FEATURE STORY
RYAN MILLER
My Hawaii started many years ago as a kid sitting on the lounge watching Darrell Eastlake on Wide World of Sports . I remember watching this little Aussie ( Greg Welch ) taking on the world and the American guns on their home turf in Kona .
That sparked me to say that one day , no matter how long it took me , I was going to get to that island .
Fast forward to 2015 and a group of 22 Wagga guys were signing up for Ironman Australia in Port Macquarie . So I asked my long term mate and old training partner Brad Kahlefeldt to help me out with a program ( BKR Coaching ). I understood the commitment , and that the level required in my age group to get to Kona would be extremely difficult . On race day in Port Macquarie , which was my first ever Ironman , I finished top 10 overall in 9:16 and automatically qualified second in my age group for Kona . So I was off to Hawaii .
Twelve weeks out from the world championships I had a routine mole scan that came back with the worst possible news . The doctor said the words you don ' t want to ever hear : “ You have cancer .”
So after two operations and a bit of time out of the water , I finally got the all clear to head to Kona . Enter Tri Travel , and this being my first time along with my three mates from Wagga and my coach Brad , we stayed with the Tri Travel crew who made a very daunting place feel like home . From tours and stories from Shane ( I still use the knowledge he gave me in racing to this day ) to Tiff looking after all the crew including Mum and Dad who had come along to watch this crazy race , they made our experience incredible .
My first Kona was amazing , finishing top 20 in my age group , and all I wanted to do was get back to Hawaii again for another crack .
So in 2016 , after qualifying at Busselton just seven weeks after my first Kona , I got my chance to take on the Big Island again . This time in a much different setting , with no one I trained with qualifying , I was heading over solo and didn ' t hesitate to hook up with the Tri Travel crew again . As usual the lead-in week was great with everything set out , giving me all the time I needed to focus on the race and taking in the experience that is the world championships . This year would be different as I ' d finished the race before and ticked that off , so I was going to try and have an aggressive race and see what unfolded .
On a hot and windy day , I got through and was the first Aussie in my age group , 10 minutes quicker than the year before and 27th overall in the age group , showing me just how hard this field can be in Kona .
So for now it ’ s back to the drawing board to get quicker and to qualify for hopefully what will be my third Ironman world championship in a row , to continue on " My Hawaii ”. There is just something special about this island that keeps drawing you back , which you have to experience to understand .
I
could write a lot on how the day progressed but my actual race process was in reality probably not a lot different to most out there . So this is a kind of
“ bigger picture ” look at my first Kona . I first saw an Ironman race in 2013 in New Zealand . I will never forget that feeling of amazement at the athletes ’ achievements , and crying watching total strangers finish . If anyone had told me then that I would race my third Ironman there three years later and qualify for Kona , I would have thought they had rocks in their head . But that ’ s what happened and it seemed fitting to have qualified at the very race that started my passion for Ironman .
After a near perfect training block leading up to the race , and trouble-free travel and logistics pre race ( thanks to Tri Travel ) I found myself feeling unusually unsettled a few days before the race . A ride back to town from Kawaihae when we first arrived had me absolutely terrified of the crosswinds , and out of nowhere tapering
LISA REDMOND
had given me a weird pain behind one knee . I was struggling to find my “ why ” for this race , which felt really stupid , I mean really , I was in Kona , the holy grail of long course triathlon . I had sobbed when I placed second at NZ knowing it meant a Kona spot and I had trained my butt off to be fitter than I had ever been before . Everything about the previous months had been Kona , Kona , Kona . Why was I feeling like I was in a bit of a weird head space ?
We all have our mental folders we open on race day and I knew I needed to have a very big “ go to ” ready to pull out when the going got tough , but the right one for this race just didn ’ t seem to be easily coming to me . That “ go to ” crystallised a few days before the race ( thanks to talks by Caroline Steffen , Mark Allen , Belinda Granger and advice from Karlyn Pipes ).
Now this might sound corny but I started to get in tune with the fact that the island is a special place , and to try and treat it is as just another ( albeit beautiful and exciting ) race location was a mistake . Madam Pele is always there , it is her island and we all were racing there at her pleasure .
I also knew that a lot of people had helped me to get there and no way was I going to let them down . So I determined I was going to race with honour for everyone who had any part of my journey , and the island itself and Madam Pele were going to help me do that .
It is the most incredible feeling going down the pier steps for the swim start , and from that moment on for the rest of the day , I did not let up on thanking Madam Pele or asking her for the occasional boost . When the wind blew in my face ( which was a lot on the bike ), I thanked Madam Pele . Every time I went through an aid station I thanked Madam Pele and when it really hurt on the Queen K coming back into town , I again thanked her ( or it might have also been a little begging to her at that point ) for giving me the strength and opportunity to race strongly and to have honored the time and energy of my supporters , the other competitors and the thousands of volunteers .
It worked . Kona is one tough race . A friend described it as Ironman on steroids , and I totally agree . Do I want to come back ? Yes please Madam Pele , and I am already planning how to do better next time .
For me this race came down to honour . If I didn ’ t get out there and give it my very best effort and focus , I would be failing to honour everyone who had helped me in some way get to that point .
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