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.