Kona Ironman Highlights

One of the highlights of the Ironman World Championship for me was being privileged to watch fellow squad member Scott Budd compete with the world's best in challenging conditions.

Scott qualified earlier in the year by placing 5th in his age group and completing a 21 minute personal best at the Port Macquarie Ironman. Scott had a challenging day battling the heat and illness, but showed his strength and resilience to finish well.

You can read Scott's race report for full details of his challenging day at Kona.

View highlights from Kona below.

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Kona Ironman World Championship 2009

The 2009 Ironman World Championships were held on 10 October 2009 at Kailua Kona on the big Island of Hawaii. The Hawaiian Ironman is revered amongst triathletes as being the birth place of the sport that began in 1978.

Kona is carved out of the surrounding volcano and lava fields, with athletes riding and running through areas that look like the moon.

The heat and humidity assault your senses as soon as you arrive and don't let up. It feels as though the road is melting and athletes spend up to 9 hours in the middle of the day riding through it! These extremes are truly a fitting test to determine the World Champion, who in 2009 for the second consecutive time was Australian triathlon legend Craig Alexander.

The build up to the race is almost as exciting as the race itself with plenty of festivities in Kona including the famous 'Undie Run', a homage to the German triathletes who generally wander around town wearing very little.

Thanks to TriTravel for organising a seamless travel experience.

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