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Bonness wins men's 50-54 division
Triumphs despite bout of nausea at the Ironman World Championships Here are the headlines from the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championships, which took place Oct. 13 in Kona, Hawaii: • In only her second Ironman, Chrissy Wellington, a 30-year-old from Great Britain, came out of nowhere to win the women's division of the fabled race with a time of 9:08:45. • Australian Chris McCormack had been trying to win the race since 2002. A time of 8:15:34 finally earned him the prize. Behind the headlines, the heart and soul of the Kona race are the Masters and other amateurs who suffer through training, qualifying and the race itself to find out just how deep their grit and stamina go. This year the race delivered Kona's typical heat and wind. Athletes were nearly blown over on their bicycles in the lava fields. Of the pros, 82 percent finished, but an astonishing 95 percent of the amateurs battled miserable conditions to finish. Angie Anderson, 40, was one of those amateurs who made it to the finish line. At the 2006 Kelowna Apple Triathlon in British Columbia, she swam to the wrong side of a swim buoy. "It was by mistake and only saved me a second," the triathlon coach said. "But they made me turn around and swim back, against everybody. It was a few hundred yards and I really contemplated quitting." In his qualifying race at in St. Petersburg, Fla., Joe Bonness, 52, of Naples, Fla., realized after the swim that he had left his bike shoes in the car. "Even at the time I thought it was pretty funny," he said. "I rode across the parking lot in my bare feet, got my shoes, and took off." Scott Gaiser is a 45-year-old assistant high school principal from Kalispell, Mont. "When I decided to try triathlons in my late 30's, I went to Masters swimming. I thought I could swim, but was put off to the side in the remedial lane and was told somebody would work with me. Then at my second triathlon I borrowed a wetsuit and put it on backwards." Chrystie Hjeltness, 41, of Post Falls, Idaho, met disaster in the first 50 yards of the 2004 Coeur d'Alene Ironman. "A guy swam right over me and kicked me in the head. My swim took twice as long but I didn't know why. "On the bike leg I was crying and throwing up," the mother of three and founder of Three Bears Porridge said. "My husband knew something was wrong and pulled me out. It turned out I had a concussion." Despite the setbacks, all four triathletes qualified for Kona and the chance to compete against the best triathletes in the world. The 1,787 athletes at the mass swim start in Kona represented 45 countries and 49 states. Most of them earned a spot by qualifying, but a lucky 200 get in by lottery every year. Keith Peterson, 58, of Farmington, N.M., was one of the "common men" who got a slot. That is, if somebody who can swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles is "common." "I have entered the lottery for 15 years and got drawn in 1992 and 2007," Peterson said. "I'm proof that if you keep entering, you will get in sooner or later." Bonness doesn't have to deal with lotteries. He wins his age group in almost every race he enters. His first place age-group finish at Kona this year won him a slot for Kona in 2008. "I would have had a PR (personal record)," Bonness said of his 9:46:36 finishing-time. "But I tried experimenting with nutrition, which I shouldn't have done. I blew up like a volcano at mile 20 and started projectile vomiting. I was running 10-minute miles until I picked it up again at mile 23. Hjeltness found the swim "combative." "I started getting beat up and moved to the outside," she said. "I was happy with my swim, but the heat and wind was so bad on the bike that I lost focus and didn't keep up with my nutrition. That hurt me on the run." Nonetheless, her time improved from 13:40:18 in 2006 to 12:21:52 in 2007. Gaiser's race went according to plan. At first. "Going up Palani my legs seized up and I could only run 20 yards at a time," he said. "I didn't realize how hot it was and got behind on fluids. I've never experienced muscle cramping like I did in this race. I saw a lot of pros walking, too." Gaiser finished in 10:55:04, compared with 10:27:24 and 10:40:05 in previous years. "About 40 minutes after I finished I felt light-headed, started seeing stars and got cold," he said. "I went to the medical tent, where I got an IV. There were a ton of people there." It was Anderson's first race in Kona. "When I qualified for Kona at Ironman Canada in August it threw me for a loop because it wasn't in my master plan for the year. … Then, the day after I got there, I started feeling the magic of what Kona meant to me. "At the bike-to-run transition I met Kayleen from Montana," Anderson said. "We teamed up and absolutely pulled each other through the run. It was the most amazing thing. We stayed together almost to the finish line." Anderson's time was 12:16:57, placing 39th out of 75 in her age division. "I just wanted my finish to be at the finish line," lottery winner Keith Peterson said. And it was, with a 15:43:55, but it was a struggle. "It got brutal on the run," he said. "The bottoms of my feet got totally blistered and bloody and I walked the last half just to finish. That highway is lonely and not that many people were back there with me. But then I got to the final stretch on Ali'i Drive and there were the crowds screaming and yelling. I could see the finish line and my feet didn't hurt any more. "At least not for a few minutes." Cathy Tibbetts is a triathlete herself and finished the Ironman World Championships in 13:08:52. Age group of winners |