Sunday, October 7, 2001
[ IRONMAN TRIATHLON ]
American wins Ironman KAILUA-KONA >> They stay. Maybe that's the best part. The winner had been established at yesterday's Ironman Triathlon World Championship, but nobody was going anywhere. The people stayed, the seats just as full, the street just as packed, the moment just as big, and the noise getting bigger. The smiles kept getting bigger with each contestant who stopped, who walked, who slowed down on the final stretch to the finish to soak it all in.
Timothy DeBoom is the first from
the U.S. to win since 1995By Kalani Simpson
ksimpson@starbulletin.comIt was Timothy DeBoom, striding home holding an American flag and both arms raised, who rewarded the fans first. The first American since Mark Allen (1995) to win the Ironman, DeBoom took over with a ferocious 2:45:54 marathon leg, eating up a deficit of more than 5 minutes to Steve Larsen, who pounded to a big lead on the bike, only to plummet to ninth overall, soaking his beaten body in the ocean at the finish line.
Conditions were brutal. "It was a very hard day," DeBoom said after his 8 hour, 31 minute, 18 second outing. "I wasn't sure if I was ever gonna finish out there a couple times."
Natascha Badmann of Switzerland won the women's competition for the second year in a row, seizing the lead from Nina Kraft, a German, who took a big advantage out of the bicycle leg, then faded on an empty tank.
Ka makani. The wind. Out on the highway, toward the sun-baked aa fields, all the way to Hawi, the bike race tore competitors down. This is where the Ironman is often won. And lost. Here the wind hammers all in its path, the sun beats down and all that is left is to pedal forward. Like a hair dryer on high speed in your face for almost 100 miles. This is where smiles go to die. This is where, months from now, NBC will insert the spooky music. Excitement is gone, and all that is left is survival.
The winners made their move with energy in reserve after hanging back on the bike. The bike leaders simply didn't have enough left. On the highway, the way is lonely, adrenaline is in short supply. Alii Drive seems a lifetime away. This was where DeBoom and Badmann surged ahead.
In town, everyone gets a boost. Everyone is a hero for a moment, arms raised, shaka swiveled, smiles somehow bursting, surrounded by pure energy in human form. People yell, announcers inflate egos, spurring each competitor on. The limps disappear. The pain fades, for just a second.
The longer it goes, the more impressive the event gets. The crowd knows. They were out in the dark. A trickle at first, then more, in bunches, headed for town along Alii Drive.
These were pilgrims, many dressed like their heroes, in silly racing caps and too-short shorts. They walked in the dark, biked in the early morning, jogged or hitchhiked toward their holy land, to the pier, to the start of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship. Along the shoreline they went, at 5:30 in the morning, sea salt and sunscreen and excitement in the air.
Later, much, much later, it would be dark again, but nobody moved. More finishers finished, taking in the love. Taking in the moment. Basking in the memory. With each new finisher, the noise got louder. The smiles got bigger.
More are coming. They just keep coming.