Two Days at the 2022 Ironman World Championship
This year we saw the Ironman World Championship return to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii for the first time since 2019. In 2020, the race had initially been postponed to February 2021 before finally being cancelled altogether. In 2021, the race was planned to go ahead in October, but a surge in COVID in the late summer led to a second cancellation. As a result, the 2021 World Championship was moved to May 2022 in St. George, Utah and the 2022 World Championship was set to take place again in Kona with a two-day format that would include races on both Thursday and Saturday (October 6 and 8).
With two years of cancellations, Ironman was dealing with a backlog of more qualified athletes than it had space for so their solution was to split the athletes into two separate races within a 72-hour span. Day one would consist of the Pro Women, all women’s age groups and some men’s age groups including 25-29, 50-54 and all age groups of 60+. Day two would have the Pro Men as well as all the men’s age groups not aforementioned.
For those of us that have been to Kona before, this seemed like a major undertaking. The town and surrounding areas have always felt quite overwhelmed during race week and doubling the size of the race seemed like a major logistical challenge. Nevertheless, the impression was that this was going to be a one-time occurrence that was unique given the unprecedented events resulting from COVID. However, before the 2023 qualification season began in September, Ironman announced on July 28, 2022 that the two-day format would be used again in 2023.
Given that press release, it appeared that the 2022 event was no longer going to be a one-off event, but was going to set the precedent for what we should all expect for the years to come (or at least for one more year). Nevertheless, on Monday (Oct. 10) following the race(s), the Hawaii Tribune-Herald released this article quoting the mayor of Kona as saying that the 2023 two-day format was not “set in stone.” Given that Ironman already made the announcement over the summer I would expect, at the very least, that one more year of the day two format will be a go. Beyond that is anyone’s guess.
This year I coached two athletes that were racing on day one, two that were racing on day two and I was also there to help out a friend of mine racing in the men’s professional field (also racing on day two). With that in mind, my reflections come from what I saw in supporting these athletes in the days leading into the races and during the races themselves (I was on course for ~12 hours on both race days). Other athletes, spectators, etc. may have had entirely different experiences from my own observations.
Prior to Race Day(s)
I arrived on Thursday, September 29th, exactly one week from race day one and nine days from race day two. Leading into the races, I was primarily concerned about the potential chaos before the races rather than any problems with the race themselves. Trying to navigate the island, train, get groceries, go out to eat, etc. seemed more daunting than actually having two separate race days.
However, from everything I experienced this year, things did not appear to be as different from past years as I had initially expected. This is not to say getting things done was easy; there were a lot of people riding/running on certain sections of the course at one time, trying to find lane space at the pool was quite hectic (compounded by shortened operating hours), traffic was heavy, restaurants were full and grocery stores shelves were thin. However, in the last 10+ years that I have been going to Kona, this was always this case. These challenges did seem to occur further out from the race than in the past, but with one race occurring on Thursday, this would make sense (and many lodgings had ten-day minimums whereas 5-6 days seemed to be the old standard).
Race Days
As mentioned above, the first day of racing consisted of the Pro Women, all female age groups and some of the men’s age groups. Headlining day one with the Women’s Pro Race, coupled with highly improved tv/internet coverage, was a major success and a huge improvement over the one-day format. The highly competitive and entertaining race was able to be followed in full without ever having to split coverage with the Men’s Pro Race as well as being able to showcase more of the totality of the race (as opposed to just covering the leaders). The Men’s Pro Race on day two had a similar benefit where the coverage could expand beyond following the leaders and give a broader overview of how the race was developing throughout the day.
That being said, having watched the two days of racing from the course, there were clearly more spectators on day two, ostensibly from all the people having raced/supported on day one spectating the race on day two. In the post-race press conference, Lisa Norden (5th place) mentioned the idea of rotating the days in future years so that the Pro Men and Pro Women would alternate who races on day one and who races on day two. I agree with that idea and believe that Ironman should implement it if the two-day format becomes a permanent fixture at the World Championship.
Prior to the races, Ironman announced that it would be pairing down its aid stations on both the bike and run. This meant there would no longer be 11+ aid stations on the bike and 25+ on the run. While less consequential, there would also not be any bike catchers in transition for the age groupers. Presumably, this reduction in aid stations came from having to accommodate all these stations with 2x the normal number of volunteers needed. While the reduction in bike aid stations and bike catchers may not have had a profoundly negative effect, the reduction in aid stations on the run did seem to do so on both days. The athletes I spoke with said that not only were the aid stations further apart, but they were also overcrowded and understaffed for the amount of athletes moving through them during peak race times.
In all the years that I raced Kona, I found the on-course support to be the best of any Ironman race in the world. The fact that this was the opposite experience for this years’ racers is unfortunate and the reduction in aid stations and their staffing was the salient complaint I heard amongst many athletes. Fortunately this is a problem with a clear solution (more aid stations and more volunteers), but if Ironman struggles to find enough people to fully operate their two-day events then I would expect to see similar challenges for athletes at future races.
One additional problem I noticed in the age group race on day one was the start of the M50-54 age group at 7:35 a.m. (second to last on the day). This age group wave was the largest on the day and with only five minutes to stage their start, many athletes had not made it to the start line (about 100-150 meters from the shore). There simply wasn’t enough time from when they were allowed to enter the water to when the gun went off. If you look at the official start time, Ironman did delay the wave by one full minute, but it still wasn’t enough time as many athletes were nowhere near the start line. This may have happened in other waves as well, but I did not see or hear about them if it did. Given the bottleneck entry and size of certain AG waves, more time will need to be allocated when necessary.
Looking forward
When I first heard about the two-day format, my initial reaction was that it would be a total cluster. I didn’t necessarily think there would be major problems with race day operations, but I did think that everything else would be totally nuts. In the end, everything was incredibly busy, but it didn’t feel exponentially more chaotic or busy than it always had been. Granted, I was not racing and may have been less sensitive to all of the stress surrounding the days leading up to the races.
In looking forward to 2023, I would advise athletes to plan ahead as early as possible. Lodging in Kona is limited and the demand will continue to outstrip the supply. I knew numerous athletes this year that had to change locations during their stay, even one that had to stay in three separate places. Unfortunately, I don’t see this improving for the better, either from a cost or supply standpoint. In the newspaper article I referenced above, the projected numbers for 2023 is projected be slightly lower than this past year, but not in any impactful way.
Secondly, training before the event presents logistical and safety challenges. I would strongly advise not using Ali’i for training once race week gets started. Early morning runs might be ok, but otherwise, I would try to use Kuakini for commuting out of town on your bike or drive your vehicle to various staging areas towards, or beyond, the Kona Airport. I would also anticipate encountering massive crowds at the pool and be prepared to not only share lanes with other athletes, but also be willing to compromise any planned sessions for the day.
Finally, I am having a hard time narrowing in on the specifics, but I do think there are unique challenges for athletes racing on day two. This isn’t a case of staying on one’s feet too long or spectating for hours in the sun, but more about the challenge of managing the hype and energy across 72 hours and whether that has a tangible impact, positively or negatively. The lead up to the races is intense and racing on day one might have the disadvantage of less spectators, but it has the advantage of shortening the waiting game. Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but it’s something that left an impression on me.
In conclusion, I would say that the two-day event had some noticeable issues, but ones that seemed to have clear (though maybe not easy) solutions and from a purely operational standpoint, I don’t see any reason why two days cannot remain the new normal. However, the relationship and feelings of the local community towards this two-day race is much more nuanced and one that will need to be the lead in determining whether this is sustainable for both Kona and Ironman. If the two-day event is to continue, there will need to be a vision and plan that both sides can support for 2023 and beyond.
-justin
