Kona Kings & Queens

Kona Kings & Queens is a collaboration project with sports photographer James Mitchell to highlight some of the Pros racing in Kona. James supplies his awesome pictures (for more check his Instagram account), I add some data and commentary.

Sarah was fourth at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. After a disappointing DNF at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games she was able to make a great transition to long-distance racing, earning two more fourth places in big races, at 2017 70.3 Worlds in Chattanooga and in Kona 2018.

When she crossed the finish line in Kona 2018, she was clearly struggling and not 100% coherent anymore. She was struggling even more in this year’s Ironman races: She DNF’d on the run at IM Cairns and at IM Frankfurt when her body shut down and she wasn’t able to continue. Finally, in her third Ironman start in as many months, she was able to secure her Kona slot with a second-place finish at IM Mont Tremblant.

As far as I know it’s still a mystery what has created her problems on the run. This makes it very hard to predict what she’ll be able to do in this year’s Kona race and how she’s going to approach the race. The first half of the race will probably see her well-positioned after the swim, last year she was part of a small chase group behind the “super fish” Lucy Charles and Lauren Brandon. In her past Ironman races she’s been using that time to get settled on the bike and to start her attacks in the second half of the bike.

But her main strength in her 2018 Ironman races has been a great marathon, and she hasn’t yet been able to show that in 2019. I will closely follow her Kona race and especially her run, hoping she’ll be able to fight hard for the whole marathon – and then still be able to cross the finish line with a satisfied smile.

This is an excerpt from my “Kona 2019 Rating Report”. You can download your copy here.

Kona Kings & Queens is a collaboration project with sports photographer James Mitchell to highlight some of the Pros racing in Kona. James supplies his awesome pictures (for more check his Instagram account), I add some data and commentary.

After his third place in Kona 2017, there wasn’t much mention of David McNamee as a podium contender for 2018. That only changed in the last 90 minutes of the run when it was clear that David had another great marathon and would be able to run once more through most of the field.

We probably also won’t hear many mentions of David in this year’s podium picks. He didn’t have a good race in South Africa, the best result was his validated Kona podium slot. Challenge Roth wasn’t much better, but at least he posted the fastest run split.

David’s consistent results in Kona (11th, 13th, 3rd & 3rd from 2015 to 2018) are based on his strong marathons (2:49, 2:49, 2:45 and 2:46) – and a strong run will also be needed for a great 2019 Kona result.

This is an excerpt from my “Kona 2019 Rating Report”. You can download your copy here.

Kona Kings & Queens is a collaboration project with sports photographer James Mitchell to highlight some of the Pros racing in Kona. James supplies his awesome pictures (for more check his Instagram account), I add some data and commentary.

Last year was Rinny’s return to Kona after having daughter “Izzy”. Her result was a solid fifth place that most athletes would be happy with, but as a three-time Kona winner, Rinny probably wasn’t looking for another Top 10 in Kona. Does she have another great Kona result in her?

As is typical for her, there are not too many full-distance data points to work with. Since last year’s Kona she only finished IM Mar del Plata – and finish is all she did, validating her slot with a sixth-place finish. She’s had a few more 70.3 results: Five races between April and June, all of them either wins or second places. But these are also not very helpful what she might do – that’s exactly what she did last year. She would have raced another 70.3 but has broken her radius which will keep from swimming much before Kona.

For a podium result or better Rinny will need to have a better run – she hasn’t yet had a sub-3 marathon after her return to racing. I’m sure that is exactly what Rinny has been working for in her Kona 2019 prep.

This is an excerpt from my “Kona 2019 Rating Report”. You can download your copy here.

Kona Kings & Queens is a collaboration project with sports photographer James Mitchell to highlight some of the Pros racing in Kona. James supplies his awesome pictures (for more check his Instagram account), I add some data and commentary.

Last year Jan was the overwhelming favorite for the Kona title – until he was forced to withdraw with an overuse injury right after a fantastic win at 70.3 Worlds.

In 2018 it was only an injury that held him back, this season he is also unbeaten. He won a few smaller shorter races in Germany, then also 70.3 Kraichgau in June and 70.3 Gdynia in August. While the competition may not have been super-strong in these races (not really his fault as they usually have a good field), Ironman Frankfurt in late June saw the first duel of the three German Kona winners in an Ironman outside of Hawaii. There were a few critical moments for Jan during the race: He overcooked a corner on the bike and had to take a short off-road detour, losing his nutrition. Then Sebi was able to put the pressure on him by running up to him early in the marathon. But Jan responded like a champion, running the fastest marathon of the day and winning the European Championship for the third time.

He will also be looking for his third Kona title. In his list of great races on the long-distance races, there is only one race he started and wasn’t able to finish at least on the podium: That was Kona 2017 when back issues on the run forced him to walk and jog most of the marathon, finishing 35th. Was that race just a quirk or the blueprint of how to beat him by putting pressure on him for most of the race? Athletes with a swim and/or bike strength will make it hard for him to dominate the race from the front as he did in Frankfurt. They will also try to force him to ride harder than he wants to so he can stay in striking distance for the marathon. But will that be enough to negate his run strength? For most of his wins he was able to “manage the lead” in the second half of the Run – so he may not have been forced to show his true potential on the marathon just yet. Maybe we will find out on October 12th!

This is an excerpt from my “Kona 2019 Rating Report”. You can download your copy here.