Just a few hours before the start of the “2016 Ironman World Championships” here is some information on how to follow the race.
First, here are the start times for the Pro races and the rough times when the first athletes are expected to hit T1, T2 and are likely to cross the finish line:
- 6:25am Men’s Pro Start
- 6:30am Women’s Pro Start
- 7:15am First Man in T1
- 7:22am First Woman in T1
- 11:40am First Man in T2
- 12:15pm First Woman in T2
- 2:30pm First Man to Finish (would be 8:05 finish – course record is 8:03:56 by Craig Alexander from 2011)
- 3:25pm Fist Woman to Finish (would be 8:55 finish – course record is 8:52:14 by Mirinda Carfrae from 2013)
These times are local times in Kona (Hawaii Standard Time). Just to give the time differences to a few other popular places (and the corresponding start time for the male Pro race):
- +3 hours to US West Coast – race starts 9:25am local time
- +6 hours to US East Coast – race starts 12:25pm local time
- +11 hours to UK – race starts 5:25pm local time
- +12 hours to Germany – race starts 6:25pm local time
- +21 hours to Australia (Sydney) – race starts 3:25am local time on Sunday
- +23 hours to New Zealand – race starts 5:25am local time on Sunday
Ironman will have a live stream hosted by Greg Welch and Mike Lovato, there will also be a “Live Blog” on the site. For me in Germany I also have the chance to watch the race on German TV, they have their own German commentary with triathlon experts and additional cameras to catch more German athletes during the race. The German language coverage will also be streamed through sportschau.de. I’m not aware of any other nations covering the race live on one of their TV stations, as usual the NBC coverage won’t be available until a few weeks after the race.
In addition to the information on the live streams there is always lots of information on Twitter, and I’ll also be posting on TriRating.com during the race with preliminary analysis after the field hits T1 (so I can analyze the swim) and the front of the field has started the run (so I can analyze the bike and project an outcome based on what athletes “normally” run). In the days before the race I have already put together a long list of free Kona resources including blog posts and articles by the triathlon press and a number of interesting and inspiring videos.
If you haven’t downloaded my Kona Rating Report yet, you should do so before the race and have a look through the data and athlete portraits. I’m sure it’ll make following the race much more enjoyable as you’ll be able to get an understanding of each athlete’s strength and weaknesses – and you can also refer to it during the race when some not quite as well known shows up at the front of the race. The Report is still available for free here , it has been downloaded more than 1.300 times by now, and I’m very grateful for the donations to support my work.
To all my friends racing in Kona – have an awesome day!