as you are strong. ( i guess andreas relart was somewhere 6-8 th in athens so docherty in a good chance to do what ralert alexander or even luc van lierde did in their first kona ) i guess docherty is the dark horse.

Abhainn

tunney wrote: »

Ramsay has been doing it for years and has completed a number of ironman events.

IM 140.6? Doubt it
His best days have been around the VLM a no. of times. The wife beat him by 20 mins in 2012.

tunney wrote: »

He is as justified being there as any lottery or roll down person.

Ah crap. I almost fell for it.
That's the best I've seen in a while. Nice one

Shedite27

Abhainn wrote: »

GR may be into triathlon now but since when? From the interview I seen it seemed he only got into it in the last year. Will be interesting to see if he can finish inside 17hrs. He found the 70.3 in Vegas tough

He finished 70.3 in Vegas in 6:38 - should be comfortably able to get under 17hrs no?

peter kern

what happens ramsey and this nascar driver get talked aobut more than anybody else bare the top 5 pros so why should they not let them in if it gets the punter excited about them
Only if they get ingnored whill they not be invited again ;-)
this thread shows they are doing the right thing.

how much money would ironman have to spend to get the same publicity?
so i would think its the best investment they can do for 1300$ to get more punters for their races.

bryangiggsy

Good article on 4 brothers who have qualified for the race

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2013/10/lawaetz-brothers-do-kona.aspx#axzz2h0L8iYD7

Brick Session

I once asked a real Master Chef friend of mine what he thought of Gordon Ramsay when he first appeared on our screens with the dramatic shows.

His reply was a very simple €400 million. I think he meant that Ramsay was a successful business person as well as colourful for television. Like him or not, he attracts viewers to screens and that's what TV is all about, the Ratings. Apart from the top 5 pro's in each category and the Irish athletes be honest now but will any of us give a hoot about the other 1670 odd participants, honestly now?

But we will all be curious about how Ramsay does, it might just be to say "Wow I didn't think her would do that time" or it might be " See I told you he would miss the cut off" Either way he will attract a huge interest and as Peter has said anything that promotes our beloved sport or gets it more media coverage can only be a good thing.

If you look at that ridiculous and uninformed article written in the Guardian Newspaper after the recent World Championships in London you would have to think that the public in general would read that and come away with a very one sided and ignorant view of triathlon. Its very possible that Gordon Ramsay being such a high profile British Celebrity might just be featured in a lot of Media publications that possibly will promote the sport in a positive light therefore educating the masses on the delights of Triathlon.

bopperr

Hines Ward is doing it also!!!

bryangiggsy

bopperr wrote: »

Hines Ward is doing it also!!!

For those who dont know who he is ..hes an ex american football player and mvp for the Pittsburgh steelers. He was a wide receiver. And his inclusion has brough a lot of notoriety of triathlon to the national game as he now broadcasts for NBC

Izoard

Was watching a feature on IM Western Australia, on the way down to Jo'burg overnight.
Mat Rogers, ex- Aussie Rugby League and Union "legend" was doing his first IM and getting a lot of coverage.

In T1, there is a camera in his face..

Reporter: "So, Mat...how was the swim?"
Mat: "Someone's gone and robbed my nutrition - the bento box is gone!!!"

Happens to the best of us, I guess....

catweazle

Izoard wrote: »

Was watching a feature on IM Western Australia, on the way down to Jo'burg overnight.
Mat Rogers, ex- Aussie Rugby League and Union "legend" was doing his first IM and getting a lot of coverage.

Ah Mattie Rogers - I always remember him from another triathlon great Josh Lewseys hit on him. He was mouthing off to Josh all match and was rewarded by getting a hospital pass from his winger

EC1000

catweazle wrote: »

Ah Mattie Rogers - I always remember him from another triathlon great Josh Lewseys hit on him. He was mouthing off to Josh all match and was rewarded by getting a hospital pass from his winger

And the pass was forward

bopperr

Odds are up

http://www.paddypower.com/bet/triathlon/kona-ironman-championship?ev_oc_grp_ids=833112